Online Collaboration A brief look at the protocols required for video conferencing and some of the potential applications of the technology. Online Video Collaboration Background Today, technology has advanced so that you can communicate online just like you can communicate on the phone only now you can actually see and hear the party on the other end! Video Conferencing is a method of performing interactive video communications over a regular high speed internet connection. Video conferencing began in the mid 1980's as compressed video. Although compressed video did produce an interactive video conference, it was expensive and difficult to coordinate in a school district. A new protocol of video communications emerged in the mid 1990's called Internet Protocol or IP based video. Since it was introduced, communication technologies have improved exponentially. It has become apparent in the last few years that the expanding networks in school districts will be able to handle the implementation of video communications if not now, then in the very near future. Factors to Consider for Implementation There are several factors which must be considered in order to decide if you are a capable of executing video communications. You will find that the following questions may need to be presented to your district's network personnel in order to be answered completely. Do you have a High Speed Internet Connection? Participants will need to have a high speed internet connection rather than a dial-up modem. Do you have enough Bandwidth? Bandwidth is directly related to your internet connection. If you have a dial-up connection you do not have enough bandwidth for video communications. However, if you have high speed internet connectivity, you may have more bandwidth than dial-up users, but not enough to execute high quality video communications. Bandwidth is the amount of information that can be passed through the internet cables coming into your building. It is analogous to a water pipe. If the water pipe is big, more water can flow through it per second. If the water pipe is small, than the amount of water that can flow through it decreases drastically. Video Conferencing requires at least 384 kilobits of bandwidth for a quality, point-to-point connection. If you want to do a multipoint conference, for example, if you want to connect to three sites at the same time, then it requires 384 kilobits per site. So, you would need at least 1.5 megabits of bandwidth for a successful connection. It is important to note that the signal is only as strong as its weakest link. That means, that if you have enough bandwidth but the site you are connecting to does not, then your conference will not be of high quality. Can you get access through your district Firewalls? Firewalls are also a large part of successful video communications. Firewalls are the barriers that school districts use to keep destructive intruders out of your network and computers. Network personnel are capable of "punching holes" in the firewall to allow video communications to be used. Do you have access to video conferencing Cameras? There are several companies who sell video conferencing cameras. IVT has selected to use Polycom cameras because they were a nice balance of cost and usability. Some of the equipment distributors have established state contracts which enable schools, hospitals and libraries to purchase equipment at reduce prices. The state of Kansas has one that includes Polycom equipment. The Potential of Video Communications Once a connection has been established in your building the possibilities for the use of video communications is enormous. ALTec and the Interactive Video Team, IVT are always searching for innovative ways of improving teaching and learning. IVT has focused our energy on using video communications in education. We have several projects currently underway. Grant Collaboration: The University of Kansas is a research institution. This requires faculty and staff to dedicate a large portion of their time to grant writing and execution. The science department chose to collaborate with three other state institutions, Wichita State, Kansas State and Pittsburgh State to write a grant. All four institutions wanted to find a way to avoid spending a tremendous amount of time and money driving to a central location in order to meet face-to-face. They chose to implement the use of multipoint video conferencing so that all four sites could be seen and heard instantaneously. Supervision Professors who supervise student teachers at the University of Kansas are required to visit the schools of their interns and observe them in their fields. The School of Education has recently explored the possibility of using video conferencing to do their observations of students in the field. South Park Elementary in the Shawnee Mission school district was the first school to participate in this technique of supervision. The professor at the University was able to sit at her desk and observe her intern without having to drive 45 miles to see it. These sessions may be taped at either location. Peer Coaching Ring A graduate student in the Education department at the University of Kansas had a research question which explored the possibility of supporting recent graduates in the teaching field. He pulled together three new teachers (2-3 years experience in the field) who graduated from KU and a professor/mentor from the university to meet via video conferencing once every other week to discuss their teaching experiences, observe one another teaching and receive feed back from each other, all using video conferencing. Time Sampling Time Sampling was an idea brought about for data collection. The cameras at IVT are capable of taking a still picture at any set increment of time. We had a program designed that could take those snap shots and organize them into rows and columns for easy viewing. Students and teachers at the University have used this method of data collection to view time on task and other forms of student behavior. Distance Learning Distance learning was the first practical use of video conferencing done in the classroom. IVT is an advocate of distance learning and we have encouraged its use in these times of teacher shortages. The Kansas City school district, for instance, uses distance learning to teach math to their high school students. They do not have enough certified math teachers for all of their high schools so they use video conferencing to bring the teacher into multiple rooms across the district. The University of Kansas uses distance learning to offer graduate courses to students. Student Field Experience This is an innovative way for the School of Education at the University to cut down on using surrounding school district time and research. Video conferencing allows entire classrooms of undergraduates to observe one single student or classroom from the University. Both undergraduate and graduate students need to have several field experiences. In the past, each student has been paired with a different teacher, they have to set up a compatible time and make the trip to the school. Video conferencing has the potential to limit the hassle. |
