Videoconferencing Center of Excellence

Transcript

IU1: What prompted you to begin using videoconferencing?

Turosak: I think my exposure to videoconferences at the IU, actually I didn't even know that such a thing existed or was feasible for the classroom, but even when I found out about it it took some doing to unearth the equipment that we had in school before we could actually employ it. So I was impressed by what I saw here to such an extent that I went and made our tech guys dig out the video equipment so that we could actually go ahead and do it, because I thought it was something that was truly worthwhile.

Kurek: And likewise I followed it his lead, because he's my mentor.

IU1: What advice would you give to a teacher who hasn't begun using videoconferencing?

Turosak: You can answer that one!

Kurek: Well, I think what I've learned most working with Marty is just being able to kind of just hit the ground running with some of this technology. As a young teacher I think one of the things is you get so caught up in all, what it takes to setup a videoconference and what the procedures are. Just being able to sit in on his videoconferences and to be able to work some of the equipment just allows me to get more comfortable with it and the confidence to go forward and want to do it on my own.

Turosak: As the old guy in the building, I was probably the one who was least likely to have a videoconference, because I was more likely to hand out papyrus and reeds and have them write. But, I was really excited about what I saw. The best advice is don't be afraid of it. It is something that you can truly do and have a lot of fun with. The kids are truly interested in it. It's in their medium. They are more than happy to spend time watching it. It's a different experience for them. It's something other than the regular class period. And they really do take it to heart.

IU1: How have your students reacted to incorporating videoconferencing?

Turosak: You have seen them or probably heard…

Kurek: Yeah. Well, like I said I just think like Mr. Turosak said, anything you can do that's different, if you change up the typical sit behind the desk and for them to be able to interact with someone, who knows where they are, clear across the world in some cases, I think it's exciting and I think you definitely hear a buzz generating through the hallways. You hear what students are saying about it and because I haven't done one myself personally, I think the kids are more apt to relay some of the things that happen there that are easy to talk about, and that kind of gives me a kind of a starting point for where we want to go with it to do my own eventually, so…

Turosak: I can tell you that after I did my first videoconference the words that I heard most often from the students who were in the videoconference was "That was so cool!" And there was a bit of jealousy among my other classes who didn't get to partake of the videoconference and so I had to schedule one the next time for a different class so that that we could level the playing field. But they really embraced it.

IU1: What was your best videoconference?

Turosak: I think the one that I liked best was the one with Paley Center, which was the former Radio and Television Hall of Fame, because it was something that I had my speech class there. It was talked to...We talked about, dealt with advertising. It was very user-friendly and the kids could relate to what was there. In fact, more so than I could. Part of the videoconference was them showing clips from a show, television show, I believe it was "24", and it was presented without commercial interruption. And they asked the kids, after they showed them the video clips, who the sponsor of the show was. And 90% of the hands went up and I had absolutely no clue. And, so I asked, "Who's the sponsor?" They said, "Sprint." "How do you know it's Sprint?" "Because of the ringtones!" And, so it's something that they were much more familiar with, and so we had discussions about how things are perceived by different generations and things like that. It's a great launching point for lots of other activities that you can have in the classroom.

IU1: Is there anything else that you would like to share?

Kurek: No, again it's the fact that it's a unique situation that like he says someone who you would least expect being a veteran of the school…

Turosak: The old guy.

Kurek: …the patriarch. It's just interesting to kind of see him embrace it, and it kind of motivates some of the younger teachers like myself who may be a little hesitant to jump into it. Kind of like I said before it just gives you a lot of confidence to want to tackle this and being that it's integrating technology it fits right into our curriculum and where our district wants to go, so to me just like I said it gives me a lot of confidence. It's nice to have the old man as a guide.

Turosak: I can tell you that after, especially after I did my first emission at the IU that when I went back to school, you know the grizzled old veteran, but I was evangelical in my support of the videoconferencing and taking it to other people, especially Jason because he's my mentee, as they would say, and a lot of other people within my department and outside of my department, anybody who would listen basically about the value of it and how much it is of high interest to the kids and you can get them hooked and once you get them hooked, you can go in whatever direction you want.