Our project organization
Our project organization is moving ahead! We have some specific ideas about how to get started, about specific topics for the first few months, and most importantly about which schools are going to be actively participating. So far, I have a strong commitment from:
- Gosia (Malgorzata Kulakowska) in Poland
- Enza Armiento in Italy
- Jacqueline Matthews in Ireland
Also actively discussing participation with me is:
- Branislav Lanscak in Slovakia
The other partners who were interested, but who I haven't heard from recently (perhaps because their school year is over and they're on holidays) are:
- Annamaria Karczagi (Axelero) in Hungary
- Jiøí Hrubý in the Czech Republic
And in my school, Lycée Astier, two other colleagues have already posted to our blog:
- Bruno Boddaert, English teacher
- Fabrice Foray, computer studies teacher.
It would be helpful if some of you could tell us whether there are other teachers in your school keen to participate. I've got 5 or 6 more here at Lycée Astier who are "interested" but who are waiting for September to really get involved.
About financing: I've already been able to use our project and the "labels" showing our participating schools to get 4000 euros and 30 extra hours for teachers for our project. We're going to use the money (from our regional council) to get a projector and PC and necessary accessories to set up a videoconferencing site. I've got several more requests for funding in the pipeline, but no confirmation yet. I strongly urge you all to make similar requests from your local administrations. I think in general they will be very keen to fund a potentially very interesting and useful project like this. Later, we can work towards getting Euro funding for exchanges through Comenius, Leonardo, and so on.
About themes: Although we've been discussing the theme "living spaces" I don't want anybody to feel "chained" to this theme, or to change their mind about participating because they are unsure about this theme. I think our project is big enough we can have several different discussions going at the same time. I know I'm still looking for some specific partners for our teachers in computer studies, electrical and mechanical engineering, woodworking and so on.
About tools: I'm sure most of us are most familiar with e-mail, and it is probably the easiest forum of exchange to manage. However, I'd also like to use a set of forums organized into a sort of "virtual village", derived from a different project I've been running for the last five years, and it would be great if we could also use videoconferencing, live chat, and perhaps other forms of communication. My colleague Bruno has also been involved in a video/theater project for a couple years, and he has several films made by students in our school, that could be fun for your students to see.
All these points would be useful to discuss here. Please jump in and post your thoughts whenever possible.
Cheers, --- Phil
- Gosia (Malgorzata Kulakowska) in Poland
- Enza Armiento in Italy
- Jacqueline Matthews in Ireland
Also actively discussing participation with me is:
- Branislav Lanscak in Slovakia
The other partners who were interested, but who I haven't heard from recently (perhaps because their school year is over and they're on holidays) are:
- Annamaria Karczagi (Axelero) in Hungary
- Jiøí Hrubý in the Czech Republic
And in my school, Lycée Astier, two other colleagues have already posted to our blog:
- Bruno Boddaert, English teacher
- Fabrice Foray, computer studies teacher.
It would be helpful if some of you could tell us whether there are other teachers in your school keen to participate. I've got 5 or 6 more here at Lycée Astier who are "interested" but who are waiting for September to really get involved.
About financing: I've already been able to use our project and the "labels" showing our participating schools to get 4000 euros and 30 extra hours for teachers for our project. We're going to use the money (from our regional council) to get a projector and PC and necessary accessories to set up a videoconferencing site. I've got several more requests for funding in the pipeline, but no confirmation yet. I strongly urge you all to make similar requests from your local administrations. I think in general they will be very keen to fund a potentially very interesting and useful project like this. Later, we can work towards getting Euro funding for exchanges through Comenius, Leonardo, and so on.
About themes: Although we've been discussing the theme "living spaces" I don't want anybody to feel "chained" to this theme, or to change their mind about participating because they are unsure about this theme. I think our project is big enough we can have several different discussions going at the same time. I know I'm still looking for some specific partners for our teachers in computer studies, electrical and mechanical engineering, woodworking and so on.
About tools: I'm sure most of us are most familiar with e-mail, and it is probably the easiest forum of exchange to manage. However, I'd also like to use a set of forums organized into a sort of "virtual village", derived from a different project I've been running for the last five years, and it would be great if we could also use videoconferencing, live chat, and perhaps other forms of communication. My colleague Bruno has also been involved in a video/theater project for a couple years, and he has several films made by students in our school, that could be fun for your students to see.
All these points would be useful to discuss here. Please jump in and post your thoughts whenever possible.
Cheers, --- Phil
posted by PhilB at 11:47 AM
1 Comments:
I don't think any of that is strictly necessary. With the Skype software, anyone with a PC, webcam and headphones/mic can participate in a videoconference. As soon as you want to have 3-4 people involved, you need speakers instad of the headphones, and if you want the whole class to see, you'll need the videoprojector to supplement the screen.
But, again, all that is not strictly necessary, it isn't strictly necessary to be able to do videoconferencing in order to participate in our project. You'll be able to use e-mail and forums with your computer rooms, without any video or audio capability.
About funding, don't be so quick to cross it off. Ask around, and find out how you could present a request to whatever local administration(s) that are responsible for funding or for pedagogy and training in your schools. Also try the city council and any other local or regional administrations. You might be surprised, some local politicians or administrators may see your project as an opportunity for *them* to get some good publicity.
Post a Comment
<< Home