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Gladewater, TX

Gladewater County Line Independent School District

Planning for a Successful Videoconference

It is important to effectively plan for a videoconference. The following steps will help the teacher in this process:

¨ Find a field trip, project, etc.—Use the links provided on the VC homepage or search other sites on the Internet. Most sites will allow searching by keywords for unit teaching, by content providers such as NASA, by grade level, by state standards, and/or by fee.

¨ Contact the content provider or the remote site and schedule the program—Know the date, time (beware of time zone differences), IP address, title of the program, etc.

¨ Secure funding— Check into how to pay for the VC. Also, it is important to arrange or schedule transportation if it is necessary to transport students to another campus or site.

¨ Schedule the Distance Learning Classroom (DLC)/Videoconferencing Classroom (VC)—Use the form on the DLC/VC homepage to do this. The person in charge of the classroom will setup a test connection with the content provider or remote site. If the local site is presenting and if time is available, the classroom can be scheduled for practice time immediately before the presentation/connection.

¨ Know the equipment available and the general layout of the classroom—Plan any presentations with what equipment is available in mind. Make the facilitator of the classroom aware of plans and needs. A diagram of each classroom is available on the DLC/VC homepage.

¨ Prepare students—Use any pre-activities that the provider has available. These are usually on their website or will be sent to the teacher prior to the VC. Discuss correct etiquette for the classroom. Make the students aware of what to expect in the classroom and during the VC. Explain to them that it is necessary for each of them to remember that the teacher will call on those to answer and to ask questions. Make them aware that warm colors and non-reflective, non-clinking dress is appropriate.

¨ Connect to site—Arriving promptly is necessary. The content providers must stay on schedule. Also, other sites are often participating and ready. Student should stay focused and participate in an orderly manner. The facilitator will be available to assist with the connection, microphones, cameras, and any technical issues that arise.

¨ Do post activities—Often the content provider will have available activities for the students to do after the program. These are usually on their website or will be sent to the teacher prior to the VC.

¨ Evaluate the experience—Local evaluations as well as content provider evaluations are important. These help the local personnel and the remote sites know what worked and what needs refining. Please take a few minutes and complete these forms which can be found online on the GISD DLC/VC homepage and on the content provider’s website.