We held our second video conference in Mrs. York's room today! It was really neat! The class was able to see and speak with Dalton Chandler along with his mother and grandparents today. Dalton is unable to attend school at Elda right now and is currently in Children's Hospital. The Chandler's have worked with the tech staff at the hospital, Mrs. York, Mrs. Thomas and I (and several others) to get the equipment and connections set up for everything to work. It didn't take much to get our end at Elda set up since we have access to so much equipment. Here is how it worked:
First, Mrs. Chandler and I both set up accounts with Skype and loaded the software onto our computers. The Mac laptop I used has a built in web camera as well as a built in microphone. Add an internet connection and that is all either side needs! However, the PTO purchased Elda a 'Snowball' external microphone so it would pick up sound better and be a higher quality for us to communicate with. Mrs. Chandler had her PC laptop (does not have to be a laptop, desktops work too!) and purchased a web camera to use with it. Her computer did not have one built in, however it did have a microphone.
Step two: We coordinate the time when we will log in to Skype and start the call.
Step three: The students were able to see and speak with Dalton and he was able to do the same. We hooked the laptop at Elda up to a projector so the whole class could see Dalton.
This provided a great experience for Dalton and the rest of the students in Mrs. York's class. The students at Elda were exposed to new video conferencing technology and Dalton was able to listen in and interact with students during classroom activities! Skype is free video conferencing software and works with PCs and Macs. For more information about Skype and web cameras, check out the Skype web site below:
http://www.skype.com/
The site includes links to download Skype as well as links to accessories like webcams. Just click the 'Shop' button for the accessories.
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