Live Broadcast

Does my hair look OK?

Naturally this is the first thing I though of when reading the "Live Broadcast" assignment. Although it could be audio only, I needed to use the webcam to demonstrate some activities and show student papers. My purpose was to tell the other Advisory Teachers at our school how I assess students who were recommended for a special reading and spelling program (Barton*). I also wanted them to be able to ask questions if needed and was glad there was a chat area. Prior to the event I communicated with them via email to promote the discussion. Here is the nine minute video.

*With the Barton program our homeschooling parents attend the video trainings so they can teach it at home. We have four Advisory Teachers who serve as tutors in the program. We meet weekly with the families to help, encourage and teach. I assessed 10 students this past week. Instead of describing my screening process 10 separate times, I offered to let them participate in this live webinar. Only 3 were able to attend, so I recorded it in order that they may view it anytime on our channel. Two ATs have done so already. I should have warned them that they'll need to listen to a short commercial to watch, but they figured it out.

Additional notes:

I began practicing on Ustream, but ended up choosing Livestream as it seemed easier to use. I practiced recording live broadcasts on both with a coworker, but got confused while trying to "upgrade" Ustream's downloaded app-Producer, and decided to go with the basic Livestream channel. It works like a charm! The additional Studio piece helps the administrator organize and tweak video clips. Signing up was a breeze although both required a birthdate and BOTH had me scrolling down forever until I got to my birth year. Seriously! I was afraid maybe the lists did not go back that far. The email they sent to verify my account had links to helpful tips and upgrades.

I started working on this project early as I was afraid it would be complex, but the Livestream website offers many suggestions to create a successful live presentation. I read the tips, then made sure the lighting was good to show the papers (tricky with the webcam), unplugged the home phone, silenced the cell, and locked the dog in the laundry room. I turned on the channel live-but without it recording-so those who looked at the site a few minutes early could see me (instead of the "offline" message). I chatted with a coworker in the chat box to make sure it worked, then quickly deleted the dialog prior to the live, recorded event. When 10:00 arrived, I pushed the record button and began the dreadful 9 minute recording. Although it was educationally sound, it is frightening to not be allowed to erase mistakes or edit. I realized later that a live presentation needs more than one person. There are reasons for moderators, such as reading the dialog chats while the speaker was speaking. There was no way I could keep up with anyone's chat while trying to present. Next time, I will grab a team member to help.

I can see us using this channel for all sorts of live events. Our families not only live in Stanislaus County, but any adjacent county, so some live 1 1/2 hrs away. This would be a neat way for us to give demonstrations or lessons on curriculum. Students, both individual and classes, could share their work with others by doing a live broadcast at school in our Mac lab or on an AT's laptop. For example, the guitar class could play a song and broadcast to the school, family and friends. In fact, although the ATs meet regularly at the school, it would be neat to communicate other times as I did today with my live chat. The potential is huge!

I was able to participate in EdTech Talk live show on Sunday, September 26. It was their weekly general topics presentation. This week they had guest speaker Camilla Elliott, an author/librarian from Australia. There were two moderators that managed the chat. Camilla discussed the good points and pitfalls of ebooks in classrooms/libraries and shared some exciting Google Earth curriculum projects/adventures. Meanwhile the moderators asked questions, typed links into the chat box (as well as posted them later on the EdTech website) and gave their opinions and ideas. A few listeners participated if they had a question or link to share. I was just observing as I had nothing noteworthy to add. This weekly "meeting" on Sunday is a wonderful idea and I'd love to continue checking in each week for general information on technology and education.

EdTech as well as Classroom 2.0 lists tons of daily shows with varied topics that would be useful to me. The archived shows are also valuable. I'm glad that recording is an option! One small annoyance that others noted was that the sound cut out a few times and the network was slow, rebuffering quite a bit. I did, however get lots of ideas for future K-8 educational pursuits, such as Googlelittrips.org and Googletreks.org. I could see the use in our parents and students watching some of the shows. For example, on the Classroom 2.0 website this week the following shows occurred: Monday: "Stress!" and "Teaching with SciFi films." Thursday: "Solving mysteries in Elluminate", and "Edublogs" (chosen by popular poll vote-fun!) The positive aspect of it being live means we can be participating; we're much more inclined to focus, be interested, motivated, and get on-the-spot help or clarification as needed. We get to be a part of the education instead if it being "thrown" at us. Students especially need that.