Tech Scout Summary 2009—Marcel Kielkucki, Secondary Programs

For my first year as a tech scout, I have focused on three topics: Web Conferencing, Open Educational Resources, and Google Groups.

Web Conferencing Tools

As coordinator of Kirkwood High School Distance Learning (HSDL,) my focus has been on ways to improve opportunities for students using our program, as well as to find ways that through technology we can better collaborate with the main Kirkwood campus, as well as our county centers. One of the first things I explored this year was the possibility of offering high school credit classes from the Lincoln Center to our county centers, where students work toward achieving a Kirkwood Adult High School diploma or a diploma from one of our local high schools.

At the Kirkwood Lincoln Center, students have the ability to attend face-to-face courses for high school credit. However, this opportunity is not available to most students at our other centers, and I wanted to look for possible ways that we could make this a reality. My efforts initially focused on the use of VOIP technologies, as the Lincoln Center is not connected to KTS or the ICN. In late October, we worked with Craig O’Brien and Allan Schau in Media Services, conducting a test of a Polycom unit to see how we could implement this technology. While the quality of the video was good, the cost of a unit of this type was a little more than we wanted to spend.

As a result, I have begun looking at an alternative means of sharing courses using Internet-based software and programming. These applications can be used by more than just our program, as instructors and faculty could use some of these programs for virtual office hours, conducting group chat sessions, bringing in guest lecturers/speakers, or many other uses. Below, I’ve listed some possible applications currently available:

Elluminate—Elluminate is a subscription based product that allows for web-based conferencing. Elluminate is a product that I use in my work with the iNACOL, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning. We use this product to conduct our monthly Midwestern committee meetings, as it allows for video and voice conferencing, chat boards, whiteboard presentations, and desktop sharing.

For individual use, Elluminate offers a free V-Room, which gives basic features of Elluminate to a user and two guests. Interested users can sign up for their free V-Room at www.elluminate.com

Adobe Connect Pro-Adobe Connect Pro is a product similar to Elluminate, allowing for Internet-Based video conferencing. Vic Jaras, Technology Consultant at the Department of Education, has been working on getting a discounted rate for use of this product by Iowa schools, which would make it more attractive from a financial standpoint. However, as of my last contact with Vic, I have not heard where this project is going. As a result, I have not seen a full demonstration of this product.

Perfect Meeting-Perfect Meeting is another videoconferencing tool that is being offered via a subscription basis by the Iowa Communications Network. Perfect Meeting does not have all the tools of Elluminate, but new features are often being added to this product. One of the key features of Perfect Meeting is that it allows connections not only from computer to computer, but expands to include H323 (Polycom-type) units to interact with desktop/laptop users. This could lead to the use of Kirkwood’s video classrooms with Polycom units on campus, as well as users coming in for a class or meeting from a desktop. The ICN refers to Perfect Meeting often as a “bridging” solution. However, since it’s a subscription service, the cost can be higher than using the ICN or other means.

MeBeam.com-Dr. Leigh Zeitz from the University of Northern Iowa discusses and demonstrates this free software/application in many of his presentations. MeBeam.com allows you to do online videoconferencing. To use MeBeam, you create a name for a video room, and then send out that name to others with which you’re looking to conference. You then can meet via videoconferencing using the web.

Wiziq.com—Wiziq.com is another free application that is very similar to Elluminate. It allows for video and voice conferencing, but includes a whiteboard and chat applications. It also has a recording feature that allows you to archive sessions. If you upgrade to the pay product, additional features are also available. Wiziq has also added the ability to do online testing as well as content sharing, similar to the KIN or GoogleDocs.

Open Educational Resources--NROC

Another item that I explored this year were Open Educational Resources, or OERs. There are a number of OERs currently available or in development. One that I have been in contact with for a few years is the National Repository of Online Courses (NROC.) I was first introduced to NROC in 2007 at the IACON conference. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about NROC, its mission, and the services NROC provides.

NROC is a project of the Monterey Institute of Technology with support from the Hewlett Foundation. NROC has a free site called Hippocampus, which includes some of its content for free use by schools and students. Much of this content is media rich, but mainly allows students to access course content. Hippocampus has good use as a resource to give students who are looking for additional resources on concepts or other course content.

NROC also includes a membership option which gives you a personalized Hippocampus site, but it also allows you to import NROC content into a Learning Management System. You can then use the content in a variety of ways from using the content as a standalone course to using just modules of a course or to modify the content to fit individualized needs.

My big interest in the NROC content is that I could see some multiple uses for this content. Secondary programs could use some of the content to enhance or replace vendor-purchased courses at a significant cost savings. Content could also be used by the college credit distance learning to create new online courses or to supplement current courses. Learning services could use courses as tutorials for students needing remediation or additional support in certain subjects. As NROC expands, there could also be potential uses even in continuing education.

The Iowa Community College Online Consortium is currently a member of the NROC network, which allows them to access this content at a discounted rate. Kirkwood could also receive discounts through our membership with the League of Innovation.

To help get a discussion on NROC going, I helped to coordinate a webinar on February 26, 2009 with Terri Rowenhorst, membership director for NROC. We offered this as a KCELT session with about 10 people in attendance. It is my hope that we can continue to look at possible ways to use NROC content on a college-wide basis.

Google Groups

I have also begun to look at possible ways to incorporate Google Groups into our HSDL program. To facilitate our online courses, we have hired Iowa-certified, subject-specific instructors from all corners of the state. As a result, it is not feasible for us to gather these individuals together on a frequent basis. However, I still wanted to find a way to create a community among these instructors so they have a way to get to know one another and collaborate with one another.

The answer to start this process has been to create a Google Group. With the Google Group, the key tool to date has been the use of the threaded discussion/message board feature. When I have a question to ask of everyone, I can post a thread and get responses from all instructors. The reason this can work more effectively than email is that each instructor can post a response that all others can see. This allow for a sharing of ideas, which can lead to others finding out new ways to solve problems.

It has been my hope that our individual instructors would use this to connect with one another, but I have not seen that widely happen yet. It is my hope that eventually our facilitators will begin to collaborate on a greater scale with one another.

Google Groups can have some applications on campus. However, with the addition of the Kirkwood Information Network, many of the key tools found in Google Groups are also found within KIN and SharePoint.