Bring the World into Your Classroom
T imely, efficient, cost effective, and expert—interactive video- conferencing offers so much
to K– 12 schooling. Consider this: A
classroom can visit a museum without
the expense of a bus ride and without
the time taken away from instruction
for that ride. What parent wouldn’t
want her child to visit a museum once
a month? Classroom-to-classroom
interactive projects using websites,
e-mail, and wikis and culminating in
virtual face-to-face meetings—these
are the collaborative projects students
can engage in at school using videoconferencing.
Our students have access to scientists and historians at state museums,
and they can connect with professors
at our state high school for gifted students. They interact with classrooms
in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York,
New Jersey, and Michigan, and they
cross national boundaries to learn
with students in Great Britain.
Reach Out to the World
Two videoconferencing programs that
have enhanced learning at our school
are Read Around the Planet (RAP)
and Megaconference Jr.
Students share skits
and plays with a faraway
classroom using videoconferencing technology
in this Read Around the
Planet activity.
Read Around the Planet. Janine Lim
and Sue Porter, cofounders of Two Way
Interactive Connections in Education,
started this program in Michigan in
2002. Organizers match up two class-
rooms to videoconference and share
reading. We’ve had students share
stories they’ve written and plays and
skits they’ve performed for their online
audience, complete with costumes,
scenery, and music. If you are looking
for a project that will make curriculum
topics more meaningful to students,
consider teaming up with another
classroom, and witness the enthusiasm
as students share their projects.
Megaconference Jr. This is a 12-hour
around-the-world program that allows students to participate and present any time during a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
span. The project has been held once a
year since 2004. Megaconference Jr. is
free and opens the world to students.
Two classes at different schools
presented “History Mystery: North
Carolina” and shared a segment for
Megaconference Jr. 2009. The stu-
dents studied the mysteries of the lost
colony of Roanoke Island; the origin
of wild horses living on the islands of
the outer banks; and Blackbeard, the
notorious pirate who robbed ships
off the coast of Charleston. These
three mysteries intrigued students,
who were motivated to perfect their
work and share it with students from
around the world at the conference.
They also posted their progress on
a wiki, which students from other
By Linda McDermon
