I think that there is and probably always will be a place for an ESC to act as a consultant and resource to the schools for VC training, programs and technical expertise. What I was trying to emphasize in that sentence is that in my experience most schools (in my area) are looking for somebody other than themselves to carry the ball with VC. That can’t happen for a successful, lasting VC program in any school.

An ESC is an outside resource that can be most helpful to schools in their VC program but in order to make a significant contribution to any school’s curriculum people at that school must embrace it and take ownership.

Below are the issues that I think must be addressed at the school level for a successful, lasting video conferencing program:

Defining the role of Distance Learning (DL):
• Articulate educational goals to accomplish through DL.
• Develop a policy, announce and distribute it throughout the organization.
• Build the necessary infrastructure.
• Support, promote, and enhance the ongoing management of DL. (A technical staff that maintains the systems and a non technical staff that promotes, trains and implements DL in the classroom.)
• Allow the DL team to develop its own system of communications.
• Budget for the technology to implement DL. (Systems maintenance, programming fees etc.)
• Train staff.
• Develop guidelines and standards.
• Develop contingency plans
• Involve all stakeholder groups (DL Team, Faculty, etc.) to evaluate DL program and revise for improved effectiveness.

Obviously, when personnel are constantly changing within a school system it makes it quite difficult to sustain any program and that’s where an ESC can offer help and guidance,but that doesn’t relieve a school system from their responsibilities if they truly want to offer students an alternative delivery method to the traditional classroom lecture. One of my frustrations is trying to convey this idea to the myriad of school personnel I come in contact with.

My hope is that some day the technology will just work as easily as tinychat with the HD and advanced capabilities of H. 323 so that we can move into more teaching and envisioning student possibilities.

Do you really think that at some point the districts can do VC without us at the ESC level?

I think it’s CRITICAL to have a support structure that includes:
*technical support & offering programs at the ESC level
*technical support at the district level (that’s supported by the ESC)
*principal support – to get this they need to know what the opportunities are and how they benefit kids
*VC coordinator – who works directly with the teacher, but has the support of the above as well…

This seems like it will be another good post. Maybe I’ll flesh it out a bit more in another post.

This past spring I completed a review of my service territory which includes 12 counties, 27 school corporations and approximately 60 VC sites and came away with the same feeling; that even though to some of us IVC is “old hat” to alot of teachers its a new, and unsettling technology at least in the beginning.

Teachers and school officials do need guidance not only in the use of the technology in the classroom but also in what’s required to make their IVC installations successful i.e., (system maintenance, technical support, internal/external communications etc.)

My challenge from an ESC perspective is how do I replicate himself and get my schools to take “ownership” of the process. These skills are new but they can be learned and shared the problem from an ESC perspective in my opinion is working through all the various levels and bureaucracy within the school systems. You may finally find that VC “Champion” and be making great process in one school or system then something changes perhaps the educational focus changes, a new Principal or Tech Coordinator comes on board and the gains you’ve worked so hard to achieve are halted.

Your model of VC Coordinator/VC Novice is a good one but successful lasting VC implementation is a complex and constantly changing battle that is fought each year with the school systems and until school systems embrace and take ownership of the entire process our work will move to bursts and spurts.