Kathy Clifton Exploring New Option in Course Delivery

Kathy Clifton walks into her Marriage and Family Sociology class on Monday evenings and becomes “wired for sound”.  Kathy is surrounded by small video cameras, large television monitors, and an interesting piece of equipment in one corner, a document camera.  Kathy pins on her lapel microphone and with remote control in hand begins her class by connecting with the Darke County campus using the videoconferencing equipment.  The students in the classroom on the Darke County campus come into view on the screen.  After welcoming her class at Darke County, and also at Edison, Kathy pulls out her grade book and begins to take attendance in her class.  Kathy reads off the names, and you realize that even though the students are answering “here” some of them really are “there”, 25 miles away.

Chuck Jones, the Distance Learning/Library - AV Tech, works with Kathy to set up the equipment for her presentation.  Janice Michael provides technical and classroom support in the classroom at Darke County. The core services section of the Edison ITS Department, under the leadership of Harry Lawhorn, sort out and manage the network requirements for the videoconferencing system. It is a team effort that works to provide students in Darke County an opportunity to take the course closer to home.   

You are probably wondering how this all works. Edison has an IP (Internet Protocol) based system. This means that the Polycom video conference system is connected through our two T1 lines on the campus network. As Kathy lectures her class she is sending both audio and video through the internet to the receiving video system at the Darke County  campus. If Edison wants to connect to a system that is not IP based, this requires a bridge to translate the connection via an internet service provider like OARNET, so an instructor can conference with anyone in the world.

Kathy has needed to make only a few minor changes in her teaching style to use the videoconferencing method of delivery.  She is able to show her students at both locations Power Point presentations, and videos.  To present written materials or three-dimensional objects to the class, Kathy slides the information under the document camera, and it is then projected on the monitor and viewed in the DCC classroom, and the Edison classroom.  She is able to interact with students at both locations for classroom discussion. 

There were two students at the Darke County Center that started out on campus at Edison; they were concerned about taking the course via videoconferencing.  After two class meetings at the Piqua campus, those two students joined the Darke County group and are enjoying the class, and not missing the drive to the main Edison campus in Piqua.

The relocation of the Darke County Center was a concern to Kathy when she began the videoconferencing project.  The Edison ITS department, with the help of Janice Michael was able to move the equipment and have the system back up and running with only a one-week interruption.  Because of her success this semester, Kathy is already scheduled to teach a video conferencing course for the spring semester.

If you are interested in a videoconferencing  demonstration, stop in and visit Kathy's class on Monday evenings from 6:00-9:00 pm in Room 178 in the library, or contact Chuck Jones at extension 261. You can find out more information on the Polycom Videoconferencing system on the Edison web site at:  http://www.edison.cc.oh.us/its/Polycom.htm 

 

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