Students that participated in the district’s 1st grade “Flower Power” videoconference project came together to share their knowledge of plants last Thursday & Friday.  There were three sessions in all, with three schools participating in each videoconference.  In each videoconference, a class presented a project that they created in their classrooms and the other participating schools in the session participated in a sharing activity over the presentation. It was a way to have each school share their understanding of the content being presented and also contribute what they learned during this six week’s unit of study over plants.  It was a “beautiful” display of learning because the students were able to share with others their understanding of plants, but also learn how other students interpreted the content.

Three students from Ms. Arriaga attempt to pet Oliver

The CRES 3rd grade teachers participating in the “Prove It” videoconference project could not have foreseen the excitement & nervousness that would arise from the mystery animal’s visit, “Oliver”.  As soon as “Oliver” arrived on the Camino Real campus, he was definitely a topic of conversation.  “What is that?’”, “Where did he come from?” , and “Where’s he going?” were common questions from students as they saw him being transported in the hallways.   Ms. Arriaga’s students had the following to share about the experience of taking observations of Oliver and then heading to the computer lab to research more about what type of animal he could be.

“It was interesting because we got to learn about more than one kind of animal. Each group member got to research a different animal and was in charge of a different link or website. It was a lot  of information to look at and that’s why we decided to  split responsibilities. It felt like we were scientists because we were trying to figure out what Oliver was and we had to first make predictions then research to make sure. We each took notes to find the best match.”

I’m sure we’ll be looking out to see if “Oliver” gets on Twitter.  If he does, then he’ll definitely have three classes at CRES “following” him. 

21 Third grade Classes in Hays CISD participated in the “Prove It” videoconference led by Tracy Mulligan, Instructional Technology Specialist at Kyle Elementary School.   Oliver the Hedgehog from the Kyle Elementary Environmental Center visited the schools prior to the conference and students made observations and inferences about what type of hedgehog Oliver is.  In the videoconference, classes met to share their guess and prove it by backing up their prediction with facts.  “This is what scientists do in the real world when they find an unknown organism.  They compare it, make observations, study it, and come together with other scientists to discuss and make inferences.”   During one  program, Science Hall Elementary students admit that they first thought Oliver was a porcupine.  After making observations, and doing research on the projects Glogster site, students decided that Oliver was an African Pygmy Hedgehog.  Their hard work paid off – their predictions were correct!  Tracy Mulligan is passionate about providing authentic scientific activities for students.  This videoconference is an example of how Hays CISD is  providing real world learning experience and integrating 21^st Century Skills into instruction.

Students from throughout the state of Texas participated in a videoconference with the Seattle Aquarium hosted by Philippe Cousteau. Students saw varied sea life while Philippe and Aquarium personel discussed adaptations of ocean animals. Via the internet, schools were asked to submit questions. There were hundreds of questions, but Philippe Cousteau selected a question from Blanco Vista Elementary to answer during this live broadcast. Below is a picture of Philippe answering the BVES question about the color of coral.

Videoconferencing is far more than just watching someone on TV.  Videoconferences, the way we do it in Hays, is all about active learning and engaging students in unique opportunties.  Enjoy this short video about our vision of videoconferencing projects in our district.

Videoconferencing Today