Videoconferences

General:

1. Videoconferences between the two collaborating schools in different countries offer participants the opportunity to meet “face-to-face” and to personalize the partnership in a meaningful way. 

2. Teachers need to determine where they have access to videoconferencing facilities. 

3. If your school has its own videoconferencing capability, the PSSP teacher needs to coordinate with the person in charge of the technical aspects of setting up videoconferences.

4. If your school does not have videoconferencing capability, contact the company or entity in your area that has agreed to let your school use their videoconferencing facilities. (They should been informed that these will only happen 2-4 times a year.)  Find out who is in charge of setting up and running videoconferences and find out what information they need.  What time of day, days of the week are available for them, and any advance information they may need.

5. If you are using a television screen, it will usually divided into four sections so that students will see themselves, NASA and their partner school students at the same time.  If you do not have a large television, it is advisable to make a projection so that the images will not be too small.

“Meet and Greet” Videoconference

1. This should be your first videoconference.

2. The details for a “Meet and Greet” videoconference will be worked out between the two teachers.  The biggest obstacle is usually the time difference between the U.S. and Europe or the Middle East. 

3. The “Meet and Greet” videoconference should be arranged only after the students have e-mailed each other at least two times.

4. After a date has been chosen, inform your school’s technical person or local company to make sure the time and date will work for them. Communicate with Tolga Yıldırım for assistance, if necessary.  Determine how long the videoconference will last. “Meet and Greet” videoconferences usually last 30 minutes.

5. If possible, have the technical entities on both ends do a test videoconference the week before the actual videoconference to make sure everything is working well.

6. Have your students prepare specific questions to ask.  Have them write the questions—they should be short—on a note card that they will have with them during the videoconference.  Sometimes students freeze when it is their turn to talk, so it is advisable for them to be prepared in advance. 

7. Invite your school principal, other teachers, and parents to watch. These are usually a lot of fun with kids waving at each other and sending their greeting to their new “E-Pals”.  Having others watch the videoconferences helps gain support for the program.

8. After the videoconference, inform Tolga Yıldırım at GFTSE about the time and date of your videoconference and some details about how it went and any problems that you experienced.

Three-way videoconferences with NASA

1. Partner schools will qualify after they have completed the required number of lessons.  These may be completed while the dates for the videoconference are being set since the videoconference registration process takes one and a half months.  We recommend that you choose a topic in our Curriculum in the order it is offered. This will make it possible for many different schools to share e-mails on the same topic.
   
   
As soon as a topic has been chosen, teachers should start working on scheduling their first three-way videoconference.

2. Teachers at the partner schools should choose together three alternate times and dates, in order of preference, that work for both schools so that at least one of these desired dates will be available for NASA.  Be sure to check school holidays, religious holidays, examination dates, etc.

3. The videoconference dates need to be chosen one and a half months in advance.  NASA / Johnson Space Center requires that dates and times be kept between 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. U.S. Central Time, Mondays through Fridays.

4. One and a half months before a videoconference:
• Contact your school or hosting company’s technical department to have them fill out or update the Technical Information Form. E-mail this completed form to Mr. Tolga Yıldırım tyildirim@gftse.org.
  
  
• Inform Tolga Yıldırım of three alternative dates and times for a test videoconference. The test videoconference should be done no later than one week before the real videoconference to allow adequate time to solve problems. Partnered schools do not need to give the same day or time for a test videoconference.
  
  
• Inform Tolga Yıldırım of three alternative dates and times for real videoconferences, in order of preference.

5. All registrations for videoconferences with NASA will be done by Tolga Yildirm at GFTSE and not by individual schools. 

6. Once the dates for both the test videoconference and the real videoconference have been accepted by NASA, Tolga will inform each school.

7. Be sure all the lesson plans for your topic are complete before the actual videoconference date.

8. Prepare for first videoconference using NASA’s pre-event guidelines on NASA’s Distance Learning web site.

9. NASA will let your students ask questions to the NASA expert assigned to the videoconference. Prepare 10 questions and decide which students will ask each question. 

10. Students should prepare questions on cards that they have with them during the videoconference.  At least two weeks before the videoconference, e-mail Tolga Yıldırım the list of questions; these will be sent to NASA for their approval.

11. Invite your principal, other teachers and parents to the videoconference. Having others watch the videoconferences will gain support and enthusiasm for the program.

12. Real videoconference
• This videoconference will take approximately 45 minutes. At the beginning of the videoconference, the teachers should introduce themselves and their school and let the NASA expert know if some of the students are not native speakers of English, indicating they should speak slowly not use complicated words.
  
  
• Students present their projects to the partner school and the NASA expert. Each school should take no more than 10 minutes to present their project and allow as many students as possible to speak.
  
  
• Students ask the NASA expert their prepared questions. Schools should take turns asking questions.

13. After the videoconference:
    • Students should prepare thank you notes for all those who assisted in making the videoconference possible.
      
      
    • Follow NASA’s post-event activities suggestions.
      

14. Keep a record of your videoconferences—photos, videos, students’ comments. GFTSE likes to use these materials to add to our Global Friendship website.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION FORM

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