Video links schools across the world

A lesson from Queen Victoria to the Commonwealth
Children in Arbour Vale School in Slough, Berkshire, are used to
travelling the world for lessons.

BBC News

In a week, they might make trips to Finland, Australia, the USA and
Japan.

Of course, instead of using planes, they are touring the globe with
video links.

Assistant head teacher Mike Griffith says the school sometimes links
to teachers in other countries for topic work.

"We had a link to California when pupils were studying
earthquakes, and the children spoke to a teacher living on the San
Andreas Fault.

"She could see our classroom in
the link and told the children
she couldn’t have books on
shelves as we had, in case they
came down in an earthquake.

"She showed them news clips of
when they had earthquakes out
there and told them if there was
an earthquake, she would have
to drink water from the toilet.

"It made it all very real for them.
Things like that you can’t get
from a book."

Recently the children have been
linked to Japan, tasting sushi
and talking to children there about the World Cup.

Golden Jubilee

And this week Arbour Vale was one of many schools in the UK
linking to others in Commonwealth countries such as Canada, New
Zealand and South Africa – to share what they were doing as part
of their Golden Jubilee.

Pupils dressed in Victorian
costumes for a lesson and linked to
the Public Records Office in
London.

There they met an actress playing
Queen Victoria, who described
what had happened during
Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.

One pupil, Karen said: "We thought it was great talking to Queen
Victoria. I showed her my dolls."

Children in the UK also linked to Makkovik in Northern Canada to
speak to a remote Inuit community who are using video
conferencing to bring the world into their classroom.

They learnt about the lives and culture of Inuit people.

Mike Griffith says video links not only help children to learn about
other countries – but also benefit them in other ways.

"It develops their confidence, presentation skills and speaking and
listening skills," he says .

"They learn to speak clearly, listen carefully and to present their
material to another group."

Free handbook

The school regularly links up to a school in Finland, where the
children compare their everyday lives, by showing each other their
toys or saying what food they like to eat.

The children obviously enjoy the conferences.

One, John, said: " I liked talking about the pets they have.

"My friend in Finland said he had five cats and two dogs.

"I told him I didn’t have any pets at my house. He said I could
share one of his cats."

For Asim, it was the language difference that made him smile: "I
thought it was funny when they said they used a hop and jump stick
instead of a pogo stick," he said.

This week also saw the launch of a handbook for schools about
video-conferencing.

Mike Griffith was one of the three authors.

He runs Global Leap, a not-for-profit organisation which promotes
video conferencing.

The other handbook authors are advisers from Devon county
curriculum services, Tim Arnold and Steve Cayley.

Costs

The book is being offered free to UK teachers through Devon
council.

Tim Arnold, Devon’s adviser for media education, said: "Harnessing
the newest technology to support their learning in schools is a
challenge to which schools must now rise.

"Video-conferencing offers enormous potential for enriching
children’s learning in ways that cannot easily be achieved by other
means.

"It can radically alter the way children interact with one another
and with the world outside the classroom walls. "

But how much does it all cost?

Mike Griffith says prices range from about £700 to £5,000.

The basic tool is a video phone (£700) on an ISDN line.

The phone can be plugged into a television screen, as can a
camcorder to feed images back to the others in the conference.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/education/newsid_2013000/2013016.stm