Minutes fro March 18th Tandberg Project Meeting

Well the meeting yesterday afternoon - March 18 - Tuesday - went

quite well. Below is a summary of what was discussed. Before you

read on, I want to note that a WORD document entitled - Tandberg

Goals Phases.doc is attached. It is very important that you review

and provide input of the items listed. This review is welcome by

ALL, not just those present at the meeting.

 

Northeast Kingdom - Tandberg Distance Learning Equipment Meeting Summary

Date: March 18, 2008 – Tuesday

Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm

Locations: Barton Graded School & Glover Community School

Present:

- Barton: Jeff Coburn, Barb Hobbs

- Glover: Jerry Piette (facilitator), Rick Mallon, Bonnie

Gadapee, Cathi Wasklewicz, Sue Tester, Emily Carbonetti, Brent McCoy

The purpose of this meeting was to review the present status of the

Tandberg Distance Learning Equipment and discuss what role a team/

committee can play in supporting and promoting greater utilization of

this powerful tool.

Points discussed:

Rick of St. Johnsbury School District requested the protocol needed

to enable a more than 2 site conference. Brent and Rick discussed

the steps needed and would test the system.

Bonnie of the Lyndon Town School is still unable to get the equipment

to work but support is coming to hopefully remedy the problem.

OCSU’s (Orleans Central Supervisory Union) Tandberg equipment is

"up and running" in all schools.

Jeff commented that there has been a significant jump in the use of

the equipment in some schools with teachers and their students

connecting with other schools/organizations for various activities.

He knows of some future events scheduled and likely more unscheduled

that will take place.

Jeff supplied a draft document - Goals – Phases – and Indicators -

of which to guide future discussions. Due to time constraints, only

a brief discussion took place and Jerry stated he would email the

document to all interested parties to review and provide input.

Discussion addressed the need/role of a Tandberg Distance Learning

team/committee. It was felt that though the use of the equipment is

growing, there does exist a need to have some sort of group which can

provide support and guidance for teachers, administrators, and even

the public. Equally important is the need for a formulated vision of

what type of distance learning environment should exist in the

Northeast Kingdom. Some suggestions were as follow:

Have future meetings via video conferencing at multiple sites so

greater participation can occur.

Create a pamphlet / brochure which provides basic information about

the equipment, resources, and contact persons.

Create a website (MOODLE?) which could serve as a central source of

all aspects of the video conferencing / distance learning

"landscape".

Have "showcase" sessions where teachers can demonstrate best

practices both "high" and "low" tech.

Barb suggested that since the equipment gets greater use if it is in

a teacher’s classroom, it should be placed in a different classroom

every day and on that day, the teacher keeps the unit on so he/she

can practice dialing out and also be dialed in. From experience in

her building (Barton), she has found that if the Tandberg unit is

physically present in the classroom, teachers are more apt to

experiment with it. It was a suggestion some of us will attempt.

Calendar dates discussed.

March 28th – Friday – VTCITE meeting in Montpelier.

May 1st – Thursday – VITA Learn NEK Spring Meeting – Glover / ?

multiple sites ?

- "showcase sessions" are planned

- update and continued discussion of the Tandberg Distance Learning

Project. It is at this time when we will plan another meeting before

the close of the school year.

May 16th - Dynamic Landscapes – Burlington

Please accept my apologies if some discussion points were left

out. It wasn't intentional.

 

Thanks to all who attended.

Jerry Piette

Middle Grades Teacher

Glover Community School

100 School Street

Glover, VT 05839

1-802-525-6958

AttachmentSize
Tandberg Goals Phases.doc47 KB