PreK Teacher Meeting by Video Conference

This year, it was my goal to get at least one of my Distance Learning districts to use video conferencing for meetings about topics other than video conferencing.

I am going to meet with some preschool teachers by video conference today. It's kind of exciting because we are meeting about a web site and collaborative drive they are going to use. They want help figuring it all out.

Since I couldn't be there in person today, I suggested a video conference meeting. They bravely agreed to participate that way.

They want to learn how to use the district's new collaborative drive, so I will be able to show them my computer screen by switching my video source to my computer while I demonstrate how to make folders and save there.

I will also show them their new website of early childhood resources and how to add hyperlinks to it.

How do you use video conferencing with educators?

Hornell DL Overview

We are doing an overview of the GST Distance Learning Service for Hornell elementary teachers today. We'll be talking about ways to use video conferencing in the classroom; IVC projects offered around NYS; content providers we enjoy; etc. Then we will connect with the Cleveland Museum of Art to talk about programs that they offer and to answer teachers' questions.

Would you like us to do a presentation for your staff? Let us know! DL @ gstboces . org

Developing Online Training about IVC

I am getting ready to develop some online training about video conferencing for educators. I've noticed that participation in live trainings has been steadily decreasing during this school year. We cancelled several of the classes planned for this year.

I know that I will develop an Intro to Video Conferencing class, but I'm still trying to decide topics for other online classes. My goal is to develop 3 classes and have them ready to roll out at the beginning of the next school year (less than 3 months away!)

Do you have suggestions? Where should I focus my time, so I can concentrate on classes people want most?

VC Etiquette: Multi-site Muting

Tip: If you are in a multi-site video conference, you should keep your site muted unless you are presenting to the whole group. This will reduce distractions and help the other sites focus on the site that is presenting.

Have you done video conferencing before?

If you haven't, ask for help! Find someone who will do an introduction to video conferencing for you and your class by video conference. This will give you a chance to play with the equipment before connecting with a content provider or with a collaborative IVC partner.

If you need assistance, let us know! We do a video conference intro session for students and teachers.

DL@gstboces.org

Tellebration Celebration on Saturday, November 20

Saturday, November 20, is Tellabration Day -- A Day of of Storytelling Celebrated World-wide!

( www.tellabration.org , led by the USA's National Storytelling Network).

Eric Miller is based in Chennai (on India's southeast coast),where he directs the World Storytelling Institute, and they are just beginning the Chennai Storytelling Association there. In Mumbai, they are also starting a Storytelling Association.

The World Storytelling Institute is wondering if there are people (adults and/or children) at a videoconferencing site in the USA who might like to videoconference with people Chennai and Mumbai on Tellabration Day -- just to tell and listen to stories (fairytales and other folktales), in English. This would be for 60-90 minutes, in the early part of the day on that Saturday (USA time).

This 3-way videoconference would be facilitated by Reliance Communications, a large Indian telecom company.

If interested, please reply to , or if you are in the GST Region, please let us know if you're interested and we'll pass the word along.

I wanted to share this with all of you to see if we can get groups of interested people to respond to this request. It sounds like fun, but remember, it does take place on a Saturday and it is only a week and a half away!

Custom CILC Catalog

Have you ever tried to create a custom catalog in CILC? I'm betting that there are some smarties out there who already know how to do this, but for those who don't, I have created a brief handout to help you.

Why is this helpful? If teachers ask for video conferences on a specific topic, creating a custom catalog in CILC will allow you to gather content providers and collaborative projects on that topic into one place to share with that teacher. A teacher could create their own custom catalog and keep a copy in the folder with that unit of study...

Do you use a feature in the CILC database, or another video conferencing database, that might come in handy for others? Please share by commenting on this post!