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Video-Conferencing, The Next Generation
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| (0)A Gentle Non-Techie Overview | (6)Tech Details and Tips |
| (1)Tips before the VC | (7)Two Recommended Purchasing Sources |
| (2)Summary of VC Resources | (8)Results of a survey on ISED & Wizards listservs |
| (3)Our First VC Setup | (9)Tech Tips re CU See Me |
| (4)Our Second "Lower Cost" VC Setup | (10)Video-Conferencing Electronic Field Trips |
| (5)Other VC Projects: From Nobles & Tennessee | An Intro to Video-Streaming (separate web page) |
A K or kilobyte usually refers to 1000 bytes, approximately a page of double-spaced text; a typical floppy disk holds 1,4000 K. Since there are 8 bits in a byte, then one K would be 8000 bits. Unfortunately, the symbol K also sometimes refers to "kilobaud" or 1000 bits. Tech-talk (like English) can have these ambiguities, e.g. Larry Bird eats his hot dog with relish whenever he sees a bat crashing through the window. And so when someone says a 28.8 modem transfers 28.8 K per second, he/she means 28,800 bits per second or about 3.5 kilobytes. While fine for the web, this speed is inadequate for any type of classroom video-conferencing which needs at the minimum 128 kilobaud of bandwidth per second.
Video-conferencing refers to the video equivalent of the telephone -- being able to see and talk to the person at the other end. For many years in the 1990s, people have been fooling around with CU See Me and small cameras that allow two people to see each other (tiny screen) and talk to each other (barely). One of the frustrations for many of us exploring CU See Me (and similar software) is that the quality of the audio does not compare favorably with a telephone and the quality of the image is minimally adequate for one person, let alone a class. One of the main problems is that CU See Me is generally based on internet protocol.
IP (internet protocol) or TCP (transfer control protocol) refers to the traditional way that CU See Me is done, via the internet. For the most part, the internet does not have the bandwidth to allow sufficient quality of image and audio to travel from one site to another in real time. Most of us have experienced the "sluggishness" of the internet at times, waiting a few seconds for a web page or graphic to come in. Because video-conferencing involves attempting to send many K per second, most of the CU See Me type video-conferencing proves to be frustrating much of the time and simply inadequate for any classroom usage.
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) refers to the most common approach to quality video-conferencing that has evolved in the latter half of the 1990s. For a few hundred dollars, you get a separate ISDN line installed and for about 40-60 dollars per month, you get ISDN service that might be referred to as 128K or 256K or 384K. Your ISDN line is like a telephone and traffic on it does not compete with the internet. Accordingly between 128K and 384K of bits can travel per second from your phone to the other ISDN phone number where they have a VC setup.
Video-streaming refers to a special technique by which video is delivered in a quality fashion with immediate gratification. The company www.real.com has pioneered its real player for the Mac and PC that anyone can freely download and use on a good quality computer. In order to produce the types of file that others can see, you need to have software (under $2,000) that creates video-streaming files.
Tip #2: Think of the VC as the payoff for work that has been building. Do not try to wing the VC. Plan ahead of time with the other VC adult at the other end the kind of structure you want in your VC. Will students at one site be asking questions of students at the other site? If so, then one site should prepare the questions ahead of time and even practice walking up to the microphone and camera and reading them. Will students be giving oral reports? If so, then the reports should be practiced and rehearsed and timed.
The important part of tip #2 is that you should think of the VC as the playoff game in sports or the presentation of the play to the entire school. The work needs to happen ahead of time and the VC is just a "gimmick" to enhance all the work that has been accomplished. The value of VC is that it adds icing to the cake. The cake is the process that has happened beforehand.
Tip #3: Make sure that the adults connect BEFOREHAND via VC and check out room placement, microphone placement, possibly pre-sets if you have them. It is so common for VC teachers to keep the microphone too close to the monitor, causing audio-feedback problems. The acoustics of the room can frequently cause audio feedback and require participants to speak with frequent pauses. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is important to find out ahead of time.
Tip #4: Always have a plan B ("contingency plan") regarding what you will do at each end if you cannot connect. Practice dialing each other both ways, then hanging up and trying again. Will you record the presentations via camera and send a VCR tape? Will you connect the two groups via speaker phone? Most fundamentally, what is the tech plan for communication if you don't connect? This might be an office phone, cell phone, or invite to chat within a chat room.
Tip #5: Keep things moving at a quick pace! People get bored, lose interest and get impatient SOONER via VC than real life, possibly because of the screen and audio issues. It is crucial to avoid these problems by keeping things moving. I would venture to say that a management tip is needed so as not to be rude to the speaker, but to keep things moving. For example, at the Nobles end, we might say to people that if someone hands you the Larry Bird doll, you have 33 seconds to finish up! Each student presenter might be told not to exceed 3 minutes. The person with the remote might end up timing as well and handing the Larry Bird doll over to the student as appropriate!
A few silly acronyms of VC ETIQUETTE to emphasize key points:
In 1998-99, we used this setup to conduct our first video-conferencing course. This might become commonplace one day, but is rather distinctive in the 1990s: a year long course in AP Computer Science Course (C++, level "AB") taught by Ed Siegfried from Milton Academy to 6 Milton students and 5 Nobles students via video conferencing! Ed Siegfried (Director of Academic Technology at Milton Academy) taught the course via video conferencing. Ellie Newman (Nobles Teaching Fellow) coordinated the course from the Nobles end. Alex Slawsby (Nobles 96) helped us purchase and set up the video conferencing equipment; he coordinated efforts with Peter Moll, Milton's Director of the Audio-Visual Program.
We purchased a Sony Trinicom 3000 256 System ($8900) with Wireless Computing RF Keyboard ($389) and next day, one year service ($895) from Dave Marinelli (e-mail: dmarinelli@hbcomm.com) at HB Communications. Our equipment included the following:
Classroom and Technical Overview:
(1) The course met in video-conferencing
style on two separate days each week. The standard mode each time involved seeing
faces on the monitor and seeing a C++ program on a separate screen (projector at
each school connected to a separate CPU; the two CPUs were running Timbuktu by
Farallon so that either computer could control or observe the other one).
(2)
The combination of video-conferencing and Timbuktu has been absolutely wonderful
in making this course work well; we have even had several students show
powerpoint presentations on the Timbuktu big screen along with voice narration or
music traveling via the video-conferencing ISDN lines ... although Timbuktu
slowed down the graphics a bit and the students got carried away with the magic
of Powerpoint, the effectiveness of this as a distance learning teaching tool was
clear!
(3) We had very few days when the system failed. We did have ongoing
microphone frustrations due to issues of room environment and audio-feedback.
(4) We experimented with writing on a white board at each end and having a camera
pre-set to zoom in; this worked reasonably well. We had some success using a
document camera at one end.
Pedagogical Overview:
(1) There is no question that video-conferencing
can easily make the students at the “other end” passive and occasionally
distracted. On a few occasions, Ed Siegfried taught the day’s lesson from the
Nobles end. It was clear that when Ed was physically present, the Nobles’
students were more engaged and the Milton students were more passive.
(2) No
one should think that video-conferencing is a time-saver. The number of adults
and hours involved has gotten closer to a googol than I would have thought
possible. Having someone at each end besides the instructor to handle the camera
and solve AV issues is important but also time-consuming,
(3)
Video-conferencing is not easy. While you are teaching, you have to keep an eye
on the screen to see if you are still in the proper field of vision. You have to
look at the screen to see if remote people are waving to you to ask a question
and you might well have to control the Timbuktu CPU as well.
Part Four: Our Second VC Setup
We purchased two of the low-cost Cruiser 75 Systems for about $1300 each
from VCON, distributed by David Marinelli from HB Comm. The Cruiser 75 is a board
that plugs into a PC. It comes with a camera, of course. We purchased one for our
DLC and the Boston Home has purchased one for its computer lab. The cost is about
$1000 for the board and $300 for the NT1. Additionally, you need to set aside
money for the 128K ISDN line which is about $200 installation and perhaps $40 a
month. VCON's web page is at www.vcon.co.il.
The Boston Home (a residency in Dorchester for people with multiple sclerosis and long-term disabilities) has recently purchased the same exact "low-cost" VC setup using money we at Nobles raised on our Boston Marathon day, pushing several of our friends on the marathon route. Several days a week, Diane Lemay from the Boston Home calls us up on video-conferencing. It is one of the most exciting and wonderful things that I have been involved with regarding technology. We can see each other well and hear each other fairly well; we are in the process of creating a "virtual room" between the Nobles computer lab and the Boston Home computer lab. On our more expensive camera, we have purchased a wide angle lens and therefore more of us can be seen. Nevertheless, I can easily see Diane clearly together with two or three others in wheelchairs sitting behind her.
By using a 17" monitor, they have improved visibility at the Boston Home end and we will probably buy a 32" monitor for them soon. But the bottom line is that with a system that costs under $1500 and plugs into any $1000 PC, the dream is there! We at Nobles have a 256K ISDN line, but at the Boston Home, they have just a 128K ISDN line. Nonetheless, the quality of the VC with them is "good enough" (jubuun in Japanese).
Classroom and Technical Overview:
(1) The field of
vision for the camera that comes with the Cruiser 75 is not sufficient for a
class. With the Sony system, we could comfortably have 8-10 people in sight. With
the Cruiser 75, only about 3-4 people can fit into the field of vision.
(2)
The sound and effectiveness of VC is quite good. Because the gist of VCing is to
see the face of the speaker, the tradeoff from 128 to 256 has not been a
significant factor in the eyes of most observers.
Pedagogical Overview: Update 6/2002: Two wonderful people who came to Summercore in different years but who both took to
VC ("video-conferencing") like fish to water are Scott Merrick and Donna Svinis ... Scott has two jobs in
Tennessee and Donna wears at least two hats at Nobles, being in charge of the DLC ("Digital Language
Center") and being in charge of video-conferencing. Donna has an absolutely wonderful collection of
VC resources and examples
posted and two of them (Scott and Donna) have pulled off
many successful VC projects between MA and TN!
We have also established ongoing VC projects with Tufts University. One of
our French teachers regularly connects with a French professor there. The quality
of the video is quite good but more important the quality of the VC activity is
incredible. The professor at Tufts engages each of our students in French
dialogue and the sense of a virtual classroom is wonderful. The audio is
excellent (256K) and by controlling our camera with our remote control, we can
quickly zoom in on the specific student who is being called on. The excitement
and professional collaboration between the two teachers (Nobles and Tufts) has
gone so well in just a month that the two of them are planning a collaborative
course for this Fall! We have had tremendous success in connecting with
language teachers between our school and Tufts. In each of the three languages
taught at Nobles (French, Japanese, Spanish), we have worked at building
relationships and securing a time slot where each participant can become
moderately comfortable with the other. Once that happens, the next step is to
launch a classroom project.
Every year a group of Japanese students visits Nobles (and other independent
schools) from Kyoto High School in Japan. Over the last year, they have been
intrigued with what we are doing with VC and returned to Japan last year with a
proposal to purchase their own VC setup. As of Fall 99, we have begun to
video-conference with them! The voice
was clear...the visions were clear... I experienced that I was handling the
camera back and forth on both ends more and more spontaneously during the hour
thanks to Steve's training beforehand. We even ended the session almost exactly
on time at 6:30pm and everybody had a chance to talk. My students all enjoyed
meeting with Japanese students, at least 8 of them came to Nobles two years ago,
and some of my students went to their school during the summer. The exchange
program between Nobles and KNHS has now become a year- round exchange through the
video conference technology. Since KNHS students did most of talking this time,
giving presentations on "teenage problems", "dreams about future", and "political
activism", while Nobles students participated as active listeners, my plan is to
now ask my students to express their reactions and opinions about the same issues
about American teenagers. Steve will help me post these on the web using
VideoStreaming, that KNHS students can visit to learn more about what American
students think after presenting their opinions. The big frame factor that caused distortion in a
lot of other areas was the idea of giving every one of our 34 students air time.
We ended up with about two hours' worth of material that had to be ruthlessly
slashed (hats off to those kids for doing that, largely by themselves), and even
so, we were flying like a bat out of hell from beginning to end. Next time, I
think we'll try for something with a little bit more leisurely and intimate feel,
limit the number of active participants, cover less ground but in more depth,
take time for more fruitful and spontaneous discussion, and find other ways for
some students to contribute besides giving speeches; Quentin had the idea of
having a gallery of students who could give opinions or answer questions by
holding up a little "yes" or "no" sign, giving a kind of quick group consensus.
Anyway, it was fun, our students were very psyched up for it, and it served
as a very nice final project for our 3rd-year students, who'll be going into
their final final exams next week. In the past, the final big project was our
Model United Nations simulation in November, which made for a pretty
anti-climactic third term. So once again, thanks for joining us!
Thank you for all your work to make this vc so rewarding! Your students were
marvelous, too. I am very convinced that the exchange between Nobles and KNHS
has become year-round not only by actual trips, but by this new technology.
Camera locations on your side were very good. The visual displays were also very
well projected... colors green, yellow, orange, etc. are less desirable, blue,
black are the best. Students on both sides need to be trained to speak with more
volume. But overall, they were well-prepared and my students were not bored a
bit... They were sometimes confused, but mostly followed what your students were
trying to say. This is what "cross-cultural communication" is all about, isn't
it? Good will always governs any misunderstandings of words. My students and
I will start working on the creation of video clips in which each student will
express his/her reactions/opinions about American teenagers in English this week.
We will let you know when your students can visit our web site to see my
students talk about similar issues in America. Please send my best regards to
your headmaster. Mr. Iwata and our head Mr. Baker did just the right amount of
exchange at just the right moment!
ANSWER: Video
conferencing depends on a lot of data travelling between sites per second. When I
say that the Boston Home is paying $40 per month for an ISDN line, it means that
128,000 bits are travelling each second between the two sites. That is TOO MUCH
data to reliably travel on the internet. We are all familiar with being on web
sites for which the graphics come in as "chunks" and we have time delays for a
half-second at a time. Well, that is what would happen if/when you do VC on the
internet. Some people do it, but it is not ideal. I was told in my Bentley
College course that ISDN is the only way to go. ISDN means that the data is
travelling via digital phone signal between the two sites and not conflicting
with any other data. When you VC via internet, you compete with everything else
that is travelling at that moment. ISDN converts the video and audio to digital
and then uses a digital phone line (private call) between the two sites. In
arranging for the ISDN line here at Nobles and also at Boston Home, it was
important to give specs to phone company, but once done, everything went very
smoothly.
ANSWER: Nobles and
Milton connect via twin 128k ISDN lines. Each line is a 2B + D configuration.
Each B channel provides 64k of data transfer capability while the D channel is
used for send/receive commands and other control information. As each line
represents a two-way data path, both lines are used for send and receive (in and
out). That allows us a maximum data rate of 256k. Compression varies, but we
should be able to attain between 15 and 25 fps which is enough for most video
conferencing applications. Technology-wise, it is generally a good idea to
purchase the same equipment as the site or sites with whom you will be connecting
on a regular basis.
ANSWER: In terms of picture and sound, the Trinicom system
is better than the Cruiser system in every way. The Cruiser system is a hardware
PCI board that fits into an available slot on your PC. The Trinicom system has
its own dedicated processor (basically, a PC dedicated to videoconferencing).
Whereas the Cruiser system utilizes a Windows-based application for
videoconferencing (MeetingPoint), the Trinicom system is dedicated to
videoconferencing in that it does not use an operating system as a foundation for
the software (ie, no crashing/conflicts etc...) You can use the Cruiser system as
a group system, but it is not recommended. If you purchased a high quality camera
with a wide angle lens, you could potentially use the Cruiser as a group system.
However, keep this in mind: The video images (local video and remote video) are
displayed on the Cruiser system as small windows on the computer screen. If you
scale those images up, they begin to pixellate and lose quality. The Trinicom
system, on the other hand, devotes the entire screen to local or remote video and
can utilize a picture-in-picture window to display the local or remote video as
well (ie, remote video = full screen, local video such that you can monitor what
the remote end is seeing (ie, you), = small window). As a result, you can utilize
the full potential of a 20-inch + TV monitor with the Trinicom system, whereas
you can really use only a computer monitor with the Cruiser system (you could
actually add a video output card to the Cruiser system and then display on the
monitor...however, you would still run into pixellation issues etc...)...With
regard to computing hardware, the faster the computer, the better...You could
definitely get by with a 200mhz machine, though. I'd have to know more
information about the actual computer hardware to make a final recommendation on
that. ANSWER: The Trinicom
system has a large (about the size of a computer tower) rollabout processor. It
fits in a cart with the monitor (television monitor) on top. A camera is then
placed on top of the monitor (usually a Sony videoconferencing camera). Then, an
omnidirectional microphone is usually placed out in the room. Or, you could
probably use a shotgun-type mic placed by the videoconferencing camera...The
monitor can probably connect via either method, but usually you would use
s-video, composite output, or component output.
ANSWER: As mentioned above, the Trinicom system should output via a video output.
I can't tell you for certain, but the Cruiser system should be able to output
video as well...Or, you might have to add a video output card...
ANSWER: If you can utilize both
B channels of one ISDN line, you'll get 128k out of it. You're pretty much on
target with regard to your frame rates. Nobles gets around 20 fps (give or take 5
fps) from twin ISDN lines. Steve could give you better firsthand experience with
regard to how closely lips follow words. It depends; unfortunately, you really
need upwards of 25 fps if you want excellent language comprehension over the
videolink.
Here are the results of a recent survey conducted on the ISED and Wizards
listservs on the topic of video-conferencing (dec 99).
Compiled by Steve Bergen as a joint project with consultant Alex Slawsby
(ads@brown.edu) and colleague Ellie Newman Although I have been intrigued by
CU See Me and because of the many interesting educational uses, the comparison
with ISDN video conferencing is a bit like comparing the current Boston Celtics
with the 1986 team. CU See Me is really one person to one person; it may have too
much lack of reliability to recommend it to educational institutions seeking to
establish meaningful classroom projects. Steve Bergen 5/99
posted on the web with permission Note: Curriculum provided can be targeted to all Primary and
Secondary school levels unless otherwise specified. When you download a
video-file that is not being streamed, you might have to wait a long time before
you see anything on your screen. When you download a streaming video, you will
usually see the beginning of the movie within 33 seconds, even though the rest of
the movie is still being sent from afar. This method is far more efficient,
allowing us in the year 2000 to define yet another use for computers. But of
course, this means that we need to have a fairly new Mac or PC with a lot of RAM.
Even 64 megabytes of RAM is barely adequate for video-streaming! Upgrading older
computers to take advantage of the newest versions of Real Player can be both
problematic and more costly than buying new machines ... and so the computer
revolution continues! At Nobles, we recently purchased a Real Video Streamer
for about $2,000 which allows us to post videos from a digital camera (or other
sources) onto the web in less time than you can cook a good piece of fish on the
George Foreman grill!
"Powerpoint Movie boosted with Audio"
(1) Our techie from the Boston Home (Diane Lemay) has
been absolutely wonderful in VCing with us several times per week. We have had a
few successful sessions in the seventh grade where a teacher would lecture on a
topic to 15 students at Nobles and 1-2 residents at the Boston Home.
(2) The
casual afternoon conversations between students at Nobles and residents at the
Boston Home have been equally exciting.
(3) Two of the Boston Home residents
-- Diane Lemay and Colleen Powers -- worked for us at Summercore 1999, evaluating
the computer drawings created by participants as part of the five day Summercore
session. Drawings were posted on the web so that Diane and Colleen could
evaluate; using VC, Diane and Colleen announced the winners each Thursday at the
Summercore carnival! (4) In January 2000, we created a VC game between Nobles and
the Boston Home called "How to be a 33 dollar-aire"; students from Nobles compete
each Wednesday afternoon to answer questions posted by Colleen Powers, Janice
Kushner and Fred Holway. Of course three life-lines exist including using
NoblesNet e-mail to ask someone on line for help. This exciting VC connection
between Nobles and the Boston Home has been incorporated into a "virtual
community service" activity which of course complements on-site visitations!
smerrick@usn.org writes:
I have posted the
VCR tutorial online on
A Step-by-step Guide to Videotaping a Polycom Videoteleconferencing Event
Scott Merrick
Lower School Technology Coordinator
University School of Nashville
Nashville, TN 27212
SOME VC VOCABULARY
Our consultant, Alex Slawsby, has answered many questions for us over the
years:
Part Seven: Two Recommended Purchasing
Sources
David Lemperle told me about several purchase possibilites for low cost VC
equipment. The Cruiser 75 board by VCONN that we have purchased at Nobles and for
the Boston Home retails for $999 and he can sell it for $850-$900; the NT1
terminator is an additional cost, but under $200. David also recommends the
PolyComm SP which has autotracking and many more features than the Cruiser 75. It
is a stand-alone box that sells for $3995, but he can sell it for about $2600 via
educational discount. Finallly, I might add that David's company has a national
group of engineers who will install and set-up for a school for a single fee of
$625. They also offer their own ISDN service so that they have one stop shopping.
I came across David via one of the listservs and have spoken at length with him.
I have been impressed with his knowledge and pricing flexibility. I plan to do
some purchasing with him over the coming school year. Steve Bergen 12/26/99
Schools with
ISDN based video-conferencing: 10
One more category (the best) that has ISDN based VC and might one day win
"Best of Boston"
Boston Home (a wonderful residency for multiple sclerosis
patients and people with long term physical disabilities) which is highly
desirous of having some video conferencing contacts with people OTHER than all
those Boston Celtics fans at Noble and Greenough School. Contact people
include:
Schools that are thinking of acquiring ISDN VC: 7
Schools that are involved in CU See Me/Net Meeting/ Create&Share type VC: 8
(I am sure there are many more)
from David Lemperle (914) 566-4340
International Videoconferncing, Inc.
www.ivci.com
INTERNATIONAL SITES
Video Streaming Beginner Page
Second release (1/22/00)
Steve Bergen, bergen@chapin.edu
Overview
This web page corresponds to
the "techno-quickie" that was given to various faculty members at Nobles on
Friday 1/21/00. We started with an introductory explanation of video-streaming,
using the metaphor of a waiter or waitress serving food in a restaurant. Without
video-streaming, a typical movie might be several megabytes and would take a long
time to download from the server to your computer; this is analogous to a quality
restaurant that takes 30-60 minutes before you get any food. In contrast, when
your video is served to you via "streaming" it is analogous to being served
portions of food as they are prepared -- salad, potatoes, side dish, fish --
without waiting for the entire meal to be prepared. First Base: Install Real Player
(free)
Make sure you have real player installed on your Mac or
PC. You can download this from www.real.com.
Click where it says DOWNLOAD REAL PLAYER at the top of the screen. Now glance
down the page about 2-3 inches where it says "RealPlayer 7 Basic is our free
player" and click. You will be asked for some info and can then click to
download. There is a screen that describes "minimum and recommended system
requirements" that leads to older version of the software if necessary.
Second Base: Channel Surfing!
Test these 4
samples. See if you can play, pause, continue each video or switch to a different
video. The controls to play, stop or pause each video are below on the left side;
the video will appear at the top. You do not need to stop one video before
starting another one. Have fun surfing the four channels here!
"Powerpoint Movie boosted with Audio"
Steve Bergen, Lesson One of C++
(sblesson1modem2.rm)
this 8 minute movie #9 will appear tiny in standard
form, so it is preferable to
and see it within its own real player window.
This particular video was done as a powerpoint presentation with a normal size
window. It was enhanced with audio and then turned into a streaming video via a
special powerpoint presentation tool from www.real.com.
this 10.5 minute movie #10 will
appear tiny, so it is preferable to
and see it within its own real player
window. This particular video was done as a powerpoint presentation with a normal
size window. It was enhanced with audio and then turned into a streaming video
via a special powerpoint presentation tool from www.real.com.
Third Base: Expore the REAL World!
Web Sites
with real video samples (there are many more)
Home Plate: How do you get to Carnegie
Hall?
Practice, practice, practice! Demonstrate that you can do
first base, second base and third base on a different computer -- all by
yourself! Perhaps you can take the ultimate "home-run" challenge and teach a
colleague or another person who is less skillful than you!
Time for an info-mercial ... nope, it's not the George Foreman grill,
it's the Sony Mavica 81 camera -- one of our favorite pieces of technology at
Nobles ... but it is like the George Foreman grill in that it is jubuun ("good
enough" in Japanese) and easy to use ... and in the way that the George Foreman
grill does not replace the oven and microwave and gas grill, but supplements
them, I believe that the creation within schools of hundreds of video-streaming
lessons will NOT replace traditional classrooms experiences but will supplement
them ... Steve Bergen (bergen@chapin.edu)
(the one that takes one minute movies in addition to stills and saves onto
floppy disks)
