Schools Videoconferencing User Group Meeting – 21 April 2008

The second Schools Videoconferencing User Group Meeting took place on the 21st April 2008 at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.

Attendees were a mix of content providers, educational institutions and other organisations involved in Videoconferencing at school level. In the true spirit of the event, some individuals joined the meeting via videoconference.

With Heather Pettit from South East Grid for Learning chairing, Tim Boundy from JANET(UK) kicked off the event by giving an overview of the current figures for videoconferencing over JANET. Videoconferencing over JANET has in fact doubled and in some cases tripled year on year with the current figure reaching over 10,000; this is expected to reach 20,000 by this summer. It is amazing to see the impact that this technology has had on the schools sector, facilitating collaboration between content providers and other peers groups, to bring the classroom experience to life.

With the new JANET Collaborate pilot due to complete its first phase of the project (June 2008), Tim gave an update on activities to date and took the opportunity to get feedback from the group and invite them to shape the direction for phase two of the project. Popular issues raised were additional search functionality, additional content for Wales and other non-English areas, and further integration with JVCS.

Guest speakers included Peter Evans of the National Football Museum? And Jenny Gage from Cambridge motivate project. Both showed how they used videoconferencing to promote interactive learning across the curriculum and how they used on-line characters to bring the subjects to life; the footballers by posing questions to modern and latter day footballers and in Cambridge motive interacting with people who use maths and science in their daily lives

Tim Arnold and Steve Cayley from Devon Education Services chose the event to launch a new book of Videoconferencing Across the Curriculum. This included case-studies from different organisations and guidelines for best practise. It includes a ‘getting started’ section, gives ideas for using videoconferencing and helps with the preparation, management and support required for anyone wanting to use this technology. The book can also helps teachers with lesson planning, and helps those interested in spreading their wings, to find UK and international partners.

In the afternoon the group linked up to the US where a similar group was holding a meeting on videoconferencing activities across the pond. It was interesting to share ideas and learn from their experience. From the discussions that ensued, there were plenty of opportunities to link up with America for videoconferencing activities, including ‘Read around the planet’, an annual project which the organizer Sue Porter was keen to promote.

Lara van de Langeryt from JANET gave an update on JVCS which included more flexible management tools already available in the Booking Service, and anticipated new features for this year. These features include an overhaul of our Booking System’s current user interface to improve usability and an integration of the JVCS and On-Demand services. There are also plans to introduce a recurrent booking feature in the next month or so for users who have regular meetings.

JANET is currently running a procurement to replace the JVCS core infrastructure which should see a replacement of one of the MCUs this year. The new equipment is expected to incorporate new features such as High Definition capabilities, and improved data-sharing.

Lara also introduced a possible new service, JANET Videoconferencing Recording and Streaming. This facility would allow users to record and/or stream live events then once completed, download the recording to their system for future use. Procurement of this service is currently taking place and will depend upon equipment suitability and costs.

The event was a useful opportunity for attendees to put forward their requirements for videoconferencing over JANET and to do some networking with their peers and content providers. I’m sure that there will be a lot of collaborative activities born out of the event some of which may involved collaboration with the US user group; there is already talk of expanding the ‘London Live’ event to include a wider remit and plans for the Olympics 2012 caused lots of interest throughout the group. Feedback from the meeting will be used to shape future developments within JANET’s videoconferencing activities.

For further information on JANET videoconferencing, please see www.ja.net/jvcs or to see some of the current videoconferencing opportunities, visit JANET Collaborate www.ja.net/collaborate.