Video Conferencing

Dear colleagues,

I wonder if any of your classes may be interested in a US political debate via videoconference. A colleague in Texas is interested in the UK’s perspective on the results of the American election and would like to hold an international VC on 12 December to allow students to discuss some of the issues.

Please read the email below from Gerri Maglia for more details, and reply to Gerri (copying me if possible) if you would like to take part.

Gerri is a little worried about this debate being too popular for the limited time allowed. If any of you would like to take part in a political debate with other schools, but are not able to collaborate with Gerri Maglia in Texas, please contact me and I will attempt to group together any remaining responses.

If you need assistance in using the JANET Videoconferencing Service (JVCS) to connect to the US then please don’t hesitate to contact me or JVCS. (www.jvcs.ja/net/booking)

Thanks, and enjoy the debate.

Tim.

_____________________________________________

On December 12th, the Texas Education Telecommunications Network (TETN) and the 20 Education Service Centers are hoping to have a day of events that relate to "After Election Day - What Happens Next?".    We are hoping that we can convince some of you to join us on that day and allow your students to talk with our students (grades 6th - 12th, or ages 12 - 18) about your country's perspectives on our election processes and your thoughts on our President Elect, Barack Obama. 

We hope that discussions will revolve around

- why the President of the United States is important to people outside of the U.S.

- what issues your students think are most important for the U.S. President to focus on

- what concerns you might have about our choice

- what you think about our election process

- what stories have been in your media concerning our election

You must be able to connect H.323 (IP) at 384K.  If you are interested, email me back and let me know that you  are interested!  We will try to accommodate as many of you as we can.  In Texas, we are on UTC/GMT -6 hours, or CST, so let me know what time you might be able to connect.

Gerri Maglia

Education Specialist - TETN

(512) 919-5171

gerri.maglia@esc13.txed.net

Introduction to Videoconferencing
16^th December
Videoconferencing can provide fast and cost effective access to colleagues, peers and subject experts. However the technology involved can sometimes appear daunting. The aim of this course is to prepare you for using videoconferencing by familiarising you with the equipment and addressing the issues that you may encounter.  A full description of the course is available at http://www.ja.net/services/training/courses/introtovc.html

Technical Support for Videoconferencing
17^th December 2008
Within the context of national JANET services, this course will provide a useful introduction to the technical aspects of videoconferencing. It includes an overview of the components of a videoconferencing network, details of how to set up a videoconference facility within your organisation and how to manage these facilities. This is supported by details of how to make the most of existing facilities and tips on ongoing management and support of users. This course will focus on good practice and technical theory, it does not cover technical configuration of videoconferencing components.  A full description of the course is available at http://www.ja.net/services/training/courses/technicalsupportforvc.html

Cost  (per delegate per course,  including VAT):
Primary Connected Organisations :  £180
Interconnect Connected Sites:  £200
Full details of these categories  are available on our web site at www.ja.net/training/prices.html.

Regards

JANET Training

-------------------------------------------------------------
Telephone: +44 (0)1235 822323
Fax: +44 (0)1235 822399
Training@ja.net
www.ja.net/training

Dear Colleagues,

Please read below for a professional development opportunity to share information on the use of VC in teaching with colleagues in America.

If you are interested in taking part please contact Dawn Colavita on dcolavita@cilc.org. Dawn works for The Centre for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC), which is a more established but similar system to the JANET Collaborate prototype, for schools in the States.

I hope some of you will be able to take advantage of this interesting chance to share professional best practice.

Thanks,

Tim.

________________________

Tim Boundy

NEN Services Group, Content Coordinator, JANET(UK)

01235 822370

-----Original Message-----

From: Colavita, Dawn [mailto:dcolavita@cilc.org]

Sent: 29 October 2008 21:09

To: Tim Boundy

Cc: Cougan, Monica

Subject: RE: International Contest - Kids Creating Community Content (KC3)

I would like to setup a 30 minute professional development video

conference with another K-12 school in North America or Great Britain

(Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales or England).  On my end I will have our 3 Integration

Specialists (teachers with 10+ years teaching), as well as, our

Assistant Director and myself.  All of us on this end are teachers with

at least a Master's degree in Curriculum.  At the other end I would like

to connect with K-12 folks that have successfully integrated IP video

conferencing into their curriculum.  A tentative agenda might be:

9:00 - 9:05  Introductions

9:05 - 9:10  Purpose of the Conference (to test the use of Life Size

video conferencing equipment and to discuss the impact of video

conferencing on the curriculum at various grade levels/subject areas).

9:10 - 9:20  What are they doing and why is it successful

9:20 - 9:30  Questions and Answers

We have been plugging away at this problem for a few weeks now. There has been some progress in that outbound calls out of KCN do now work via IP. You need to prefix any IP address that you are provided with the '@' symbol to make the call work.

Unfortunately inbound calls are still a problem. This means that standard JVCS video conferences stil dont work. However you will find that most of the locations that you want to deal with have either an IP address or an ISDN number that they can provide you with. Instead of scheduling the conference via JVCS, arrange to call the location directly yourself and the session should then be able to proceed.

 In summary:

Dial
'@IP_Address' to connect to an IP Address location
OR
'82ISDN_Number' to connect to an ISDN2 location
OR
'86ISDN_Number' to connect to an ISDN6 location

We are hopefully narrowing down the cause of this problem and hope to get normal service resumed ASAP. The only silver lining in this cloud is that we have re-established communication with many schools in Kent and are pleasantly suprised to find that schools are making good use of VC and making contacts with several International institutions as well as the more expected Nelson Thorne and JVCS suppliers.

 I will post a further update to this problem when it has been resolved.

Steve James.

The National Archives would like to announce the launch of five new special videoconferences for Key Stage 2 and 3 students, focusing on the human stories behind history.

The addition of these new videoconference sessions brings the total number of opportunities offered by the National Archives to sixteen! All the opportunities, available for Key Stage 1 to AS Level and including INSET opportunities, are listed at the end of the National Archives article.

To read more about the new videoconference opportunities from the National Archives please visit the news story on JANET Collaborate via the link below.

News Story:

http://www.janetcollaborate.ac.uk/news/new-videoconferences-with-the-national-archives-bring-history-alive

The National Archives profile:

http://www.janetcollaborate.ac.uk/portal_profiles/4cc8b54169dce3ae6e2fa37675fd2135

Regards,
 
Tim Boundy, JANET Collaborate Project Manager,

collaborate@ja.net

t: 01235 822370

The Tenth Anniversary Megaconference will be held on Nov 6, 2008, all day, everywhere.

Because this is the 10th Megaconference, some very special things will happen then that have not occurred in previous Megaconferences.

The Megaconference is the largest video conference in the world, with many hundreds of participants from all over the world.

http://www.megaconference.org.    Keep checking there for updates.

There is no cost, and everyone in the world with H.323 capabilities is invited to participate.

Registration closes on Oct 15, so you have only a short time to join this event.

http://digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference/registration.html

There are many interesting presentations and events on the program, as you can see here:

http://digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference/program.html

Door prizes (video conferencing related) will be given away by random drawing during the Roll Call events. So far we have 44 prizes donated by 8 vendors.  The Roll Calls also give everyone a chance to say hello to the world, in whatever creative way they wish.  See http://digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference/prizes.html

A number of people who participated in the first Megaconference 10 years ago will be giving brief "Then and Now" presentations about how video conferencing has evolved and how they predict it will evolve in the future.

Special awards will be presented to those people and institutions who have participated in all 10 Megaconferences.

The event is fully interactive, and you can ask questions of the presenters, etc.

Both High Definition and Standard Definition video conferencing is available. People using HD will see SD participants in enhanced resolution, provided by a Codian MCU.

The Megaconference will  appear in Second Life, on a big screen in an outdoor amphitheater, provided by the Technology Enhanced Learning and Research group at Ohio State University (TELRPort in Second Life).

The Megaconference is available to people using the new Vidyo technology.

http://www.vidyo.com

Still under discussion are availability to people using Elluminate, and a guest appearance by the President of Ohio State University.

The Internet2 Commons, OARnet, Ohio State University and many other organizations throughout the world provide support to make this event possible.

Future announcements will be sent only to the Megaconference mailing list.

See you there!!

Bob

--

Robert S. Dixon, Ph D, PE

Chief Research Engineer

Ohio Supercomputer Center Network (OSCNet) and Ohio State University, Office of the CIO

Office Telephone: 614-292-1638

Fax:              614-292-7081

Quickly following the week where the BridgIT server suffered downtime, we now have a major problem with IP based VC traffic in and out of the KCN. Currently schools are unable to conduct normal JVCS calls. We are unable to recieve inbound IP calls from any external address it seems. Outbound IP calls are succesful with organisations other than JVCS.

We are working with ALL our support partners to get this issue identified and resolved as soon as we can !

 In the meantime, all JVCS calls will need to be made via outbound ISDN calls. To place an ISDN call and participate in your JVCS conference, prefix the ISDN number you are provided with, with '82'

 Apologies for the inconvenience that this is bound to cause - I will blog again when it's all resolved. Internal calls between schools seem unaffected by this problem.

 Steve James.

(It never rains but it pours !)

Curriculum Consultant
London Grid for Learning Trust
CI Tower, St Georges Square, New Malden, KT3 4HG
t: 020 8408 4455   m: 07875028131  f: 020 8408 6014

We recently had a problem with our BridgIT server which is used for data collaboration alongside video conferences held within the Kent Community Network (KCN). (This server is not accessible outside of the KCN.)

The problem has been resolved by upgrading our version of BridgIT to the latest version (3.4). Unfortunately the old desktop client will no longer work and the new version of the client will need to be downloaded from the server. Navigate to bridgit.kentednet.org.uk and click on the download link to download the new version. Users will be pleased to hear that the new version doesnt look very different to the old one and is just as easy to use.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused whilst the server was out of action.

 Steve James.

Hi

We have an unexpected place on this conference due to the withdrawal of one of the participating schools.

The first VC will take place in the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge, and is an excellent opportunity for students to see the range of calculating machines, and to find out more about the history and maths behind methods of calculation.

Details: "History of Calculating Machines", aimed at 12-14 year-old students, VCs on 3 Oct and 4 Nov, both starting at 10.30, cost £180 for up to 40 students. See

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=166 for further details.

If you would like a place on this conference, please submit our online registration form at http://motivate.maths.org/getinvolved/getinvolved.php.

Regards

Jenny

--

Dr Jenny Gage

Coordinator, Motivate Project             Centre for Mathematical Sciences

Millennium Mathematics Project                            Wilberforce Road

University of Cambridge                                          Cambridge

44(0)1223 764278                                                   CB3 0WA

Fax: 44(0)1223 765900                                          

http://www.motivate.maths.org

Hi

I hope you've all had a good break, and are keen to get VCing with us again!

The bad news is that we now have to make a charge of £60 to primary schools to participate in our conferences (although if you feel that you can make a case for having the cost reduced, please contact us). We think this is excellent value, however, since the £60 gets you a whole conference - either two VCs and accompanying project work, or a full maths day with online resources.

The good news (if you're quick!) is that we still have a three places on primary conferences this term:

* 512 Ants on Sullivan Street, presented by ex-head teacher Kevin Mingay, with VCs on 14 Oct and 19 Nov, both starting at 13.15, and lasting for an hour or so, for 7-9 year-olds. For more details see http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=177.

* Mathematical Games, presented by Nrich's primary coordinator Liz Woodham.

This is a day conference to be held on 3 Nov, from 10.00 until 15.00, and aimed at 8-10 year-olds. For more details see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=174 (note we do not have any spaced for the 5 Nov presentation).

Our spring term programme will be posted on the Motivate programme page

(http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conferencelist.php?prog=all) in a few weeks time, and everyone on this list will receive notification of new primary conferences.

Regards

Jenny

--

Dr Jenny Gage

Coordinator, Motivate Project             Centre for Mathematical Sciences

Millennium Mathematics Project                            Wilberforce Road

University of Cambridge                                          Cambridge

44(0)1223 764278                                                   CB3 0WA

Fax: 44(0)1223 765900                                          

http://www.motivate.maths.org

**************************************************************************

This blog will be moving home to the Kent Learning Zone. For the time being I will add to both blogs in parallel as not all schools have accounts on KLZ yet.

The reason for the move is that other Kent biased video conferencing information will also be located on the KLZ and it makes sense to keep everything together.

Additionally there are other external contributors that I have managed to bring into the KLZ who can add information to the new blog as well as myself.

 Please go to https://portal.klz.org.uk/collaboration/videoconf/default.aspx for the new blog but note you will need to have a KLZ account in place to access it.

 Regards, Steve James.

Hi

If you want to book a place on one of our long projects for 2008-09, you still have time before the 'early bird' rate expires on May 31. For more information, see http://motivate.maths.org/getinvolved/LongProjects2008-09.shtml.

We also have places still available on the following conferences, which will take place after half term:

* Black Holes for Beginners (see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=154), for

13-15 year-old students, with an emphasis on astronomy and maths. VC dates are 3 and 30 June, both VCs starting at 10.30am. Cost is £180 for up to 40 students, more pro rata.

* Colours of the Rainbow (see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=150), for

13-15 year-old students, looking at various aspects of light, including the electromagnetic spectrum and some simple optics. VC dates 3 and 27 June, both starting at 13.15. Cost is £180 for up to 40 students, more pro rata.

* Groups: LOoking beneath the surface (see http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=148), for

13-15 year-old students, looking at symmetries of plane figures, what happens when we put them together, and finding the underlying similarities with certain groups of numbers. The day will end with dances which demonstrate the same structure! VC is on 18 June, 10-3, as this is a day-conference. Cost is £180 for up to 40 students, more pro rata.

* Go (see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=165), for

10-12 year-old students. We are organising this as a joint Y6/7 day when either Y7 students revisit their old school or Y6 students go to their new school. We will be learning how to play the game of Go, and finding out about winning strategies. Date is 26 June, 10-3, as this is a day-conference. Cost is £180 for up to 40 students, more pro rata.

* Probability (see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=160), for A level students studying maths. In this day conference, students will be given various simulations and scenarios to discuss, which require probability. The purpose will be to see how the maths helps us to make decisions, rather than a focus purely on the techniques involved. Date is 3 July, 10-3. The cost is £80 for up to 15 students, £130 for 15 or more.

* Maths at the Movies (see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=173), for A level students studying maths. This conference will use articles on the Plus website, and other resources, to introduce students to maths and mathematicians which contribute to films. Date is 8 July, 13.00-15.00. The cost is £40 for up to 15 students, £65 for 15 or more.

* Time in Physics (see

http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=146), for A level students studying maths and/or physics. This conference will take students through some of the concepts which underlie our understanding of time, including Newtonian mechanics and relativity. Date is 9 July, 10-3.

The cost is £80 for up to 15 students, £130 for 15 or more.

Regards

Jenny

--

Dr Jenny Gage

Coordinator, Motivate Project             Centre for Mathematical Sciences

Millennium Mathematics Project                            Wilberforce Road

University of Cambridge                                          Cambridge

44(0)1223 764278                                                   CB3 0WA

Fax: 44(0)1223 765900                                           

http://www.motivate.maths.org

Hi all,

Dear Colleagues,

Please find attached a link to a very interesting story posted on JANET Collaborate about new videoconferencing educational content from the Houses of Parliament titled: Prison Reform: Parliament’s role then and now.

The UK Houses of Parliament are offering videoconferencing sessions as part of a pilot project running between 12 and 23 May 2008. The sessions will focus on the issue of Prison Reform in order to bring to life the role of Parliament, both historically and in the present time.  The Key Stage 3 conferences, offered free to UK schools, include the opportunity to talk with a member of the House of Commons or House of Lords.

See the story and opportunity page on JANET Collaborate to find out more and to sign-up for a session.

http://www.janetcollaborate.ac.uk/news/schools-videoconference-with-the-houses-of-parliament

The number of videoconferencing sessions available in the pilot is limited so I would recommend reserving one quickly.

Thanks,

Tim.

__________________________

Tim Boundy

This month Tenor Alfie Boe returns to his hometown of Fleetwood for a series of open rehearsals, concerts, Video Conferences and Webcasts with an orchestra of home-grown musicians, the Lancashire Sinfonietta.

Alfie Boe is certainly a Tenor with a difference! He has emerged in recent years as one of the UK’s finest classical artists following a colourful few years spent honing his craft in the Royal Opera House and on Broadway. 

The Lancashire Sinfonietta will offer a special live Webcast from Alfie’s old school in Fleetwood as part of their aim to help deliver the “Daily Hour of Culture” target for schools.

Pupils and teachers are eager to hear their former pupil’s amazing voice and in addition to the live audience, his rehearsal will be watched by schools all around the UK via Webcast. Students will learn about the processes of preparing for an orchestral concert and an interactive Video Conference afterwards will give students the chance to chat with Alfie and ask questions.

This event launches the Lancashire Sinfonietta’s first series of webcasts and video conferences via CLEO (Cumbria & Lancashire Education Online), part of the NEN (National Education Network), the online broadband service for UK schools.

 The concerts, which follow a musical journey down the Danube, feature Boe performing alongside other stunning Lancastrians from the UK’s top orchestras who make up the Lancashire Sinfonietta. The violinist/director Bradley Creswick will also be joined by the virtuoso gypsy cimbalom player, Kálmán Balogh, who is flying in from Budapest specially for the concerts.

The live Webcast will be on Thursday 13th March 2008.

1.30pm Introduction & Rehearsal 

2.15pm Q&A with Alfie & students

2.30pm ends

For more information or to watch this webcast go to

http://www.cleo.net.uk/index.php?category_id=101

Alternatively contact Iain Midgley at the CLEO Project Office on 01524 592800 / i.midgley@cleo.net.uk

The pilot is now ready to run - a bit later than anticipated, in May. I attach a flyer with the basic details. Please feel free to share with your contacts so we get booked up! Thanks again for your help in getting us up and running

Regards

Tom

-------------------------------------------

Tom O'Leary

Head of  Education

Houses of Parliament

London

SW1A 2TT

Tel:     020 7219 3480

Mob:  0794 134 2927

olearyt@parliament.uk

www.parliament.uk/education

Hi

We will be revising some of our charges from September 2008 (full details at http://motivate.maths.org/about/charges.php). The changes you should be aware of are:

* primary conferences will cost £60 per VC centre (so two or more schools at a single centre can share the cost between them)

* 6th form conferences will cost £120 for up to 15 students, £180 for 15 or more students

* KS3 and KS4 conferences were increased in price this year, and so will remain at £180 for up to 40 students, more pro rata, for the time being

Because we will be introducing charges for all participating schools, our Cancellation Policy will apply to all schools from September 2008 also

(http://motivate.maths.org/about/cancellation.php)

I hope to be able to advertise the long projects we are offering for

2008-09 soon. These will cost £1299 for the early bird rate and £1550 otherwise.

We have not charged primary schools for participating in our conferences until now, but primary conferences cost as much as any others for us to put on. When we first started providing primary conferences, we were specifically funded to do this, but this has not been the case for some years now - hence the need for a change of policy.

If any school feels that they would not be able to participate in our programme because of the cost of a conference, they can get in touch with us to see if we can help in any way.

Best wishes

Jenny

--

Dr Jenny Gage

Coordinator, Motivate Project             Centre for Mathematical Sciences

Millennium Mathematics Project                            Wilberforce Road

University of Cambridge                                          Cambridge

44(0)1223 764278 or 44(0)777 189 1776                              CB3 0WA

Fax: 44(0)1223 765900                                          

The Motivate Project is putting on a free videoconference for Science Week.

The first four schools to respond who have VC'd with us already will get the places. The VC will take place on 5 March, starting at 10.30am, and lasting for about 1 1/4 hours.

The title is 'Computer Speak: Machine Translation & Ambiguity', and the speaker is Cecily Morrison of the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge. She will discuss why we want computers to translate documents for us, the problems this presents, and current efforts to overcome the problems. There will be short pencil and paper activities for students to do during the session.

The session is aimed at 14-16 year-old students, and will have relevance to ICT and languages (English and others), as well as demonstrating how a mathematical model is applied to a real-life problem, and giving students an insight into a significant current research topic.

Regards

Jenny

--

Dr Jenny Gage

Coordinator, Motivate Project             Centre for Mathematical Sciences

Millennium Mathematics Project                            Wilberforce Road

University of Cambridge                                          Cambridge

44(0)1223 764278 or 44(0)777 189 1776                              CB3 0WA

Fax: 44(0)1223 765900                                          

http://www.motivate.maths.org

Hi

We now have an unexpected place on our Nrich problem solving day for Y12 A level maths students on 29 Feb. See http://motivate.maths.org/conferences/conference.php?conf_id=152. This will be an excellent way to extend Y12 students' understanding of some basic A level concepts through problem-solving and seeing how other schools tackle the problems set. Resources will be set through the Motivate website, with suggestions for follow-up suggestions from the Nrich site.

The day will last from 10am till 3pm, and costs £80 for up to 15 students, £130 for more.

If you are interested in participating, please go to http://motivate.maths.org/getinvolved/getinvolved.php and submit our online registration form.

Regards

Jenny

--

Dr Jenny Gage

Coordinator, Motivate Project