Let Your "Poly" do the Walking...Polycom that is!!

Every time I sit down to write a TechTip, I struggle with its' topic. Being that this is the first post for the 2009-2010 school year, I thought it had to be something more substantial then just featuring a nifty website or showing you a quick trick for some application. I had my "aha" moment during a workshop I attended last Friday that focused on how to use our new Videoconferencing equipment....the Polycom! What a cool piece of equipment that is very easy to use. If you can call someone on a cell phone, you can use the Polycom!!

The concept of videoconferencing is quite simple. It allows two or more people at different locations to see and hear each other at the same time. This opens the door for collaboration projects across a school district, or with classrooms from around the globe. What an exciting interactive experience for students who may never leave their hometown, much less, visit with people from another country. Another nice feature, is that most classroom to classroom connections do not cost anything.

The Polycom is made up of a webcam on steroids, a projection unit, a mega microphone, and a computer tower. Using the equipment is very simple. Connections are made between one Polycom and another by calling the remote's site IP address. An IP address looks like this (231.456.785.786). You place your call by using the Polycom's remote control that was designed to resemble most standard cell phones.

The first step to videoconferencing is finding a collaboration project to participate in. Maybe you want to start small and connect with another classroom within your district. Two-classroom projects are a great place to start because they are simple to organize and implement. Or, if you like to "go big or stay home", use one of the many videoconferencing websites to find a good match with a classroom somewhere else in the world. There are many online videoconferencing portals that are available. Many are designed to allow teachers to search their database for existing projects in need of partnering classrooms. Others, allow teachers to write and submit their own projects.

Some example activities that one could do with a classroom-to-classroom connection are: Field Trip Experience Exchanges, Quizbowl Challenges, Community Exchanges, Guest Readers, Multicultural activities with middle and high school foreign language or ESL students, and compare and contrast activities around a certain topic. The possibilities are endless. If you have a laptop or document camera (ELMO), connected to your "Poly Pod", you can even collaborate over software applications or Elmo activities.

One of the sites that I like to use is CAPSpace: Collaborations Around the Planet. This site has both features described above. Below is a short video demonstrating how you can search for existing projects or create your own.

Enjoy!