Global VoicesLocal Classrooms
Video Conferencing the Easy Way
Julian Westerhout- Carleton CollegeJoachim Rennstich - Fordham University
What is Video Conferencing?
Video conferencing technology allows people at two or more locations to see and hear each other at the same time.
Early Attempts - the Picturephone
Publicly unveiled at the 1964 World’s Fair
The Jetsons:Video Conferencing of the future ?
Why Video Conference?
Bring in an outside speaker
Virtual Field Trips
Multi-School Projects
International Projects
Or?
Guest Presenters
Invite colleagues or students from other schools
Invite field experts
About 50% presentation
About 50% questions and answers
Consider inviting a larger audience
Planning is Key
Test and test againBe sure the ethernet ports are open for iChat All academic network ports “should” be, but check beforehand!Do a trial run at least a day before the event
Lights and soundGood lighting helps a lot Remind class to speak up and to face the camera
Tips for Success
Assign readings relevant to conference at least one class in advanceHave students prepare questions for conference; check at least one class in advance
Group work; collaboration Engage quieter students through breakout assignments
Have them give group input as group’s video spokesperson
Have a Plan “B”
Class needs to know what to do/where to go if connection is interrupted, etc.
Supplemental Communications
E-mail, Listserv, chat
Website assignments
In-class writing assignments
Group sessions
Available at Carleton
or...
Polycom
A Mac, Apple iChat AV and AIM
and...
A Firewire Camcorder
Apple iSight Webcam
or...
An Apple iSight Webcam
Why iChat?Essentially free, no specialized setup needed
Better standards than Polycom
H.264 vs H.263: better quality at lower bandwidth
Flexible Hardware
Can be used with most modern Macs and a wide assortment of cameras
Easy to use interface for video and audio
Multi-party video and audio chats possible
Getting Started with iChat
Can do cross-platform with AIM and Windows
Not such a great experience
Mac to Mac easiest and best experience
Fast connections better
Fast hardware better
But it will work on slower units
Get a dedicated AIM account
www.aim.com
Get a new AIM screen name
www.aim.com
Open iChat
by clicking on its Dock icon
Add your “Buddy”by clicking on the + and then
selecting New Person
Initiate a chatby clicking on the camera(or phone for audio) icon
Accept a chat invitationby clicking on Accept in the
window that pops up
Make the video full screen
You can mute/pause
iChat Enhancements
iChatUSBCam$10 software add-on that allows use of USB webcams with iChat
iGlassesTerrific $8 software add-on that allows control over video setting on iSight
Conference RecorderA $15 software add-on that allows you to record your audio chats and save them to your Mac. Best used with fast hardware.
These are all available at http://www.ecamm.com/mac/
SightSpeedhttp://www.sightspeed.com/
Multi-platform
USB, Firewire Web Cam or iSight
Free & Subscription versions
Multiple Users
Works over many firewalls
Not very smooth
Video Conference Links
iChat: http://www.apple.com/ichat
AIM: http://aim.com
Polycom: http://polycom.com
SightSpeed: http://www.sightspeed.com
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