Blog 6

In Childhood Education there was an article entitled, “Discover the Technology Potential of Video Conferencing.” In this article Nancy Bryant discussed the positive use of CU-SeeMe technology. This technology allows classrooms from coast to coast to get connected together using video conferencing. Students and teachers can work collaboratively on projects, exchange classroom practices, engage in conversations about books and lessons, or share interdisciplinary classroom products. The way the CU-SeeMe technology works is that in two different classroom using FTP connected to gated.cornell.edu or ~p.classroom.net. Both users however need to use the CU-SeeMe equipment. This can be a drawback in schools are unable to have this equipment available.

5 Disciplines:

Personal Mastery – The potential for students to reach an academic high by interacting and communicating with students from a different classroom using video conferencing

Mental Models - Students can combine cultures and societal differences in collaborative work through the use of video conferencing with CU-SeeMe technology.

Systems Thinking – Both classrooms and equipment need to work together in order for collaboration, communication and interaction to occur with both classrooms.

Shared Vision – Both classes have the common goal of collaborating using the CU-SeeMe equipment.

Team Learning- This will occur through the interactions and teachings happening via Video Conferencing.

Reference: CWPost Library.

Bryant, N., Merenda, R., and Williams, S. (2000). Discover the Technology Potential of Video Conferencing. 76, 5; Discovery. Pg 316H

Blog 5

The “You are There” Initiative is a project and practice used by the University of North Florida. It allows pre-service teachers to watch and observe a master in-service teacher at work within their own classroom. This observation occurs when one class of the pre-service teacher and their professor meet and connect with the first grade classroom the master in-service teacher is in. All is observed via the internet through the use of video conferencing. The “You are There” Initiative allows professors and students to observe a classroom together and can comment while watching a live classroom feed. The professor can comment on the teachers’ reactions to students and allow helpful hints for the pre-service students to use in their own practice. Examples that occurred while the professor and the pre-service teachers watched the class was when comparing two classes they can observe and conclude how long each lesson should take, how to deal with the unexpected visitor or guest, how long should student’s work independently, what made that lesson worth teaching again, and etc. All these observations and conclusions are all happening while it is live and can be discussed after class. This “You are There” Initiative allows pre-service teachers, get to watch a classroom with their own master critic, their professor. The equipment cost for this program for the both elementary schools using it was $20,000. This can be expensive for some schools, but it also can be worth it, to allow collaboration of higher education students and elementary students work together via internet and video conferencing.

5 Disciplines:

Systems Thinking- The university students, professor and the elementary classroom all were able to work together in order to place good and bad ways to deal with real life situations happening in a classroom live.

Personal Mastery- Individual pre-service teachers were able to reach their potential of acting in the right manner and way when teaching their own lessons by having observed a live classroom via video conferencing with their professor critiquing.

Mental Models- The staff, faculty, students and classroom all were able to see how society and culture played a role in the live classroom feed as well as in the discussions about classroom management and lessons.

Shared Vision- This was to create an optimal observation experience that all would benefit from
Team learning- While the classroom, faculty, professors and higher ed students were all involved, everyone was learning teaching skills, learning skills and management skills together.

Reference: CW Post Library

Van Horn, R. (1999). The ‘You are There’ Initiative. From Technology, Retrieved April 20, 2007.

Blog 4

In an article, “Video Conferencing as a tool to link colleges of education with K-12 Schools: A P3T3 Project Initiative,” by James Lehman and Rabih Razzouk explains how distance education technologies can offer capabilities that can will better students who are becoming teachers. The use of video will help diversify classroom settings that are being observed and introduce enhanced technology that is being used outside the usual classroom settings be observed in the usual observation setting. The P3T3 project (Purdue Program for Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to use Technology) is using video conferencing to connect university students who are studying education with K-12 classrooms and students. This would usually occur through a traditional field placement setting. The P3T3 project uses high quality inexpensive video conferencing equipment that is used over the internet. The equipment used in Polycom, which makes classroom to classroom and computer based equipment that can be used on a desktop. The room to room system can allow up to 4 sites to be connected with one another. This can even be thought to be used in another area of collaborating classrooms across the world or nation. ViaVideo another system produced; by Polycom is a windows-based system that allows file sharing, whiteboard, chat, and file transfer plus video conferencing. With the use of any technology there are setbacks. The setbacks found so far are interference with the school’s firewall, video conferencing requires high bandwidth (128Kbps) this is a lot of space and memory and network traffic and high use can cause interruptions and connection failure.

5 Disciplines:

Systems Thinking- The system as a whole needs to work together. In order for the university students and the K-12 classrooms to be able to observe and communicate with each other.

Personal Mastery- For the University student, who is studying education, to be able to learn from their observation experience using the new technology and observing the distance K-12 classroom

Mental Models-With the assumption of Purdue being set in a rural area, Purdue Education students were able to experience new technology and observe a more diverse K-12 classroom through the implementation of the P3T3 project.

Shared Vision- The student and the K-12 classroom learn from each other. This can occur by communicating and observing one another, through video conferencing and the Polycom system.

Team Learning- Through the creation of an opportunity with the K-12 Classroom, and the University Students using video conferencing both groups will learn from one another and the experience.

Reference: Lehman, J. and Razzouk, R. (2003) Video Conferencing as a tool to link colleges of education with K-12 Schools: A P3T3 Project Initiative: April 20, 2007, from Purdue University.

Website: http://p3t3.soe.purdue.edu/SITE_3.pdf

Blog 3

Field experience by a pre-service teacher is a major part of study when learning how to become a teacher. This field experience can be very time consuming due to traveling that getting in the amount of observation hours required is tough for some students. In an article by James Lehman and Jennifer Richardson entitled, “ Virtual Field Experience: Helping Pre-service Teachers Learn about Diverse Classrooms through Video Conferencing Connections with K-12 Classrooms,” they explore the possibility of field experience being conducted through the use of video conferencing. It was found through their research that this method of using video conferencing was beneficial for the pre-service teachers it helped them learn from their observations, introduce educational technology and provide them with diverse classrooms. The limitations and setbacks that were discovered with the use of video conferencing use for field placement were; audio and/or video difficulty, school filters and firewalls, and lack of face to face contact and presence. The idea of video conferencing is great for schools and universities to use when the setting of them is in a rural area or a non-diverse area. The use of the internet and video conferencing observations allows those pre-service teachers to become part of a classroom setting that is different by being diversified and not like just the classrooms around the university. This project took place at Purdue University after several years of trying to figure out what ways can allow their pre-service teachers a diverse setting for field placement. There were two different types of video conferencing used in this project; the first being Class to Class via video conferencing, the second was small group instruction via personal video conferencing. Even though as discussed before their were strengths and limitations using this tool of educational technology the pre-service teacher became apart of a diverse classroom while being in a rural area of Indiana.

5 Disciplines

Personal Mastery: In this discipline students were able to reach their potential in observing classrooms by being able to observe a variety of classrooms. These classrooms being diverse which helps them become prepared for teaching, instead of just observing the rural classrooms around Purdue.

Systems Thinking- This was obtained by having the pre-service teachers interact with the classrooms or small groups. Both evaluated this process and work together to achieve the goal of getting the experience in a diverse classroom.

Mental Models- This was achieved through being involved in an urban classroom through video conferencing and being able to experience the different culture and ethnicities that are within an urban classroom setting.

Shared Vision- This is occurred with the Urban Classrooms involved, the administration, the pre-service teacher and the technology staff.

Team Learning- By the use of video conferencing and getting linked together with the pre-service teachers and the urban classrooms allows both parties to learn and create opportunities for new experiences.

References: Lehman, J. and Richardson, J. (2003). Virtual Field Experiences: Helping Pre-Service Teachers Learn about Diverse Classrooms through Video Conferencing Connections with K-12 Classroom Retrieved: April 20, 2007, from Purdue University website

Website: http://p3t3.soe.purdue.edu/EdMedia2003_Videolong.pdf

Blog 2 - Spring 2007

Video Conferencing is becoming more available for schools and education when distance learning is occurring. In an article entitled, “ The Effectiveness of Interactive Distance Education Technologies in K-12 Learning: A Meta-Analysis,” Catherine Cavanaugh researched the use of video conferencing on distance learning and the effects it has on learning different content areas. The results that were found concluded that distance learning can be enhanced and is just as comparable to traditional learning with the enhancement of the use of technology. Also, between subject area, grade level and class there was found to be no difference in performance among students. Furthermore the use of technologies such as video conferencing and various telecommunications can enhance, complement and expand options for students especially among students of the secondary grade level. Cavanaugh further explains that enhancements such as video conferencing and telecommunications can help teachers and classroom environments achieve authentication with subject matter. Now that education has turned to becoming reality based learning, in order for learners to be prepared for the real world.

5 disciplines:
Personal Mastery: This was achieved in this study by having the students set goals with contacting and communicating with each other and teachers through different technologies in order to achieve an academic performance they themselves were striving to achieve.
Shared Vision- The shared vision was for academic achievement, enhancement and learning to occur through distance learning by using the new technology tools that the students, staff and faculty were given. This was achieved by placing the students in an authenticate setting and having them explore themselves and by communicating with each other to reach a common goal.
Team Learning – This occurred with the collaborations that students were given, the small groups and discussions that lessons, units and learning was planned around using video conferencing, telecommunications and a variety of other technologies.

References: Cavanaugh, C. et al. (2001). The Effectiveness of Interactive Distance Education Technologies in K-12 Learning: A Meta-Analysis. Retrieved: April 20, 2007, from UNF International Journal of Education Telecommunications

Website: http://www.unf.edu/~ccavanau/CavanaughIJET01.pdf