HSD Videoconferencing

We are anxiously counting down the days until school begins for the 2010-2011 school year due to two new additions at Centerville and Landisville Middle Schools. Each of these schools is now equipped with a HD videoconferencing room. These rooms can be used in a variety of different ways including class presentations of student projects, staff development training, conferencing between middle schools for meetings or collaborative projects, and enabling our students to interact and collaborate with students across the world. We are very excited to begin using these rooms at both middle schools with the teachers and students.

Two HHS PES classes attended a virtual town hall meeting sponsored by Springfield High School as part of the Megaconference Jr. videoconferencing event yesterday. Students discussed bipartisan Washington, the closing of Guantanamo Bay and the stimulus bill. The most lively discussion focused on education funding in the stimulus bill. The students used a blog to post comments during the videoconference which may be used to continue the topics discussed during the event. We are looking forward to continuing to examine current events issues and interact via videoconferencing with Springfield High School. Look for further postings about this continuing project!!

We will begin 2009 with several videoconferences. On January 9th sixth grade students at Mountville Elementary students will participate in a MAGPI videoconference exploring careers in science. Mrs. Elizabeth Hershey’s class at HHS will interact with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 12th to explore history through music. Three HS world language classes will be participating in the Read Across the Planet event at the end of February and more events are being planned including AP Art, ceramics, American History collaborations and an e-Mission videoconference with the NASA Challenger Learning Center.

We have two upcoming videoconferences planned for December. On Dec 4 students will be participating in a panel discussion with PEWS Fellows for Music Composition sponsored by MAGPI. Then on December 9 Mrs. Pat Kautter’s theater students will participate in a hip hop videoconference with ArceDream. A brief description of this IVC is below. We are very excited to offer this opportunity to our students through MAGPI.

” How can hip hop movement and break dancing contribute to conflict resolution? Join us for this engaging demonstration and virtual student workshop aimed at exploring the use of dance toward conflict resolution. The videoconference agenda will include a brief history of hip hop and ADHK artists will demonstrate locking, popping, up-rock & b-boy styles of break dancing. Participants will practice step-by-step breakdowns of the movements. “

Next week during National Distance Learning Week the HS Chinese 2 class will be videoconferencing with a sixth grade class who have studied ancient cultures on each day Monday through Thursday. On Friday the Chinese students will participate in their annual trip to Chinatown. The HS students will introduce Chinese culture, language and greetings to the special interest students who will be asking the students and Mr. Fan questions about China. The participating schools are MES, RES, EPES and CES. The participating teachers are Gisele Siebold and Eileen Little. We are excited about this unique opportunity for all the involved students!

National Distance Learning Week will be held Nov 10-14. The following is more information on NDLW from the USDLA’s website.

“Sponsored by the United States Distance Learning Association, National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) held on November 10-14, 2008, seeks to promote and celebrate the tremendous growth and accomplishments occurring today in distance learning programs offered by schools, businesses, and governmental departments.

Currently, over 3.5 million college students are taking online course and/or earning online college degrees. At the secondary school level, over 700,000 high school students are taking one or more courses online, and nearly 40 states have established state-wide or state-lead virtual schools. Michigan became the first state in 2007 to require high school students take at least one online course for graduation.

During the week of November 10-14, schools, colleges, and other organizations will be showcasing their programs for current and prospective students. Additionally, the USDLA will be conducting a series of free webinars during NDLW, showcasing various types of distance learning providers”

Hempfield will be participating in this event by showcasing our Chinese instructional program.