5. Why Video Conference?
Bring in an outside speaker
Virtual Field Trips
Multi-School Projects
International Projects
Or?
6. 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
7. Planning is Key
Test and test again
Be 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 sound
Good lighting helps a lot
Remind class to speak up and to face the
camera
8. Tips for Success
Assign readings relevant to conference at least
one class in advance
Have 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
9. 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
12. An Apple iSight Webcam
or...
A Firewire Camcorder
pple iSight Webcam
13. 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
14. 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
23. iChat Enhancements
iChatUSBCam
$10 software add-on that allows use of USB webcams with
iChat
iGlasses
Terrific $8 software add-on that allows control over video
setting on iSight
Conference Recorder
A $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/
