TECHNOS

August 21, 2008

Accessing the World from inside the Classroom: Videoconferencing Makes the Grade

By Jill K. Bell

As a videoconference coordinator and former classroom teacher, I have observed the impact that videoconferencing (VC) programming has on students. At Cape Elizabeth (Maine) Middle School it has made students excited about connections to sources outside their community. They are happy to interact with people and programs which ordinarily wouldn’t be accessible to them unless traveling was involved. The “face-to-face” live “meetings” involve students and allow them to be active participants in their own learning. Let me share with you some of our experiences with videoconferencing in our classrooms.

Politics up Close and Personal

Eighth graders at Cape Elizabeth Middle School in Maine study their state’s history, often spending several weeks researching the backgrounds of their U.S. senators and representatives. This year, one class of social studies students focused on Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine) in the news. [See our Featured Interview with Sen. Collins.]

Articles were collected about issues and concerns they felt Sen. Collins should consider in depth and questions were then prepared for her. The 35-minute teleconference from the Senate Recording Studio in Washington, D.C., was long enough for students to hear first-hand responses to questions like these: “What is your opinion about the proposed changes to Social Security?” “How do you think the No Child Left Behind Act will impact education in Maine?” and “Do you see gasoline prices dropping in the near future and what do you think can be done about them?” Students were riveted to the screen as Sen. Collins listened and responded to each question asked individually. At the end of the session, students turned to more personal questions related to her job requirements, such as: “What’s it like to work with the President, and how often do you meet with him?” “What or who influenced you to become a politician, and what do you hope to accomplish during your term?” “How many hours a week do you work?” “Do you have any free time?” and “Just how many speeches do you give in a month?”

The marvelous opportunity these students had to meet with their U.S. senator is possible through videoconferencing technology. Although never as great as meeting Sen. Collins in person, of course, it is a close second since communication takes place in real time and is both visual and audio. Not so long ago student questions would have been sent by post or emailed to her office; however, for the past three years students have “met” face-to-face with Sen. Collins in Washington, D.C., while sitting in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

VC is E-Z

The room at our middle school used for this interaction has many functions, but when a videoconference is scheduled it is the only activity taking place for 45 minutes to an hour. The room set-up is quite simple and the equipment surprisingly affordable, when compared to procuring speakers or field experts to come into a school to meet with students or arranging classroom travel to outside organizations. The videoconferencing unit (“camera”) and a large-screen television used as a monitor were purchased for under $8,500, a one-time initial investment. Both sit on a stand in one corner of the room. Chairs, enough for 25 to 30 students, are arranged facing the monitor, and the unit’s microphone is placed in the middle of the grouping. Students in the front or back of the mike speak in normal voices and are heard quite clearly.

The broadcast is almost always conducted by the videoconference coordinator at Cape Elizabeth Middle School, but teachers are encouraged to practice making the teleconference connection by using a phone which actually looks much like a remote control unit. All content providers (organizations offering programming) have specific call-in numbers — phone numbers or Internet numbers — that must be used in order to make the connection. Schools with VC capability have their own call-in numbers as well, but they are not often needed when purchasing a program from a content provider since the cost of the connection rests with the school.

During the first year of teleconferencing, connections were made to content providers such as museums and zoos (all outside the state of Maine) using the school’s access to the Internet. Program costs were the only additional charges incurred that year, and those averaged $75.00 to $200.00 for each presentation. Connections were also made to groups of students in schools in New York and abroad which were free of charge. This was an exciting way for teachers to work with groups of students in other locations on projects of mutual interest.

We decided in the second year to switch from Internet transmissions to dedicated high-speed phone lines (ISDN) whose monthly charges were generously funded by the town’s education foundation. Although more costly, the ISDN lines ensured higher quality and more stable connections as well as a greater ability to access institutions and organizations that only offered the ISDN option. However, the current trend is moving back to Internet use for cost reduction as well as for issues of equity. School districts unable to afford ISDN charges (which can run from $200 to $300 a month) are prevented from incorporating VC technology into their programs. In addition, issues of drop-off connections, loss of audio or video, and delays in audio delivery via the Internet have improved significantly in the past three years, making it a more viable option for many. More content providers now offer both types of connections — Internet and ISDN — as well as newer options.

Face-to-Face with Holocaust Survivors

Videoconferencing with the Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center on Long Island, New York, provides a very special experience for students as well. Three programs bring survivors of the Holocaust into the classroom for interviews. One survivor may have been a child during one of history’s most horrific events and can relate the trauma and fears of a young person living during such a time; another survivor may tell a story about a hero who risked his or her life to save others; and yet another may share the different ways people resisted, successfully or unsuccessfully, during the Holocaust.

Students are particularly drawn to these videoconferences not only because they realize they are talking to people who actually survived the Holocaust but also because they understand firsthand accounts will end someday and that there will be a time not so very far away when there will be no more survivors to talk to. Can just reading about this tragic period in history ever have the same educational impact on a student as meeting survivors face to face and having the opportunity to ask his or her own questions? Judging from my experience in the classroom and from discussions with teachers who participated in these videoconferences, I think it’s safe to say that most teachers would argue not.

It’s All Happening at the Zoo

Students learn in a variety of ways about adaptations animals make in order to survive in an environment, but of course it’s a lot more fun to compare a physical feature on several animals when they can be observed live. Not all classrooms have the capability to physically travel to a zoo, for example, so when the Bronx Zoo’s “Awesome Adaptations” videoconference is scheduled, Cape Elizabeth Middle School students are happy to make a virtual visit.

They can focus on the different types of feet land animals have by viewing several animals a zoo presenter brings into the studio. Students watch as the presenter holds animals on camera that are sometimes not seen in our natural environment and brings the camera lens in for close-ups of a foot type. Questions such as these can be answered: “How are the types alike and why did they develop?” “Do they help the animal survive in its environment?” and “What happens to an animal if its habitat is destroyed?” Students love talking directly to an animal expert and having the opportunity to formulate their own questions.

Impact on Learning

Access to a primary source is only one educational benefit derived from videoconferencing. During my numerous observations of programs with middle school students in Cape Elizabeth, I’ve seen many advantages this medium offers. If you were to walk into the middle of a program, the first thing you would notice is the concentration students have when participating in discussions or activities directed by the presenter on the monitor.

Good programming involves student interactivity, and students are willing to take part in all aspects of a lesson when they can also contribute to it. Good programming also offers individualization of content to fit different learning styles or to address other requirements of a class. Before a videoconference takes place, a test call is made in advance to check possible technology problems — many times this test call also provides an opportunity for teachers to speak to presenters about special requests. If this exchange isn’t possible during a test call, it is easy to communicate by email or fax when scheduling.

Our school requests feedback from students and staff following teleconferences, and information gathered so far indicates a positive impact on student learning in our middle school. Exposure to the outside world is mentioned often as being a great motivator for students to delve deeper into research and to construct personal questions more meaningful to them. How can the same age fifth graders in Maine and in New York City live such different lives? How can two seemingly similar classrooms of students only 200 miles apart broaden their understanding of each other? When students meet each other on the screen to talk about their differences, not much else disrupts their concentration — or their interest.

Jill K. Bell is a retired educator and current videoconference consultant and coordinator in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She is a member of the Educational Enterprise Zone, a consortium of content providers based in Central Islip, New York. Reach her at jkbell@maine.rr.com.

Find out more information about the Cape Elizabeth Middle School, go to the school’s Web site: http://www.cape.k12.me.us/sMidd.html.