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Sometimes it takes a while for a new technology to become really
useful. The first automobiles were slow, dangerous, and always
breaking down. PC local-area networks were also slow, dangerous
to use for critical data, and down as often as they were up. And
for nearly a decade, videoconferencing over networks has been
fraught with poor quality, lack of reliability, and difficulties
in implementation and mired in a hodgepodge of competing and incompatible
standards.
But that was then: Manufacturers and developers in this market
have been making steady progress, and now it looks as though some
of them have finally got it right.
That's good news for schools. With the right equipment, your
district can now roll out videoconferencing with some degree of
confidence. In fact, hundreds of districts are already making
full use of high-speed videoconferencing in a variety of settings
and circumstances:
- Distance learning and resource sharing have long been the
primary targets for videoconferencing in schools, allowing school
districts to spread sparse teaching resources throughout an
entire district and to rural schools. Videoconferencing also
lets districts offer select courses to a few students per school
-- hooking all the students up into one video "virtual classroom."
If only three or four students per school have an interest in
Latin, for example, linking all those separate students together
in one videoconferenced class makes a districtwide Latin class,
led by one teacher, a workable option.
- Inservice training is increasingly important, but logistics,
time pressures, and scheduling work against many planned professional
development opportunities, often resulting in lower attendance
than desired. Videoconferencing brings training to each school
building, making training seminars more accessible.
- Districtwide meetings, through regularly scheduled videoconferences,
make it easier for administrators and teachers to share ideas,
conduct business, and coordinate districtwide procedures without
creating a major disruption in people's busy schedules. With
videoconferencing, staff can spend more time solving problems
and less time traveling from one location to another.
Getting started
Sound good? To take advantage of these videoconferencing solutions,
your district -- that is, all the locations that will participate
in the conferencing -- must first be connected via a high-speed
wide-area network (WAN). Many districts, through their own initiatives
and with E-Rate assistance, are already well on their way to full-scale
networking. What you deploy as your districtwide WAN, however,
determines what videoconferencing solution you must use.
Speed matters, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You'll
want either high-speed Ethernet -- 100 megabits or better -- or
ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) between schools and offices.
Most of these high-speed WANs will be over fiber connections between
main locations, with connections to the on-site local-area network
(LAN) that runs throughout the buildings. Some vendors will tell
you that lower speeds are adequate, but the quality of the video
and audio is directly affected by the available network bandwidth.
The higher the speed, the better the quality. Period.
If you plan on making videoconferencing a high priority and
are in the midst of deciding on WAN technology, you'd be wise
to take a close look at the various products available before
making a final decision. (See the box for a partial list of vendors.)
No companies provide identical videoconferencing functionality
across all WAN platforms.
ATM-based videoconferencing
ATM WANs have built-in video capabilities as part of their basic
architecture. The technology was designed to handle data, video,
and voice -- each with its own separate class of service on the
network. As a result, videoconferencing products for ATM WANs
and LANs have a longer history, are generally more reliable, and
have had more time to address quality and add features.
Two leaders in ATM network videoconferencing are First Virtual
Corp. and VTEL.
According to Andrew Knox, director of VTEL's education and government
services, videoconferencing is becoming a higher priority for
school districts -- and not just for containing costs. California's
Norwalk-LaMirada Unified School District is using videoconferencing
for "Bussing of the Minds," a project spearheaded by Norwalk's
Richard Contreras, director of the district's Global Studies Program.
With videoconferencing, students can "attend" classes at other
schools without actually boarding a bus -- yet interact via videoconference
on a variety of topics and in a number of subjects.
"The videocongerencing systems help our students recognize the
value of those cultural differences that make up our world," says
Contreras. "As a side benefit, technology is occasionally the
only tool that makes at-risk students excited about being active
learners."
Ethernet-based videoconferencing
While not a newcomer to videoconferencing, Ethernet, or IP (Internet
Protocol), was never intended for use with video streams. Over
the years, a number of standards and proprietary technologies
have come and gone while trying to improve the quality and reliability
of videoconferencing over IP networks. Recently, however, wide-scale
adoption of the International Telecommunications Union's H.323
standard seems to have provided the quality and reliability needed
to make distance learning a reality over Ethernet. (The H.323
standard provides a standard means for prioritizing service for
special applications, such as video on LANs. Comparable standards
include H.320, which sets priority levels over ISDN connections,
and H.324, which sets priority levels over dial-up telephone lines.)
Broadband Networks and PictureTel are two of the most prominent
manufacturers of IP-based videoconferencing systems.
Nick Giacobe, hardware product planner at Broadband Networks,
says the company's PowerPlay IP-based solution is used in a number
of school districts to provide shared classes and bring subject-matter
experts from one school into virtually all schools in a district.
Teachers colleges have also used videoconferences to "introduce"
student teachers to the classroom over video, he says.
Giacobe also stresses the improvements of IP-based video over
the last few years. "Using the H.323 standard, we're able to wheel
a videoconferencing cart into any Ethernet-connected classroom,"
he says. "The quality is very good, with standard TV resolution."
The company has announced plans to support video over DSL (digital
subscriber line) as well.
Beyond the basics
Many of the systems that are currently on the market offer significant
additional software capabilities beyond mere videoconferencing.
For example, products from VTEL and PictureTel and others offer
whiteboard support so that participants can view graphs, notes,
and drawings during a conference. Some systems, such as PictureTel,
also support meeting calendars to facilitate videoconference scheduling.
In addition, distance-learning tools from VTEL and Broadband
Networks include the ability to run software applications as part
of the conference, allowing the teacher to run programs during
the videoconference and broadcast the programs for all participants
to see. This level of interactive learning is especially important
in teaching software applications and computer programming.
State of the future
Schools in South Dakota will soon have the chance to try out
such videoconferencing solutions. Under a partnership between
US West and the state of South Dakota, nearly all of the state's
400 K-12 schools are being networked. And as part of this mammoth
integration effort, nearly all the junior/middle schools and high
schools in the state will have videoconferencing capabilities.
According to Jim Edman, project manager for South Dakota's Connecting
the Schools program, the conferencing capabilities will be used
for distance learning, sharing resources, in-service training,
and administrative meetings.
"Videoconferencing is very useful for our many rural schools,"
says Edman. "With videoconferencing, we can bring resources, classes,
and materials to these schools that was nearly impossible to do
otherwise."
Early in the project, South Dakota experimented with frame relay
WAN links for video but found the quality unacceptable. US West
helped the state install VTEL LC5000 videoconferencing hardware
and software over ATM. "We're able to bring in resources from
community colleges and private colleges as well now," says Edman.
"Anywhere our ATM network goes, we can provide distance learning."
With all that videoconferencing power at its disposal, the state
has undertaken the task of training teachers, administrators,
and network support personnel on the new technology. This summer,
South Dakota is expanding its four-year-old Teaching, Technology,
and Learning in-service seminars to include videoconferencing
to help teachers and administrators integrate the technology into
their curriculum. US West will provide an in-service technical
track to train support personnel on the new network and also on
the videoconferencing equipment.
"South Dakota is bridging the digital gap for its many rural
schools," says Marsha Murray, senior marketing manager for Educational
Services at US West, which has similar projects in the works in
Wyoming and Utah.
Educators are watching with interest to see -- literally --
what a difference videoconferencing will make for students in
these states.
Steve Bosak
is a freelance technical writer in Batavia, Ill.
Selected videoconferencing vendors
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