I

THEEDUCATIO
t 't.
 EXTENDYOURCLASSROOM
I HARDWARE& PERIPHERALS

Tokeyour classto visit

NASA,the zoo or moybe
diving on the reef...
All without leaving
your school.

echnologies such as video-,audio-

and web conferencing are allowing
studentsto connectin 'real-time'to
a varietyof experiences.
CarolDaunt
reportson the featuresof each of
these technologies and how you can access
and usethem to extend your classroom.
T e a c h a c l a s ss c a t t e r e d a r o u n d t h e s t a t e . . . .
Bring your favourite author into the school
from wherever they are in the world.... Take
y o u r c l a s s t o v i s i t N A S A ,t h e z o o o r m a y b e
d i v i n g o n t h e r e e f . . . .A l l w i t h o u t l e a v i n g y o u r
s c h o o l . Y o uc o u l d b e e x t e n d i n g y o u r c l a s s r o o m
through the use of video- audio- and web
c o n f e r e n c i n g- b e t h e r e w i t h o u t g o i n g .

Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the closestthingto face-
to-faceteaching,as it allowsyou to see,hear
andtalkto peoplein anotherlocation.You can
bringtogetherjust a few peopleat one siteor
manyat sitesaroundthe world.lt is fantastic
for teachingand learningbecauseit givesyou
a richenvironment that includesthe followinq
features:
. Usea documentcamerato displaypictures,
graphs,mapsand smallobjects.
. Displayyour PowerPoint
presentationor
othercomputerfiles.
. Playa videoso everyonecanseeit.
. Recordyoursession.
. Collaborateon computerdatawith othersin
the class.

ByCarolDaunt

T H EE D U C A T I OTNE C H N O L O G
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S y s t e m s r a n g e f r o m d e s k t o p s ,w h i c h pressinga numberon theirtelephonekeypad You can also take studentsto websites

combinewith your computer,to large room You will immediatelyknow the percentage d u r i n g y o u r s e s s i o nA. s y o u c l i c k t h r o u g h
systemsdesignedfor presentations to larger of the studentswho chose each ootion and to the site,they will all be brought along
classes.The system you choose will depend on whichindividuals answered in a particular
way with you. You can set studentsfree on the
your use.Forexample, if you needto connect - allowingyou to followup if necessary.Youalso s i t e t o r e s e a r c hs o m e t h i n g & t h e n c a l l
with 20 peopleat one site,you will need a receivea printoutof the responses
followingyour them back together by pushing your next
systemand dedicatedroom set up for that sesston. slide.
purpose- a desktopsystemwill not be the Sub Conferencing- Theremay be timesyou The system will also have an array of
answer. wish to breakstudentsinto smallergroupsto d r a w i n gt o o l s t h a t a l l o w y o u t o h i g h l i g h t
Videoconference a rangeof issuesandthen reportbackto
systemsare now relatively discuss sectionsby drawinglines,arrows,circles,
and
cheap- you can buy a qualitydesktopsystem the wholegroup.Through the subconferencing so on,or throughcolour.
for around53,000. However,you do not need feature,you can put students into pre- Youdo not n.eedto investin any hardware
you can hirefacilities
to investin hardware; for determinedgroups, or arrangethemduringthe or software.Everythingyou need can be
reasonable rates(S150-S250per hour).Many session, for example, accordingto the responses downloadedfrom the Internet.Participants
schoolsnow havevideoconferencing systems, to a particularissue.
Groupscanbe aslargeor as w i l l b e g i v e n a w e b a d d r e s st h a t w i l l
as do most TAFECollegesand Universities small, andasfewor asmanyasyouwish. allow them to registerand enter the
- both hereand in othercountries. All of thesefeaturesare available
from audio s e s s i o nW
. e b c o n f e r e n c i n gc o m b i n e st h e
conference bridgingprovidersat a smallcoston p o w e r o f v i s u a l sw i t h t h e v o i c e a n d h a s
top of yourstandardconference callfee. Youdo the advantageof being accessible to anyone
Advantages not haveto investin any hardwareor software w h o h a s a n I n t e r n e t c o n n e c t i o na n d a
. Livesound,colourand motion - allyou needisyourtelephone. p h o n el i n e .
. Powerfulmedium- can be very
interactive
. Easyto use
Advantages Advantages
Disadvantages . Widelyaccessible
- allyou needisa phone . W i d e l y a c c e s s i b l e- j u s t n e e d a n I n t e r n e t
. Needspecialist
equipment- but this is . Aal:tirralrr rhorn connection
^atfin^.harhar . Easyto use . R e l a t i v e l yc h e a p
Disadvantages . P r o v i d e sa v i s u a l c o m p o n e n t
. No visuals- you needto supplythese . P r o v i d e sa r a n g e o f i n t e r a c t i v et o o l s
throughsomeothermechanism, such - p o l l i n g ,h a n d - u pa n d s o o n .
Audio Conferencing
as print. Disadvantages
Mostof ushavebeeninvolvedin a'teleconference'
. Two linesneeded at this stagewith
but may not be aware of the new features
s o m e s y s t e m s- o n e f o r I n t e r n e t a n d o n e
available,which make teachingvia telephone
for voice
a richer experience. Your telephonecan be a Web Conferen€ing
powerfultool that allowsyou to posea multiple Web conferencingallows you to speak to
choicequestionto your classand have them your studentsand displaystill images(For
givetheir answerby pressinga numberon their example,PowerPoint) via the Internet.There T e a c h e r sa r e u s i n g t h e s e t e c h n o l o g i e s f o r
telephonekeypad.Telephoneconferencing has a r e a v a r i e t yo f p r o d u c t sa v a i l a b l es: o m e many and varied rich learning experiences
becomevery sophisticated with the following t h a t c o m b i n et h e I n t e r n e tw i t h a n a u d i o - below are a few examoles.

featuresavailable throughan operator-attended conference,others that deliver sound &

call or directly to a web interfaceon your
computerto allowyou to controlthe call.
Q&A- Thisfeatureallowsstudentsto indicate
they have a question or comment without
interrupting
the class. By pressinga numberon
theirtelephonekeypad, they indicatetheirdesire
to speak.Theywill be placedin a queueandyou
can respondat your discretion. Thisallowsyou
to havea more organised session without the
disruptionof studentstalkingat the same time.
-
Voting/Polling This a is feature that allows
you to know what all studentsarethinkingat a
givenpoint in time.By posinga multiple-choice
question you can have everyoneanswer by
video imagesthroughthe Internet.The latest The dispersedclass
productsalsoincludevideoconferencing via a Students in remote areas are now being
weocam. connected via any or all of the above
B a s i cw e b c o n f e r e n c i n tgo o l s w i l l a l l o w c o n f e r e n c i n gt e c h n o l o g i e s r a t h e r t h a n t h e o l d
you to transmitimagesin conjunctionwith H F r a d i o u s e d b y S c h o o l so f t h e A i r i n t h e p a s t .
your voice.As you moveto the next slideon Most states and the Northern Territory have
y o u rc o m p u t e tr h, i s i s ' p u s h e d ' t o
a l ls t u d e n t s , systems to connect students to each other
so that everyoneseesand hearsthe same a n d t o t h e i r t e a c h e r s .T h e u s e o f c l e a r a u d i o
message at the sametime. a n d / o r p i c t u r e s g r e a t l y e n h a n c e st h e l e a r n i n g
Most systemshavefeaturessuch as'hand expenence.
raising',chat rooms and student response Students in small schools are also being
systemsthat allowyou to aska multiplechoice connected to enable them to study subjects
questionand get an immediateresponse from that their school cannot provide. Several
all studentsusingtheir keyboards. state education systems have extensive

70 GYU r D E
T H EE D U C A T I OTNE C H N O L O G
 HARDWARE
& PERIPHERALS
I EXTENDYOUR
CLASSROOM

videoconferencenetworks and these are Bringinggueststo your class Professionaldevelopment

usedto deliverdozensof subiectsto students You can bring anyonefrom anywherein the Who would you like to have present a
throughoutthe network. world into your classroom.
lt might be an workshop?Distanceis no longera problem.
Universities
and TAFEcollegeshave been author,scientist,celebrityor subjectmatter You can have any expert from any part
for over ten years
using videoconferencing expert. How exciting for studentsto have of the countryor the world presentto your
to connect studentsacrosscampuseswith a live connectionwith someonethey have next staff in-serviceday. Any of the above
lecturers
in a varietyof subjects. been studying.They can question,comment technologies can be usedfor increasingyour
on and discussissueswith the guest.lf you own knowledge withoutleavingthe school.
Connectingclasses usevideoor web conferencing,your students S o t h i n k t w i c e b e f o r ey o u d i s m i s st h a t
Classesall over the world are connecting can seethe guestand any itemsthey want to next great idea becausesomeoneis halfway
to eachother to exchangeviewson all types snow. around the world - you may be able to
of topics. Teachersoften build a project use technology to link in real-time.
around a few video or audio conference Virtualfield trips Anyonecan do it, anytime- for surprisingly
s e s s i o n sw i t h a c l a s s i n a n o t h e r c o u n t r y , A videoconferencefield trip gives you littlecost.
T h e s t u d e n t s u s e e m a i l , d i s c u s s i o nl i s t s and your studentsan opportunity to visit
a n d b l o g s t o s u p p l e m e n t h e i r r e a l - t i m e placesyou might not be able to otherwise, CarolDaunt is an expertin the application
interactions. such as zoos, museums,NASA,the reef & useof learningtechnologies.With almost
One excitingexampleof a cross-cultural and more. One of the most successfulof twentyyearsexperiencesheis recognisedas
experiencewas the teaching of dance to these is a dive to see the wondersof the the leaderin her field - both in Australiaand
studentsin CentralQueensland
and in New Great Barrier Reef at the world's largest internationally.Sheis co-founder& Executive
Zealand- at the same time. Both classes l i v i n g c o r a l r e e f a q u a r i u m i n T o w n s v i l l e . Directorof theLearningTechnologies
User
connected with their dance teacher in S t u d e n t s c a n e x p e r i e n c et h e r e e f l i v e Group.
They spent a n d h a v e t h e i r q u e s t i o n sa n s w e r e df r o m
Brisbanevia videoconference.
several weeks learning traditional steps deep in the tanks by scuba divers who Forinformationsee:www,learntel.com.au
from both culturesand rehearsingroutines. w i l l b e I i n k e d b y m i c r o p h o n ew i t h i n t h e ANDwww.ltug.org
The Queensland students then traveled scuba mask.Thousandsof studentsaround
to NewZealandwherethetwo groupsrehearsed the world haveexperienced
this spectacular
and performeda concertfor a large
face-to-face field trip.
audience,
includinglocaldignitaries.

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