Elevate 2008

August 24-27 in Banff Alberta the early adopters of video conference came together to share and learn from each other.

The keynote presenters were mostly international and did a great job.  The sessions were mostly presented by Albertans.  In fact many of them are members of the 2Learn Regional Video Conference Lead Network.  Those that were not members had benefited from the assistance of this group of dedicated professional educators who have made it their mission in life to enhance education with vc technology.  The website is still online and you can see what you missed by going to Elevate 2008.

I think the keynote that made the biggest impression on me was Carol Daunt Skyring an educator from Australia.  She was very entertaining and had a lot of common sense in her presentation.  I think it is fair to say that Canada's geographical challenges are small potatoes compared to Australia's.   They tend to be leading the way with distributed learning out of necessity.  Do check out her website.

I did attend some great concurrent sessions.  I think the highlight was an Alberta initiative on using vc for Robot clubs.

Do check out the Elevate website as there was way more than I could attend.  

The good thing was the location. Who doesn't like Banff in late summer?  Marian and my daughter, Emily, came with me so we hiked, canoed and ate a lot of Cows ice cream.  Great time!

Plans For 2008-09

So what is going to be new next year??????

The 2Learn Regional Video Conference Network has been extended for two more years. With this extension 2Learn has made a few changes for next year.

-The provincial support will be increasing with two more staff positions being hired.
- The number of days of release time will be reduced to 10 from 17.
- A Brigdit server will be available for use.

We have more hardware being installed in GPPSD at Alexander Forbes School, Derek Taylor School, Grande Prairie Composite School, Hillside Community School and Swanavon School.

In Peace Wapiti School District Peace Academy will have equipment installed over the summer, and Sexsmith Secondary’s equipment should be installed any day now.

Peace Wapiti’s Spirit River Office will also be adding video conference technology as will the North West Regional Learning Consortium’s home the Lion’s Learning Centre.

This will mean an increase in nine video conference units in the area. This will mean there are a lot more classes looking to link up with content providers and other classes. It should also mean a lot more professional development is needed and provided.

Plans are being made to work with Marty Chan, an Alberta author, next year. This project will include Crystal Park School, Hillside Community School and Woking School. We are currently looking for another school to work with this project. If you are interested please let me know.

I am accepting applications for Aggie Days for next April.

There will be a lot of sessions announced as they get developed. Please let me know if you want to be put on the distribution list when they are announced.

There will be an extension to sponsored exploratory sessions by 2Learn, with schools being reimbursed for their first video conference. If your school has not participated in a video conference please contact me to organize this for 2008-09.

Ridgevalley Rocks

On May 8th, the Grade 3 and 4 students from Ridgevalley School participated in a Rock’en Alberta Resources with the Royal Tyrrell Museum.


Kevin, the instructor/leader did a great job of getting the students involved. This group is very good with this component of the program delivery. They seem to set the bar pretty high in that regards.

The classroom teachers thought it was a great review of the Rocks and Minerals curriculum. The students were engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the video conference.

The classroom teachers thought it was a great review of the Rocks and Minerals curriculum. The students were engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the video conference.

Grande Prairie Cyberbridge

Grande Prairie Cyberbridge

The event was held at the Grande Prairie Public School Board office, and had teachers and administrators from Peace Wapiti School Division, Grande Prairie Catholic School District and Grande Prairie Public School District. There were twenty attendees.

The agenda was jam packed.

Observe a class in a collaborative video conference with a class from Calgary via a closed circuit video connection.

Cathy King VC 101 A brief introduction to the hardware and pedagogy of Video Conferencing

Royal Tyrrell Museum did a short presentation on their sessions.

Challenger Centre talked about their sessions and mandate. They then did a short version of their Space Station Alpha e-Mission teacher training session.

Jill Mattock teaching Physics (recorded)

The technology worked well but we did have a few interesting “things” happen. During the Aggie Days presentation from Calgary someone popped in to the session and said, “Why am I watching someone milk a cow?”

I wrapped up the session with a discussion of how I could help them with their video conference sessions.

GP Cyberbridge

Welcome to “The World Of Video Conferencing”

April 9th 1-3:30

Grande Prairie Public School Board Office
10213 - 99St. Grande Prairie, Alberta
What you can expect to learn from the session:

- How the 2Learn Regional Video Conference Lead can help you implement this technology in your school.
- A brief introduction to the technology (hardware and pedagogy)
- Who can provide great sessions for your students
- How do you teach with this medium


How To Register For In Person Attendance

Grande Prairie Public School District
Contact gerald.logan@gppsd.ab.ca

Peace Wapiti School District
Contact brianshields@pwsd76.ab.ca

Grande Prairie Catholic School District
Contact marlenestefura@gpcsd.ca

How To Register For Video Conference Links
Contact gerald.logan@gppsd.ab.ca

Another Successful Session With The Royal Tyrrell

On February 1st, Crystal Park School grade 3 classes connected with The Royal Tyrrell Museum for sessions on minerals and rocks. Once again this very professional organization did a great job of motivating students and keeping them engaged for the full one hour session.

The photos show just how engaged the students were. The staff at the Royal Tyrrell do a great job of getting the students excited and involved.

Royal Tyrrell Museum

Sorry but the video camera had been turned to "Night Vision" so the video is in black and white.

Royal Tyrrel Museum

Royal Tyrrel Museum Video Conference: A sure fire success

The Royal Tyrrel Museum have been working in the are of school presentations for several years. About 5 years ago they partnered with Sciq.ca to test the new technology. They have since gone on to develop a full slate of video conference programs to suit the Alberta curriculum. They are the only individuals I know of working more or less full time in the area here in Alberta.



They have very well rehearsed programs that are educational and entertaining as well. Their instructors are very professional and are good models for how to run a video conference.

I have been present for three sessions with them, and been pleased with the sessions. The teachers were very impressed and the students more so.

The following are quotes from Hillside students that attended sessions in November.

It was fun when we interacted with Colin (instructor), we had to put up our hand and he would pick us by the colour of our shirt and then we could shout out our answer. We even did this in a 'quiz'. - Brooke

I liked learning (through V.C.) because it was actually him on the screen - he could see us and we could see him! - Ethan

I thought it was really different. I learned that other kinds of animals were found other than just T-Rex and Stegosaurus. This was a lot better than just reading - he actually showed us fossils, he asked us questions and we could ask them too. It's interactive learning - just like a teacher being in front of you. - Hannah



Check out their offerings at http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/programs/index2.php?schools=4