After learning we'd been short-listed for the National eTwinning Award and that it brought with it £50, I have been consumed with the desire to spend it. I had several ideas on how to dispose of the money, the most popular one was of course the USB Wine from the Vineyards that Isabelle Jone brought to my attention through her delicious links (5 to be distributed round the MFL department as I saw fit...one for me and the others could fight it out for the other 4).
However, on reflection, I decided that this could be a little frivolous and also didn't know how it could contribute to our eTwinning experience (well, actually...) so today I decided upto a USB microphone and a webcam. My room is ear-marked to become the video-conferencing centre of the school so I thought with those and Skype among other things it would be a good start. We plan to use Elluminate really but I thought that we could use Skype to record interviews with schools abroad and then create podcasts from them. Whether we have the technology or knowledge to do that, I do not know. We are somewhere back in 1960 as far as technology is concerned at our school!
However, on reflection, I decided that this could be a little frivolous and also didn't know how it could contribute to our eTwinning experience (well, actually...) so today I decided upto a USB microphone and a webcam. My room is ear-marked to become the video-conferencing centre of the school so I thought with those and Skype among other things it would be a good start. We plan to use Elluminate really but I thought that we could use Skype to record interviews with schools abroad and then create podcasts from them. Whether we have the technology or knowledge to do that, I do not know. We are somewhere back in 1960 as far as technology is concerned at our school!
Our technician is up for working out how to make video conferencing easier next year. At the moment we do in a small room via a tv system, in the past when I had it on a PC in my room the video conferencing was just part of the class - pupils went in pairs and had a conversation with pupils in another school in the authority. We are going to be video confencing with a school in Cornwall again this year (we teach them Gaelic, they teach us Cornish), but if we get set up maybe we'll be able to have some online chat with you too - classes always enjoyed talking French with pupils they didn't actually know, it made the personal language more real.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fab idea. Our pupils would be shocked to think that languages other than English are spoken in Britain!
ReplyDeleteHow do you find videoconferencing? It seems to have been the buzzword for years and years.
ReplyDeleteI work in IT, and I've used videoconferencing a few times, but my impression of it was that it seemed rather pointless when all we could see when using it was a fairly static picture of a room full of people. Indeed, it fell out of favour here very quickly and all the dedicated videoconferencing kit seems to have been disposed of now.
But it keeps raising its head, especially in education circles, and because of our fairly negative experiences, I'm interested to hear what people perceive as its benefits.
What makes it preferable to (for instance) using technologies like Netmeeting and Sametime to share presentation material and other documents while engaging in a parallel teleconference? When IM programs like iChat and Live Messenger have videoconferencing facilities built-in (and for free), are people still investing in dedicated equipment? How do you effectively share the experience of being 'in the room' with a group of people over a videoconference link?
Our technician is up for working out how to make video conferencing easier next year. At the moment we do in a small room via a tv system, in the past when I had it on a PC in my room the video conferencing was just part of the class - pupils went in pairs and had a conversation with pupils in another school in the authority. We are going to be video confencing with a school in Cornwall again this year (we teach them Gaelic, they teach us Cornish), but if we get set up maybe we'll be able to have some online chat with you too - classes always enjoyed talking French with pupils they didn't actually know, it made the personal language more real.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fab idea. Our pupils would be shocked to think that languages other than English are spoken in Britain!
ReplyDeleteHow do you find videoconferencing? It seems to have been the buzzword for years and years.I work in IT, and I've used videoconferencing a few times, but my impression of it was that it seemed rather pointless when all we could see when using it was a fairly static picture of a room full of people. Indeed, it fell out of favour here very quickly and all the dedicated videoconferencing kit seems to have been disposed of now.But it keeps raising its head, especially in education circles, and because of our fairly negative experiences, I'm interested to hear what people perceive as its benefits.What makes it preferable to (for instance) using technologies like Netmeeting and Sametime to share presentation material and other documents while engaging in a parallel teleconference? When IM programs like iChat and Live Messenger have videoconferencing facilities built-in (and for free), are people still investing in dedicated equipment? How do you effectively share the experience of being 'in the room' with a group of people over a videoconference link?
ReplyDeleteElluminate Publish! enables you to create standalone recordings or industry-standard audio podcasts from Elluminate Live! session recordings. A free, 30-day trial of the product is available at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.elluminate.com/publish/index.jsp
- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication
Elluminate Publish! enables you to create standalone recordings or industry-standard audio podcasts from Elluminate Live! session recordings. A free, 30-day trial of the product is available at:http://www.elluminate.com/publish/index.jsp- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication
ReplyDeleteHi Ramrod
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. At the moment I'm just beginning to venture into the world of Video-conferencing so haven't really got much of an idea of quality. I know that colleagues have used Flashmeeting and Skype and am open to anything that get our kids in touch with "their" kids.
I'll definately look into the things you suggested, however we often find that a lot of things that a really good (and free) are blocked by our firewalls and have to find solutions that aren't always the best.
It can be quite disheartening when your technology is stuck in the 1960s 8-(
Thanks for your suggestions!
Helena 8-)
Hi RamrodThanks for your comment. At the moment I'm just beginning to venture into the world of Video-conferencing so haven't really got much of an idea of quality. I know that colleagues have used Flashmeeting and Skype and am open to anything that get our kids in touch with "their" kids.I'll definately look into the things you suggested, however we often find that a lot of things that a really good (and free) are blocked by our firewalls and have to find solutions that aren't always the best.It can be quite disheartening when your technology is stuck in the 1960s 8-(Thanks for your suggestions!Helena 8-)
ReplyDelete