Quick-Reads

Quick-Reads: High level overviews of how videoconferencing is being used to meet the goals of schools or districts.

Quick-Read #1
Organization: Green Middle School, Green, Ohio
Submitted by: Paula Jameson, Technology Resource Teacher
The goal: To view and discuss primary source materials
The Provider: The National Archives

Through over 12 videoconferences, every eighth grade student visits with Dave Rosenmaum at the National Archives to view the following primary source materials:

• The Constitution: to learn that it mandates naturalization, census and the Electoral College.
• The letter written by the mayor of Kent to Ohio’s governor to enlist the National Guard during the Kent State protests: Kent State is located close to the school.
• Albert Einstein’s naturalization paper: Students will have already studied this topic.
• The 1930 census: to view occupations, borders, etc.
• The 1919 Electoral College tally: to understand how a candidate who received the most votes did not win the presidential election
• A Virtual Tour of Washington, D.C.: to prepare for their class trip to the actual city.

Contact Information: Paula Jameson at 330-896-7720

Quick-Read #2
Organization: Everton Children and Family Centre, United Kingdom
Submitted by: Matthew Farrell, ICT Co-ordinator
The goal: Getting Started with Videoconferencing

The Everton Children and Family Centre offers education and care for children from birth to five years of age. Videoconferencing was purchased initially to reduce travel time and cost to meetings in Nottingham and London. Some of these meetings were 200 miles away and lasted only one half hour!

Once the unit was installed, the staff began to explore ways to integrate it into their curriculum. Their first connection was with Avenue Primary, a school on the South Coast of England. The children had a lively experience taking turns to sing songs and copy motions from a popular book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

After much searching, they found a local museum willing to connect with them. No buses and no extra staff to chaperone! The children were delighted and amazed as ‘Phil” took them on a journey through the museum’s natural history collections, showing them a range of fossils and models. Many children thought that the huge dinosaur foot resembled a big chicken foot! They also discussed the diet of penguins and the size of mammoth teeth and marveled at the colorful butterflies.

The whole Centre is very keen to carry on their exploration of the use of videoconferencing to forge links both nationally and internationally. They believe that meeting people from other settings will enhance their children’s education.

Contact Information: Matthew Farrell