Videoconferencing for Teaching and Learning

VC Room
How does videoconferencing support collaboration and learning?

Introduction:
Videoconferencing connects faculty and students to expertise and resources not typically available within the walls of the classroom. Faculty can schedule videoconferencing sessions at CSUSM using the distance learning classroom in Markstein Hall 104. The following examples and resources provide insight into how to begin to plan for using the distance learning classroom.

 

Examples:

  1. Collaboration between campus and a remote site. Sometimes students may be located at a remote location off campus for a special session. This might be in Southwest Riverside, Orange County, or South San Diego. The instructor can be with some of the participants at one location and others to at the remote site. Videoconferencing resources are available through school districts, county offices, and sometimes, libraries, university campuses, hospitals, etc. (See resources linked below).
  2. Through the use of videoconferencing, one class participated in a session with several students driving to the County Office on Linda Vista and connecting with others on campus. This saved students time and travel expenses. From the link below, there are photos showing the campus site and remote participants. The instructor was Leslie Mauerman. See photos of the session.
  3. Collaboration with an expert. Faculty can identify a guest speaker from a remote site in another state, country, or across town, to present to their class over videoconferencing. This provides experiences that are not possible if experts are required to travel to campus. In photos the linked here, see astudent from Juvenille Court and Community Schools teaching campus students in an EDUC 422 (Technology Tools for Teaching and Learning) class how to use Garage Band software to create music on the computer.
  4. Another example of connecting with experts, is when rangers from the California Parks System are scheduled time to talk with students about their job, protected animals, such as Elephant Seals on the Año Nuevo State Reserve, and/or guests from Sacramento, such as legislators, talk about local government issues. There are also virtual tours of California Parks available on their PORTS Web site (below).
  5. Collaboration with other classes. Collaboration for exchange between classes for peer collaboration can be another way to connect participants using videoconferencing. One site might be presenting, sharing information, or communicating about common topics. Students in a class (EDUC 619), held in Orange County, were able to present to an audience on campus and watch presentations from campus using videoconferencing. See photos of the session.
  6. In the photo at the top of this page, students in a course in the graduate program at Cal State San Marcos, learn to used videoconferencing equipment to present to others. This course, EDST 632, was taught by Dr. Joan Hanor.

Resources

Other

Local contacts in education for planning a session:

Questions: Dr. Kathy Hayden: khayden@csusm.edu

 

Kathy Hayden Home Page