I can offer a few bits of advice regarding some of your questions.
1. Any brands of webcams to seek out or avoid? Is it worth it to get
more expensive (better?) cameras?
I tend to use my built-in i-Sight camera on my mac, but it is not great. The
more expensive cameras tend to be better because of greater resolution
capabilities.
2. Can Skype work over a busy wireless network or should I have the
kids come to where there is a hard-wired computer?
I have had success with both situations. However, this does depend on
whether you are using the videocamera or not. It is probably best to test
the connection first with your intended skype guests. It also depends on
what area of the world you are skyping with. Many countries have low
bandwidth connections and this MUST be taken into account.
3. Do I need/want a separate microphone (to point to specific students
independent of the webcam)?
This may depend on the laptop/computer you are using. I have had best luck
with a usb microphone. Again, it may be best to test with your intended guests.
4. Are there software/website options better than Skype? What about
the new Google Video service?
Yes, there are a few free web-based options and I have successfully used
them - again bandwidth is a consideration. Check out http://www.mebeam.com/,
http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/, http://www.oovoo.com/
The advantages to all of those is that they permit more than 2 in the
videoconference.
An advantage to the new Google video service - I have heard that it is
lighter on the RAM requirements of the machine you are using. I have had
good success with it with video conferences to Israel and other parts of
North America. I am not sure it is yet available in all parts of the world.
5. Can you share some of the ways your staff have used webcams to
connect to resources outside the school and break down those walls?
These are exciting times to be an educator! I have had students connect over
skype and have used the others above to connect with teachers globally.
Here are some examples of how skype has been used in my classroom:
- To connect students on exchange in Australia to their classmates here in
Canada
- To connect student "ambassadors" from my gr. 7 class to students in New
York City and Virginia (we also blogged with these students). This was done
about every two weeks over a period of a few months.
- To connect another educator in Toronto live in Second Life with my
students in Montreal so that we could visit the virtual version of a Kenyan
classroom that he had created based on his visit to Kenya with Teachers
Without Borders last summer.
- To connect Karin Muller, National Geographic photojournalist who embedded
herself in Chad and Sudan in order to provide raw footage of the Darfur
refugees to students in North America, with my students who will be using
the footage to create documentaries (this was recorded two weeks ago and is
on my server).
- To connect my students with students in Kenya - this was very sketchy,
unfortunately, due to the very limited bandwidth capabilities in Kenya, but
I have hopes for the near future!
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like any more information!
Cheers,
Sharon Peters
Teaching Staff Member
The Study
Montreal, QC Canada
Quebec Provincial Contact: Teachers Without Borders Canada
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