In 1994, Pacific Bell launched Education
First, a $100 million project aimed at providing technology resources
to the 9,000 California schools and libraries in the company's service
territory. The goal of Education First is to help schools establish the
telecommunications infrastructure needed to access the Internet and/or
participate in videoconferencing with other sites and to help develop the
skills to effectively exploit the value of interactive data and video applications.
As part of the Education First
Initiative, Pacific Bell funded three fellowships at San Diego State
University's Department
of Educational Technology. The job of the Education
First Fellows was creating Internet and videoconferencing curriculum
and resources for K-12 schools, community colleges, and public libraries.
You can find the work of the fellows in the Wired
Learning section of the Pacific Bell Knowledge
Network Explorer.
This presentation will focus on the many uses of videoconferencing.
Field trips and guest lecturers: In order to best demonstrate the
many uses of videoconferencing, I will now simulate some scenarios in which
videoconferencing can be useful. Let's start with field trips and guest
lecturers. I am a guest lecturer and I am conducting a training session
right now. Although I am located in a remote location, I am able to interact
with this group in a real time mode. At its most basic level, videoconferencing
allows a guest lecturer or expert to "come into" the library
or classroom, or brings an entire training session or course to participants
who might not otherwise be able to attend.
Collaborative projects: Let's pretend we are two schools, or two
libraries, or any two individuals or groups working together on a project
such as a grant proposal. On some units, we could "share" this
document fully. Either one of us could take control of the keyboard and
add or delete. This does involve a little bit of negotiation so that we
formally release control of the mouse or keyboard; but otherwise is quite
simple to do. It is also easy to hook up a second computer and use the
second computer as the auxiliary input. This allows me to switch back and
forth between input 1, me, and input 2, the document that we are working
on. [Demonstrate].
Just-in-time
training: Many schools, libraries, and businesses are faced with ongoing
training needs and the lack of resources to provide the training. Training
usually means releasing your staff from their regular duties for the entire
day, and may even mean additional charges for travel, meals, and lodging.
Videoconferencing allows us to conduct training right here at our workstations.
The trainer can make presentation slides and show them, or send them through
to the participants using file transfer capabilities. Software training
can take place in real time by starting up the software and demonstrating
live. As interest in the training topic grows, awareness of the technology
being used dissipates.
Just-in-time support: Sometimes branch libraries are not staffed
with professional librarians. Subject specialists may be available only
at the central library. There may be communication problems such as a foreign
language or a deaf patron. During a videoconferencing session, a librarian
could assist another librarian or a patron in developing an online library
search. It is easy to open a telnet session or access an online catalog
and provide support in the same manner as if the librarian were actually
physically present.
Meetings or mentoring: Here's a little something I like to show
at the end of my simulations. It's a QuickTime VR movie. We could pretend
that I am at the library showing the public a proposed new building or
park, or that I am giving a travel presentation. We could just as easily
imagine a group of students examining an object in a foreign museum, having
the chance to turn the item over and view it from different perspectives.
Or we could pretend that we are involved in international manufacturing
and I am presenting a new prototype for development.
Resources for further exploration
We have created an entire website that provides information
about the uses of videoconferencing, as well as equipment, troubleshooting,
and evaluation. The URL for this site is http://www.kn.pacbell.com/vidconf/.
Additional resources that may be of interest to you include: