DEECD eduStar Video Conferencing Guide Booklet

Virtual conferencingConnecting to learn – for students and teachers

School Technology Architecture and Resources

1. Why? 4

Why is virtual conferencing benefi cial for learning and teaching? 4

2. What? 6

What are some ideas to get you started in your classroom? 6

What are Victorian schools doing with virtual conferencing? 8

A collection of stories from schools 8

Facilitating accessible professional learning across a region 8

Delivering instrumental music to rural secondary students 9

Primary and secondary students making global connections 10

Delivering VCE subjects via video conferencing 11

Connecting and sharing with school community and parents 11

Virtual pre-service teaching rounds in small, rural classrooms 12

Auslan – Sharing and learning beyond hearing 12

Collaborative curriculum delivery for rural schools 13

Video conferencing lessons for French 14

Year 12 Further Mathematics web conference sessions 14

Screen It virtual conferencing information sessions 15

Blast off with NASA astronaut, Rex Walheim 16

Professional learning with Quantum Victoria 17

Connecting students to industry experts 17

3. How? 18

How do I use virtual conferencing? 18

How to get started using virtual conferencing? 18

Technical tips on how to use Polycom in your school 19

Technical tips on how to use Microsoft Lync in your school 25

Contents

Published byDepartment of Education and Early Childhood Development

©State of Victoria (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development) 2012

The copyright in this document is owned by the State of Victoria (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development), or in the case of some materials, by third parties (third party materials). No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 or with permission.

Connecting to learn – for students and teachers

Virtual conferencing opens doors to new

learning and teaching opportunities beyond

your classroom. Victorian students and

teachers have access to a flexible suite

of virtual learning tools enabling them to

connect, interact, share and learn with others

outside of their classroom and school.

This booklet outlines why, what and how

virtual conferencing is being used by an

increasing number of Victorian government

schools. Your school will have access to many

of the virtual conferencing tools including:

• Polycom

• Blackboard Collaborate

(formally known as Elluminate) –

the Department of Education and Early

Childhood Development (DEECD)’s

Virtual Conference Centre (VCC)

• Microsoft Lync

• Skype

For more information including a

comprehensive range of support materials,

‘how to’ guides and teacher resources,

go to: http://edugate.eduweb.vic.gov.au/

virtualconf

Key terminology in a nutshell

The term virtual conference refers to a

meeting facilitated by computer software

and includes both web conference and

video conference. Virtual conference is

the overarching term for web conference

and/or video conference throughout

this publication.

The term web conference refers to a

service that brings people together from

multiple locations to share information

in an interactive environment with other

users over the internet. It supports file

transfer and application sharing between

participants.

The term video conference refers to

technology that allows users in different

locations to hold face-to-face meetings

over the internet, and so hear and see

each other on computer or television

screens, without having to move to a

single location.

An educational institution situated in Australia which is not conducted for profit, or a body responsible for administering such an institution, may copy and communicate the materials, other than third party materials, for the educational purposes of the institution.

Authorised by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne, Victoria, 3002

VirtualConferenceCentre

• To explore learning opportunities for both teachers and students. You can connect with other classrooms and teachers outside of your school.

• To deliver subject-specifi c curriculum to students anywhere in Victoria and beyond.

• To interact and authenticate learning by connecting with experts and specialists such as Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Museum Victoria and Arts Victoria i.e. bringing experts into your classroom without leaving your school.

• To ensure you don’t miss out on a vast number of cultural, scientifi c and literary events that can be streamed directly to your classroom, including science experiments and musical performances.

• To participate in, or facilitate, high-quality professional learning without leaving your school.

• To support VCE students by offering access to subjects that cannot be delivered locally.

• To create your own networks of learners, anywhere around the world.

• To build intercultural understanding and a sense of global identity, especially for students in rural Victoria.

• Connect your Languages students to native speakers and have a language exchange.

• To provide new ways to learn.

Why is virtual conferencing benefi cial for learning and teaching?

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Students could interview students from other schools, and then write a profi le about each of them, or create a graph to present data about the students.

ENGLISH, COMMUNICATION, INTERPERSONALDEVELOPMENT, MATHEMATICS, COMMUNICATION

Organise a whole-class parliamentary debate with another class, assigning portfolios to members of the Government and Opposition.

ENGLISH, CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP

Invite a scientist to talk to your students about their work, including procedures in their work and safety considerations.Contact Quantum Victoria: Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Education. http://wwwquantumvictoria.vic.edu.au/

SCIENCE

Invite language assistants from other schools, overseas residents or local residents who have lived overseas to speak to your students about the settings, countries and regions where the target language is spoken.

LANGUAGES

Ask students to participate in a book club with students from other schools, reading books of interest and discussing the books with their peers.

ENGLISH

Invite an expert in physiology to talk to the students about the body’s various reactions to exercise. Contact BioLab: Victorian Bio Science Education Centrehttp://www.biolab.vic.edu.au/

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Invite a panel of engineers, scientists or designers to become judges for your class episode of ‘The new inventors’, allowing students to showcase their designed products and receive feedback from experts.

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

Why not connect with classes from other schools for a group sing-along session, in English or another language?

THE ARTS, LANGUAGES

Here is a selection of ideas to get you started with using virtual conferencing in your classroom.

What are some ideas to get you started in your classroom?

06

Connect with Ecolinc - a science and technology innovation centre located in Bacchus Marsh, to focus on sustainable environmental development practices. http://ecolinc.vic.edu.au/

SCIENCE

Invite community members from different cultural groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities, to speak to your students and answer their questions.

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP

Invite an astronomer to talk to your students about the solar system and the Earth’s atmosphere.

SCIENCE

Invite an environmental scientist to speak with your students about natural processes that change the environment, such as tsunami, drought, fl oods, weathering and erosion. Discuss the impacts and possible actions students could take to reduce the impact on the environment. Contact Earth Ed Earth Sciences Centre.http://www.earthed.vic.edu.au/

SCIENCE

Ask students to use screen-sharing functionality and teach their peers, or teachers from other schools, how to use various software applications or web 2.0 tools.

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Invite a local council member to speak to your students about the roles of the mayor, or invite a Member of Parliament to discuss the differences in roles between local, state and federal governments.

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP

Invite an entomology expert to connect with your students and answer their questions about insect and lifecycles.

SCIENCE

Invite community members with different occupations to connect with your students and answer questions about their occupation.

HUMANITIES

Connect with the Victorian Space Science and Education Centre (VSSEC) a specialist science centre. VSSEC is also part of a global network of Space Science Centres and Institutions and links between local and international business and industry.www.vssec.vic.edu.au/

SCIENCE

Arrange with students to connect with an author or university lecturer in literature to receive feedback on their individual writing pieces.

ENGLISH

Connect your students with the Gene Technology Access Centre to fi nd out about cell and molecular biology, with particular reference to DNA science and applications in biotechnology.http://www.gtac.edu.au/site/home.html

SCIENCE

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What are Victorian schools doing with virtual conferencing?

Facilitating accessible professional learning across a region

The challenge of delivering quality, just-in-time, professional learning throughout the Grampians Region is being met through the increasing use of video conferencing tools – Polycom, Microsoft Lync and Communicator are all being used.

Regional staff have been running mini-conferences for Grampians teachers from their desktop, as well as regular virtual conference meetings and curriculum events via Polycom.

Language teachers, throughout the region involved in the ‘Innovative Languages Provision in Clusters’ (ILPIC) initiative have received effective professional learning via video conferencing in curriculum development, focusing on blended learning. The benefi t for those facilitating the professional learning is that they can meet increased demands and enquiries more effi ciently, without the imperative of always travelling long distances.

A collection of stories from schools

The following 14 case studies outline how virtual conferencing is being used in Victorian government schools. The case studies provide an overview of the various ways schools are incorporating virtual conferencing into their classrooms.

The icons below are used to identify key foci of each case study i.e. professional learning, secondary curriculum, primary curriculum access to experts and collaboration.

teacher professional

learning

collaboration

Instruction, training and discussions led by guest speakers can be delivered to multiple locations at a time, effi ciently and cost-effectively. Recently 12 schools throughout the Grampians Region simultaneously linked together via Polycom for a hands-on eduSTAR software training workshop, run by a facilitator in Melbourne. All the participants had opportunities to engage directly with the presenter, and to draw on support from their peers at the end point school location. Sessions were recorded for playback purposes.

access to experts

secondary curriculum

primary curriculum

08

Virtual Conferencing

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Teachers and trainers fi nd certain video conferencing features particularly useful. These features include the ability to share content and desktops while providing instruction. Trainers can observe the teachers as they move their mouse around the screen and offer real-time advice and assistance. Controls can also be switched so teachers are observing the trainer’s desktop to demonstrate a skill or process.

The Grampians Region advertises professional learning activities available via video conferencing to all schools. Teachers frequently express their appreciation at being able to access quality professional learning and networks of expertise without the need for a four-hour drive to Melbourne.

Delivering instrumental music to rural secondary students

Music teachers in the Grampians Region have been bridging the gap in the delivery of instrumental music throughout the region by offering weekly drum lessons to students at Rainbow, Donald and Edenhope secondary colleges from Ballarat, via Polycom video conferencing.

As part of the blended learning pilot, Percussion teacher, Alistair Lethlean, authored and compiled a DVD of resource materials recorded at a professional studio. The resource was sent to students at the participating schools. ‘The video conferencing makes lesson time more worthwhile and engaging for students,’ Alistair refl ected.

The blended learning approach enabled students to progress at their own pace, view the instructional DVD and to use the video conference time to address specifi c

questions with their teacher, many of which resulted from viewing the instructional DVD materials they have been sent.

As Jo Tate (Blended learning and Ultranet coach) reported, ‘The initial trial conducted in Term two this year convinced us that this was an effi cient and effective way of delivering quality instrumental instruction to students in the bush’. A directory of teachers interested in delivering instrumental music was collated through the pilot. Schools were also asked to check for music expertise with their local communities to facilitate expanding music offerings.

An international schools concert using video conferencing is being planned, as a result of the success of the instrumental music program using Polycom. Ten schools in the Grampians Region also will have a unique chance to participate in a music composition workshop with Australian singer, Katie Noonan via Polycom. The students from around Victoria will have instruments with them for direct participation in workshop activities.

The Grampians Region is currently in discussions with Opera Australia to pilot some specialist content programs for delivery to schools. As Jo Tate refl ected, ‘Many specialist partnership organisations just need guidance and advice on how schools are using video conferencing and how to tap into existing networks’.


learning

collaborationsecondary curriculum

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learning

collaborationaccess to experts

Primary and secondary students making global connections

At a small school in a rural town in the Barwon South Western Region, the teacher and students at Hawkesdale P-12 College have been building global connections withschools around the world, to enrich the lives and learning of their school community, sharing in a global learning exchange for intercultural awareness. Teachers at Hawkesdale P-12 College used Blackboard Collaborate with students in Years 3–12 and with parents.

Over a number of years, connections have included collaborated curriculum delivery with schools across Australia and internationally, teacher professional learning, developing community and parent networks, as well as providing opportunities for pre-service teachers to develop their virtual pedagogy in small rural classrooms.

Most recently classes have connected with classrooms in China, USA, Japan, Malaysia, Honduras and Germany. The students loved connecting with other students from around the world, and have developed sound knowledge of local and global values and beliefs, and have a sound understanding of some of the issues that affect everyone, such as climate change.

These global collaborations began with one teacher making connections and planning sessions with others across the globe using Skype in the classroom that can be accessed at the following link. http://education.skype.com

When the students from Hawkesdale College connected with students from Honduras, it was 1.00 pm in Victoria and 10.00pm in Honduras. The will to connect was strong, so students and teachers were willing to make special exceptions to accommodate the time differences.

The students at Hawkesdale P-12 College became effective users of Google Maps, and learnt how to refi ne questions and improve their communication skills to speak with students for whom English is an additional, second or third language.

primary curriculum


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Delivering VCE subjects via video conferencing

VCE students from the Wimmera area, in Grampians Region, have been able to broaden their subject choices through the successful delivery of a range of VCE subjects via video conferencing.

As Meridith Walker, principal of Casterton Secondary College explained, ‘It’s not always feasible to run a VCE class with only one or two students. That was the situation we found ourselves in with three girls who wanted to study Year 12 English Literature. So we decided that the students would access the subject via video conferencing through the Grampians Virtual School. The Year 12 English Literature teacher at Horsham College, Brandi Galpin, not only teaches her own Year 11 and 12 classes face-to-face, but she also has the three students from Casterton Secondary College, three from Warracknabeal Secondary College and one from Murtoa College, as part of her virtual class’.

Along with Polycom, Brandi incorporated a range of web 2.0 tools, such as Wordle, Wallwisher and Twitter, to enhance discussion and sharing between all of her students during the lesson. ‘It’s another way that the students can share what they know about the text being studied in real-time, and learn from each other,’ Brandi explained.

Each student at the four schools had their own laptop as part of a 1-to-1 program, enabling them to share and communicate

with their teacher and other students, both during and outside of class, ensuring that the remote students did not miss out on face-to-face contact.

Georgia, one of the Year 12 students at Casterton Secondary College, identifi ed a clear benefi t of being part of the virtual school. Georgia stated ‘In a learning sense, we really concentrate in our English Literature video conferencing class. I need Literature to get into the course I want to study at university and this is the next best thing to having a teacher in the class with us’.

Connecting and sharing with school community and parents

Virtual conferencing has enabled connections across the long rural distances from the comfort of home. With many of the families around Hawkesdale P-12 College living on farms some distance from the school, online meetings between parents, teachers and students have become an ideal solution. It started with four, online, nightly linkups with parents, teachers and students, and the time was used to share what was happening in the classroom, discuss school events and invite parents’ opinions.

In addition, a teacher from Darwin joined one session to discuss the differences in classroom and community environments between the top end and the bottom of Australia. As a result, a toy exchange was set up between the Prep classes from both schools.

A sample of one of the online meeting recordings is available at the following link. http://goo.gl/Ps2nD

collaboration

primary curriculum



11


Virtual pre-service teaching rounds in small, rural classrooms

In partnership with the Country Education Project, the University of Ballarat and Hawkesdale P-12 College, virtual teaching rounds with pre-service teachers was trialled. The trial was very successful, and gave pre-service teachers the opportunity to learn how to connect with small, rural classrooms using technology. It also provided opportunities for pre-services teachers to experience classrooms in small, rural schools and teach students across mixed year levels.

A sample of one of the pre-service teaching session recordings is available at the following link. http://goo.gl/MAoqV

Auslan – Sharing and learning beyond hearing

At Diamond Creek East Primary School, Polycom provided the opportunity for students to broaden their Auslan experience beyond the classroom. The benefi ts of this technology included connecting students and teachers to other schools that also teach Auslan as their additional language, providing effective group and individual communication, inspiring teacher and student collaboration, and fostering positive, purposeful and innovative learning outcomes.

The school formed a partnership with Charles LaTrobe Deaf Facility and Rosanna Golfl inks Primary using video conferencing. The aim was to use Polycom to facilitate signed exchanges between the hearing and deaf students from these schools, so that information and ideas were shared in real time, in the most effi cient and benefi cial way. The children took great delight in sharing, demonstrating and practising their signing skills with each other. Students were encouraged to take turns to apply their Auslan knowledge, introduce themselves and ask simple signed questions to one another, with emphasis placed on facial expression, incorporating relevant signs and fi nger spelling practice. This opportunity not only enabled the students to further develop their Auslan communication and learning possibilities, but also helped with awareness raising. The deaf students from the facility were excellent peer tutors for the students of Diamond Creek East Primary School, and in return this positive interaction helped to deepen and strengthen the understanding and respect that the students have for one another.

Polycom also provided a very convenient way to maintain and further develop professional learning opportunities by cutting the cost of travelling to schools and saving time. It enabled teachers to stay in touch with other Auslan teachers, and made it possible for schools to work together to be more proactive and form a stronger, supportive network.

collaborationprimary curriculum


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Being able to collaborate effi ciently enabled the sharing of resources and planning ideas to take place, resulting in more enriching and engaging learning outcomes for students learning Auslan.

Video conferencing added to Diamond Creek East’s commitment to Auslan and this technology enabled students and teachers to be exposed to many teaching and learning possibilities that they may have not otherwise have experienced.

Collaborative curriculum delivery for rural schools

It is important that students in small, rural schools have access to a comprehensive school curriculum, especially at VCE level. Students from Hawkesdale P-12 College, Bacchus Marsh College and Balmoral K-12 Community College connected for the curriculum delivery of Units 3 and 4 VCE Accounting. The teaching staff and students used a combination of Blackboard Collaborate and Skype, with regular linkups online both during and after school hours.

Students and teachers used the recordings, application sharing and fi le transfer for enriched collaborative learning tasks, and the chat function for participation. All students successfully gained an ‘S’ in Units 3 and 4 VCE Accounting. Given the success of delivering VCE Accounting, a program was also designed to include the collaborative curriculum delivery of VCE Environmental Science. This included weekly online lessons using Blackboard Collaborate and resources on the Ultranet.

A sample of one of the online meeting recoding is available at the following link. http://goo.gl/dhIRM

access to experts

collaboration

primary curriculum


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Video conferencing lessons for French

The Years 3-6 classroom at Landsborough Primary School was part of the ‘Innovative Language Program in Clusters’ (ILPIC) initiative in the Grampians Region. A total of eight primary schools, including Landsborough Primary School, were part of the cluster— Buangor Primary School, Maroona Primary School, Elmhurst Primary School, Navarre Primary School, Amphitheatre Primary School, Moonambel Primary School and Willaura Primary School. The aim of this initiative was to provide access to Languages teachers in rural schools.

The cluster of schools had access to native French-speaking teachers, Valerie Lobry and Audrey Morand from Ararat Community Secondary College. Using Polycom and Blackboard Collaborate, the schools took advantage of weekly French lessons for their students. Using the virtual conferencing technologies created new opportunities for collaborative learning and curriculum delivery as well as team teaching across geographical locations.

Students from across the cluster had the opportunity to learn French pronunciation with the help of the native French-speaking teachers using video conferencing. The students loved the opportunity to learn with each other in an innovative classroom setting. So far, they have learned the French words for colours, shapes, letters and greetings during the weekly lessons. Teachers and students built connections across the cluster, plus it also saved travelling time as well as money by not having to bring a Language teacher into the school.

Students transitioning to secondary schools have the advantage of experience with the French language, which boosts their confi dence.

A key to the success of the program was not only the quality of teaching, but also the level of commitment and support within each of the participating schools and access to tools to connect.

Feedback from students and parents across the cluster was very positive.

‘I loved participating in ILPIC because we got to learn French with other schools within the cluster.’ (Year 6 student)

‘I liked French because we learn new words every lesson and they made it fun by using video clips that we viewed on the video conferencing machine.’ (Year 5 student)

Year 12 Further Mathematics web conference sessions

VCE Further Mathematics students at Brimbank College have used Blackboard Collaborate to conduct additional revision classes to help prepare for their fi nal exams. Web conferencing tools including audio, chat and the shared whiteboard enabled students to interact with each other and with the teacher throughout the sessions – just as if they were in a real classroom environment. The application sharing feature was also an extremely useful and valuable tool throughout all of the web conferencing sessions.

This feature allowed the teacher to share a graphics calculator simulation program from his computer with the students’ screens, in order to help revise procedures and techniques for statistical calculations and other specialised applications.

Class web conference sessions were organisedat negotiated times on weeknight evenings.


primary curriculum

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Participation in these voluntary sessions was usually quite good, despite the diffi culty in arranging session times to suit most students—many students had out-of-school commitments including part-time jobs and sport. As the web conference sessions could be recorded, students who missed any sessions, or who wanted to replay any sessions were able to do so by accessing a link to the recording that was provided to the class via email, and also posted on the school’s Learning Management System (LMS).

Feedback from students was very supportive and positive. Comments included:

‘I like this as another way of doing our work.’

‘I really enjoyed the session. We should do more of this.’

‘Seeing the graphics calculator on the screen helped me understand how to use it better.’

Screen It virtual conferencing information sessions

Screen It is the annual moving image competition developed by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) for primary and secondary schools. The competition is designed to foster a generation of young moving image makers by providing a national showcase for new and innovative work.

Leading up to the entry deadline for Screen It, ACMI Education ran an interactive information session with participants interested in submitting entries for the competition, using both video and web conferencing tools. For example, the students from Fitzroy North Primary School used Polycom while other teachers and students from around Australia used Blackboard Collaborate. The session also utilised various ACMI facilities including the control room and TV studio, green screen technology, a multi-camera set-up, a ‘how-to’ video from ACMI Channel and footage from a previous Screen It awards ceremony. Vincent Trundle, ACMI’s Audio Visual Curriculum Designer, hosted the session.

ACMI had previously received multiple enquiries – in many cases, the same questions – via email, phone and the web about the competition. The virtual conferences enabled ACMI to respond to the queries and provide information, including an explanation of the entry process, in an effi cient and timely manner.

The virtual conference was a wonderful opportunity to hear from students about how they were approaching the competition. Students and teachers from Fitzroy North Primary School shared their insights and processes by offering excellent ideas and innovative approaches to the theme and the different categories.

The 35 teachers and 17 students who took part in both sessions were very positive about the conference, and clearly felt empowered by the support and the opportunity to engage in peer-to-peer teaching.

You can access the session recording using the following link. http://goo.gl/hoicu

collaboration



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Blast off with NASA astronaut, Rex Walheim

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and DEECD presented a one-off education program designed to coincide with the visit of Rex Walheim, a mission specialist and fl ight engineer on NASA’s fi nal space shuttle Atlantis (July 2011), for the opening of Star voyager: Exploring space on screen. ACMI Education and DEECD set up technologies to enable as many students as possible across Victoria to access this learning opportunity.

ACMI’s Studio 1 became a classroom with a difference. A live audience of 50 students was joined by more than 5000 students from over 110 Victorian schools via Blackboard Collaborate and live broadcasts at Federation Square, Scienceworks and the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Using the magic of green screen technology, students watching the event online saw Mr Walheim ‘blast off’ in an ACMI spacecraft, walk them through a spaceship and talk about being in space, with accompanying images and footage. Holly Loughran, ACMI Education Deliverer, hosted the session.

Mr Walheim, a mission specialist for several NASA space fl ights, proved to be a natural educator, answering live questions, sent in by students watching the event at their schools and also pre-recorded questions from Victorian students somewhere in space, from ACMI ’Mission Control’.

After the event, Studio 1 was abuzz with excitement due to the live audience’s engagement, while online students and teachers gave feedback indicating a similar level of animated follow-up discussion at their locations.

The hour-long session was recorded and the video, broken into four parts, can be found at the following link. http://goo.gl/uy630. The rich resource provides considerable value for space enthusiasts in primary and lower secondary education.

See what teachers and students said about this event on the ACMI blog at the following link. http://goo.gl/8owqA

access to experts

primary curriculum


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Professional learning with Quantum Victoria

Quantum is one of the six specialist science centres in Victoria. It is located within the Charles Latrobe P-12 College in the Northern Metropolitan Region, and can deliver professional learning and science programs right across Victoria using virtual conferencing.

In the fi rst year of operation, staff from Quantum ran two, ten-week modules of online professional learning for teams of fi ve teachers across 25 schools. The modules were self-paced and had multiple entry and exit points that modelled 21st century learning strategies. It was not your traditional professional learning.

Each week, a webinar using Blackboard Collaborate, was held by national and international experts in the fi elds of problem-based learning and the effective use of ICT in Science and Mathematics. These webinars were supported by a virtual learning community, where participants had access to a series of weekly tasks, which included readings, watching videos, listening to podcasts, examining 21st century pedagogy etc. http://quantumvictoria.ning.com/

At the culmination of the ten-week module, teachers (or teams of teachers) were asked to engage students in an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex, real-world problem or issue. These student-centred projects are designed to help students learn key academic content, practise 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration and critical thinking, and create high-quality, authentic products and presentations. The teachers created digital stories to share with the Quantum community.

Connecting students to industry experts

The Young scientist and engineer webinar series used Blackboard Collaborate to connect students with young scientists and engineers, who showed some exciting career pathways that studying Mathematics and Science could lead to. In connecting students with young professionals, Quantum Victoria hoped to break down stereotypes and provide students with local role models that they could aspire to. Visit the following website to fi nd out more information about the series. http://tinyurl.com/9vqbku6

Quantum also worked with the people from Industry 2 Classroom to deliver presentations to rural and remote schools using Blackboard Collaborate. http://industrytoclassroom.org/ Quantum provided authentic opportunities for both primary and secondary students to work with, talk to, and collaborate with game designers. The opportunity enabled the students to examine games, game design, history of games and become aware of the skills needed for a career in industry.


learning


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How do I use virtual conferencing?How to get started using virtual conferencing?

Resource URL

The DEECD eduGate site contains a comprehensive range of support materials, ‘how to’ guides and teacher resources

How to use the Polycom HDX remote control – YouTube video clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQQimiMpBUM

Blackboard Collaborate overview http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Collaborate/Overview.aspx

Blackboard Collaborate resources: DEECD’s Virtual Conference Centre

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/researchinnovation/virtualconferencecentre/default.htm

CAPspace (Collaborations around the planet)

http://www.polycom.com.au/solutions/industry/education/programs_resources/collaboration_around_planet.html

CAPspace service partners http://www.polycom.com.au/global/documents/services/certifi ed_service_partners/collabrate_around_planet.pdf

Electroboard: Education case studies http://electroboard.com.au/company/casestudies.aspx

Electroboard: Education Resources http://electroboard.com.au/solutions/education.aspx

Electroboard: Training, resources and Polycom events calendar

http://www.seeshareshape.com.au/default.aspx

Skype in the classroom http://education.skype.com/

The Council of Professional Teaching Associations of Victoria

http://www.cpta.vic.edu.au/member-associations.html

Video conference provider database http://www.vccontentproviders.org/

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Technical tips on how to use Polycom in your school

Point-to-point video call

• Linking two schools together.

• Teachers and students are able to see each other, share documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with fellow teachers across the Department for professional learning and development.

For further details: http://edugate.eduweb.vic.gov.au/virtualconf

School A Polycom unit School B Polycom unit

Point-to-point video call

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Multipoint video call

• Linking three or more schools together.

• Teachers and students are able to see each other, share documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with fellow teachers across the Department for professional learning and development.


School A Polycom unit School C Polycom unit

School B Polycom unit

video conference bridge unit

Multipoint video call

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Point-to-point video call to an external unit via the internet

• Linking a schools videoconference unit to a remote via the internet.

• Teachers and students can collaborative on projects with fellow teachers outside of DEECD via the internet.


School A Polycom unit any remote video conference unit

Point-to-point video call to an external unit via the internet

any remote video

internet

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Multipoint video call-sharing content

• Linking three or more schools together.

• The content from the computer is sent and displayed across all screens, providing collaboration to all participants. Teachers and students are able to see each other, share content, documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with fellow teachers across DEECD for professional learning and development.


Multipoint video call-sharing content

computercomputer

School A Polycom unit with computer connected

for content sharing

School C Polycom unit



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Point-to-point video call-sharing content

• Linking two schools together

• Content from the computer is sent and displayed to the remote schools screens, providing collaboration to all participants. Teachers and students are able to see each other, share content, documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with fellow teachers across DEECD for professional learning and development.


Point-to-point video call-sharing content

computer

School A Polycom unit with computer connected

for content sharing


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Multipoint video call with remote video conference unit

• Linking two or more schools together with a remote video conference unit via the internet.

• Teachers and students are able to see the remote guest user, share documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with others outside of DEECD for professional learning and development.

Multipoint video call with a remote video conference unit

School A Polycom unit any remote video conference unit

any remote video

internet



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Technical tips on how to use Microsoft Lync in your school

Point-to-point instant message (IM) and collaboration using Microsoft Lync

• Linking two users together using computers (PC or Mac).

• Teachers and staff are able to communicate with each other, share documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with fellow teachers across the DEECD for professional learning and development.

For further details: https://edugate.eduweb.vic.gov.au/Services/IT/ITServices/Pages/Microsoft_Lync_2010.aspx

Point-to-point instant message (IM) and desktop collaboration using Lync

computer computer

25


Multipoint instant message (IM) and collaboration using Microsoft Lync

• Linking three or more users together using computers (PC or Mac).

• Teachers and staff are able to communicate with each other, share documents and discuss topics together.

• Teachers can communicate with fellow teachers across the DEECD for professional learning and development.

For further details: https://edugate.eduweb.vic.gov.au/Services/IT/ITServices/Pages/Microsoft_Lync_2010.aspx

Multipoint instant message (IM) and desktop collaboration using Lync

computer

central server

computer

computer

26


School Technology Architecture and Resources

Documents

DEECD eduStar Video Conferencing Guide Booklet