Videoconferencing Out on a Lim

If you are not subscribed to comments on this blog, you missed an awesome comment from Linda McDonald, queen of VC in Katy, TX; creator of Math Marvels and other cool collaborative projects. Her comment was in response to a question about how to start your VC program.

Be a listener!

• Ask what about the critical target objectives based on testing data.
• Ask about areas of curriculum that teacher think are important but don’t seem to have time to teach.
• Ask which content students struggle understanding.

Help teachers build VC projects based on the answers above and you will have a “product you can sell.”

Do you ask teachers these questions? How do you follow-up? How do you help teachers see the connection between curriculum and potential content/projects/experiences?

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Still cleaning out draft posts!

The end of May a team from The Talking Directory in the UK came to visit Berrien RESA to learn about our distance learning program. After watching me facilitate a MysteryQuest USA and HistoryQuest5, we videoconferenced with Arnie Comer, Macomb ISD and Roxanne Glaser and Shane Howard from Region 12, TX. Arnie and Roxanne and Shane shared some great tips for starting a VC program and I took notes. We all shared our signature programs too: ASK for Macomb; Singing with Shane, Monster Match, Weather with Rusty for Region 12.

Arnie’s Top Tips

1. Hold teachers’ hands tightly at the beginning.
2. Take the tech burdens on yourself so the teachers can focus on the students

Roxanne and Shane’s Core Philosophy

• Teachers spend time teaching
• Coordinators in the school or at least the district as our liaison with the teacher

Tips from the conversation
I didn’t record who said what, but here are more ideas:

• Not everyone’s going to be as passionate about VC as you are – give them time!
• Have meaningful programming for your teachers and share that with colleagues across the country so your schools can benefit from each others programs
• Call coordinators in schools that aren’t using it much to see what’s going on – maybe they have a family emergency or some challenge

What is a “quick win”?

• Start out by providing an ASK program or a project – something with a date & time and all the materials – and step by step what to do.
• Create programs that are videoconferencing with training wheels – a way to hand hold teachers as they get started.
• Get teachers involved in one project with success then they try out something else.

Your Turn: What are your tips for schools just getting started with videoconferencing?

Filed under: Implementation | 4 Comments »