TeachMeet Int'l presentation, March 3, 2012

1. VIDEOCONFERENCES
IN SCHOOLS
SUZANA DELIĆ, CROATIA
Primary School Horvati, Zagreb

2. WHY VIDEOCONFERENCES IN SCHOOL?
• no need for travelling
• no additional expenses
• there is visual communication
• lots of ideas and knowledge
• involvement in mutual projects
• developement of communication skills
• developement of organizational skills
• simple access to knowledge
• meeting other students, countries and cultures
• gaining long-term friendships
ALL OF THIS THINGS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

3. WHAT DO WE NEED TO MAKE A VC?
• A PARTNER SCHOOL
• A COMPUTER (WEB CAMERA, MICROPHONE,
SPEAKERS)
• INTERNET ACCESS
• SKYPE, MSN…
• POLYCOM STATION (THE BEST OPTION)
and of course…
• INTERESTED STUDENTS!

4. PARTNER SCHOOLS AND HOW CAN YOU
FIND THEM?
• BE ONLINE
USE:
• SKYPE
• FACEBOOK
• TWITTER
• MSN
• eTwinning
• ePals
• Global Gateway
www.schoolvideoconferences.grouply.com/

5. TEACHERS AND STUDENTS NEED TO BE
WELL PREPARED FOR EVERY VC.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
• TO CHOOSE A THEME OF A VIDEOCONFERENCE
(EXAMPLES: NEW YEAR IN OUR COUNTRY,
WORLD WATER DAY, OUR SCHOOL…)
• A TEACHER NEEDS TO PREPARE A DETAILED
COURSE OF A VIDEOCONFERENCE
(I will show you a couple of examples at the end)
• IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE A TEST A COUPLE
OF DAYS BEFORE, SO WE COULD BE CERTAIN
THAT ON THE DAY OF THE VIDEOCONFERENCE
INTERNET CONNECTION WOULD BE FINE

6. ECOLE DE
SAINT GAUDENT,
EXAMPLES OF GOOD SAINT
FRANCE
PRACTICE: GAUDENT
CENTER FOR
JOB LANE
EARLY PRIMARY ELEMENTARY
EDUCATION SCHOOL SCHOOL
HORVATI
LOS ANGELES, USA
BEDFORD, MA, USA
PO LEUNG KUK LORD
LUK HING TOO ELGRIN
PRIMARY
HONG KONG, CHINA SCHOOL
LONDON, CANADA

7. 1. example:
PROJECT VIDEOCONFERENCES BETWEEN TWO CLASSES
DURATION: 2009/2010. 7 VIDEOCONFERENCES
ECOLE DE SAINT
PRIMARY SCHOOL GAUDENT,
HORVATI, ZAGREB SAINT GAUDENT
Videoconferences had 2 main goals :
•To improve English language skills of both classes.
•To discover and learn about Croatian and French
cultures, and specially life of a foreign child.
Video conferences mainlines :
•Link 2 classes of 21 pupils.
•Last 30-45 minutes every month (until June 2010).
•Follow a precisely prepared script.
•Contain repeated rituals.
•Focus on a specific theme/issue, different each time.
•Students need to work hard on the preparations.

8. Students in France during the
videoconference……
After great cooperation we continue this school
year in the aspect of eTwinning project Europe
through Videoconferences, which is lead by me,
together with 30 schools from Europe.

9. 2. example:
VIDEOCONFERENCE BETWEEN TWO CLASSES
CENTER FOR EARLY
PRIMARY SCHOOL
EDUCATION,
HORVATI, ZAGREB
WEST HOLLYWOOD
LOS ANGELES, USA
-How old are you?
-Do you have a brother or a sister?
-Do you have a pet?
-Who is your favorite actor?
-Note: VC lasted longer than predicted because students
were in the mood for talk!!

10. Students continued their cooperation. Here are some of the comments:
We had a wonderful opportunity to Skype with each other (Los Angeles
to Zagreb). What a great opportunity to be able to talk face-to-face with a
country on the other side of the world
I think that our skype was SO much
I enjoyed video conferencing because I fun!! I hope we can do it many more
was able to see my pen pal face-to- times. I think that we have a lot in
face. Also, I learned some of the things common like what we eat, what
that she likes that I didn't know singers we like, and what clothes
through our emails. Overall, I enjoyed we wear. I will send some more
the video conference and I thought emails to Nejla and I hope she
that it was an interesting experience. I sends some back. Primary School
hope we conference again soon! Horvati is so cool! Greetings from
Dustin California!
Natalie M.
I think it is important for us to learn about other countries because it is always
good to have some knowledge on other places other than your country. There
are a few things i would like to learn about Croatia. For example, I would like to
learn what their city looks like on a regular day, and what they usually do
during a regular school day.

11. During our discussions we got an idea to send the mascot of our school to
Los Angeles. That is what we did and American students took our Zagi to
New York, Las Vegas…
Everything is possible with videoconferences…

12. 3. example:
VIDEOCONFERENCE BETWEEN TWO CLASSES
JOB LANE ELEMENTARY
PRIMARY SCHOOL
SCHOOL, BEDFORD, MA,
HORVATI, ZAGREB
USA
- portal ePals
- students were exchanging their e-mails
- the great security which students have on ePals
- VC was extremely successful and our cooperation is still going on
- A result of the cooperation was a call from Mrs. Maureen LaCroix,
Superintendent of Schools Bedford Public Schools, who invited me
through Skype to answer several questions during the special ceremony of
the beginning of a school year (Opening Day in Bedford) about using
technology in education in front of 400 guests, which was a great honor.

13. 4. example:
TWO VIDEOCONFERENCES WITH A SPECIAL THEME
1. NEW YEAR IN MY COUNTRY 2. MY SCHOOL
PO LEUNG KUK
PRIMARY SCHOOL LUK HING TOO
HORVATI, ZAGREB PRIMARY SCHOOL,
HONK KONG, CHINA
We held first videoconferences with Hong Kong in the end of 2008.
Let´s see how it looked. Students of the 7th grade were involved.

14. A movie about Zagreb We learn mandarine
VC through Polycom station

15. Last year we had two videoconferences with a primary school.
Students of the 4th grade were involved.
VCs had special themes. One was about New year in Croatia and
China and the other one was about school, classes and afterschool
activities in our schools.
We prepared a film for each of them, PowerPoint presentations and
lots of questions and a quiz.
In Croatia:

16. One of the videoconferences was held for the
opening of a new multimedial center school in
Hong Kong.
Some special guests from Hong Kong were
present in China.
In Hong Kong:

17. So, this is it. I hope you had a good time during this
meeting, and also if you are interested about some
other videoconference just let me know!

18. Thank you for your attention!
SO LONG! ¡adiós!
AU REVOIR! CIAO!
suzana.deli@gmail.com