Objective 1.1 Technological Infrastructure

Team LeadersThomas McNeal & Jorge Maldonado

Technological Infrastructure Use Web based

Videoconferencing technologies to create an effective and efficient collaborative network for Consortium Members to carry out project activities.

Goals Conduct a needs assessment of

Consortium Members Provide H323 Technical Support and

purchasing assistance Disseminate information concerning

member uses of H323 Technology Conduce research concerning use of H323

and its impact on the project

Team Members

Thomas Baggs/University of Texas Landon Kearns/Kent State University, Kent, OH Bob Spiecker/Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, St.

Augustine, FL Megan Troyer/OARnet, Columbus, OH Mike O'Connell/Texas School for the Deaf, Austin, TX Ali Rashad/State of Georgia Department of Education,

Atlanta, GA Karen Warren/American School of the Deaf, West Hartford,

CT Loni Germain/PEPNet, St. Paul, MN Susan Wickstrom/PEPNet, St. Paul, MN

Purchasing Assistance

Purchasing agreement with Review Video that in many cases cuts the price in half

Price list on the Deaf Ed website Site where you can purchase slightly used

system at a fracture of the cost

H323 Technical Support Set-up White Papers Phone and E-mail

contacts Expert contacts User contacts

Topical Team Leader SurveySixteen TTL and fourteen EAB members

provided data concerning their current use and evaluation of WBVCT

Fifteen (93%) TTL and ten (71%) EAB members were determined to have access to VCT.

Data concerning the use of that technology indicates it provides the TTL and EAB members with an occasional vs. everyday tool

Topical Team Leader Survey

Frequency of VTC Use TTL EAB

Every Day 7% 14%

Once a Week 21% 21%

Once a Month 29% 14%

Few Times a Year 21% 21%

Never 21% 21%

Topical Team Leader SurveyNarrative data indicated that the TTL wanted

to use the WBVCT to facilitate student observations, provide teacher support, facilitate collaborative work and enhance teaching and learning.

The resulting data indicate that both TTL and EAB are very confident that VTC will have a substantial impact upon deaf education.

Topical Team Leader SurveyEvaluation of VTC Current Impact Future Impact

TTL EAB EAB TTL

Very High Impact 15% 7% 50% 64%

High Impact 21% 50% 29% 29%

Fair Impact 43% 29% 7%

Poor Impact 21% 7%

None 7% 21%

Master Teacher SurveyThe baseline data concerning Master

Teacher’s access and use of WBVCT indicated that 54% of the 58 respondents did not have access to this technology either at school or home.

The data also indicated that while 37% had access to WBVCT at school, 4% had access to the technology at home and 6% had access both at school and home

Master Teacher Survey Survey to find out if they have any

videoconferencing capabilities and, if they do not, are they interested in using iVisit to videoconference with other master teachers.

It is possible use it from school or home.

Ivisit iVisit is a teacher collaboration tool iVisit is a cross platform application Basic version is free Works on dial-up from home Works with Webcams Capability to share documents, webpages and slide shows

Learning LincTTL investigated the compatibility

and use of the LearnLinc distance education course delivery system

Initial findings were sufficiently encouraging to include a pilot test of this system in year two of the grant.

H323 Viavideo Viewstation Sony PCS 1 Tandberg

Multipoint Higher rates Use Elmo Show Videos

“Virtual Topical Seminars” During year one of the we have piloted the use of “Virtual

Topical Seminars” (VTS) Three tests of the VTS systems were conducted.

Within these tests, presenters (one in MS, one in CO and one in DC) used their Polycom ViaVideo camera to establish a video link with a Polycom ViaVideo camera in OH.

“Virtual Topical Seminars”The Kent State University’s video streaming

technologies were used to distribute the VTS to web browsers throughout the United States.

The VTS were also captured and placed on our server.

To view these VTS all that is need is a computer that can connect to the internet.

Captioning

We have worked with one of the Executive Advisory Board members (Bill Stark/Director of Captioned Media Programs) to explore the development and implementation of open captioning services for future VTS.

This exploration will continue during year two of the grant.