video conferencing Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Virtual Excursions Australia

February 12, 2015March 24, 2020

Inspiring Stories – Women and Science Symposium 2015

It all started with a discussion my environmental scientist daughter and I had about the numbers of girls opting out of science and scientific careers because of the negative stereotypes. She said it was such a shame that girls by not considering science as option were locking themselves out of some amazing careers. We were talking at the time about some of the scientists I have worked with and have met here at the museum and some of the incredible experiences they have had. She commented, it is disappointing that those stories aren’t common knowledge and available to students making decisions about their future.

From that a small conversation an idea began to germinate, I ran it past a couple of my colleagues who all thought that could have potential. A little more research and contacting some possible speakers my idea of a Women and Science Symposium began to blossom. Another conversation with my daughter who again urged me to do this (or else!) and my idea has now taken on a life of its own.

A newsletter lead me to my final link to my day with how to guide students from school to university life and to employment opportunities through a inspiring conversation with UNSW Australia’s Veena Sahajwalla and the Science 50:50 program, who agreed to come and chair the day also bringing many of her industry partners and having the Sydney launch of Science 50:50.

Veena50-50 Credit - Tamara Dean — Veena Sahajwalla – Image Credit – Tamara Dean

The 11.30am panel chaired by Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, features four scientists with a distinct maritime feel. (Well we are a Maritime Museum). Micheline Jenner from the Centre for Whale Research Western Australia, Dr Katy Croff Bell Expedition Leader Vice president and Chief Scientist Ocean Exploration Trust USA via video link and Dr Katherine Dafforn and Dr Inke Falkner both from Sydney Institute of Marine Science. The panellists will discuss their work and different experiences as well as inviting questions from students.

After the first panel presentation, students who visit the come to the museum will be offered a behind the scene, tour of the ANMM conservation lab with conservator Rebecca Dallwitz. The 1.30pm session will feature the launch of Science 50:50 a program that aims to inspire young women to pursue degrees and careers in science and technology so they can succeed in an innovation driven future. Science 50:50 makes the simple point – since half the population is female, why not half the scientists and technologists? By informing and engaging young women with the power of science and technology to solve complex problems and transform lives, and by introducing them to Australian scientists and innovators who are doing just that, Science 50:50 can help recalibrate the gender balance.

Image Credit - Maja Baska 2014 — Image Credit – Maja Baska 2014

The session be once again chaired by Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla will feature a keynote speaker, as well as panellists from Science 50:50 industry partners such as CSIRO, IBM, Cochlear, Woolworths, Arrium, Brickworks, Australian Museum Research Institute, Global Product Stewardship Council. Students will have the opportunity to learn about scientific careers beyond university, internships and competitions. A panellist meet and greet will be held at the conclusion of the session for any students who attend the day.

I believe that the day will be in the spirit of International Women’s Day, with the aim to inspire the next generation of scientists, who also happen to be girls to do amazing things.

Women in Science Symposium at the Australian National Maritime Museum

Inspiring Stories – Women and Science Symposium 50:50 project is on 6 March 2015.

Bookings essential bookings@anmm.gov.au or 92983655

2 session are available through video conferencing with DART Connections

Inspiring Stories Women and Science Symposium 50:50 project – 6 March 2015 11:30am

Inspiring Stories Women and Science Symposium 50:50 project – 6 March 2015 1.30pm

Science 50:50 – Inspiring Young Women into Science

February 9, 2015March 24, 2020

Get roving video conference robots at your school or museum!

There has been much talk around the video conferencing robot at the National Museum of Australia. Developed in collaboration with the CSIRO and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, the telepresence robot roving the NMA’s floors has allowed multiple remote schools and libraries to simultaneously connect to an onsite educator to ask questions as well as explore the exhibits themselves using the panoramic cameras that create a 360 degree view with zooming capability. The only issue is that whilst the technology is very exciting the associated price tag makes it difficult for other sites to attain easily.

Double Robotics iPad robot seen in Atlanta at ISTE 2104

There are low cost options that have been roaming educational halls and hospitals for years and represent an exciting way to scale the concept for Australian needs. During my Churchill Fellowship tour I came across a couple of these solutions and was very impressed with how easy they are to operate and the attainable price for implementation. The New York Hall of Science uses a VGO robot as a way for remote learners to interact with summer science camps occurring within the galleries. The learner is able to log onto the robot and control its movement, effectively acting as an autonomous student. There are other models available too; a popular one in schools is the one from Double Robotics that is effectively an iPad rolling on a small version of a Segway. In both cases these VC robots have found uses in hospital systems for bed ridden patients to provide virtual mobility as well as in schools for remote students to participate in lessons. The remote site simply downloads an app and controls the robot from their location. The result is the ability of a remote student to move around the school or similar and interact with classes… not unlike ‘Shelbot’ seen in the Big Bang Theory comedy series! At Fizzics Education we had a Double Robot roaming around our offices for a bit… even my 5 year old daughter was able to control easily although it did freak out my two year old when she moved it towards him 🙂

Schools have been using these systems to allow sick kids still attend classes, even for students to present their oral presentations to their class whilst on an excursion. The technology also be used as a way of giving visitors a virtual tour of your site before they even step foot on your grounds – as a former boarding school student I reckon this also presents an interesting possibility for families looking to get an idea of where they are sending their kids! Regardless of how you look at it, these robots and other similar products add yet another dimension to an already exciting field for distance education!

December 1, 2014March 24, 2020

Virtual Science Club

In May and June 2014 a number of Virtual Excursions Australia members were involved in a video conferencing science club that brought students from across Sydney to do science experiments in an informal after school session in 3 Sydney libraries.

Coordinated by Fizzics Education, Sydney Olympic Park and Greater Western Sydney GIANTS Football Club, the 7 week program linked hands on science experiments with leadership and life skills.

Each week guests from a number of Virtual Excursion Australia members were able to join the sessions whereby the students could learn all about organisations such as the Australian Museum, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, ReefHQ, Australian Fossil & Mineral Museum, State Library NSW, Powerhouse Museum, Macquarie University and the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Video Conferencing Science Club presented by Fizzics Education with special guests from the Australian Museum

This science club represented the first of its kind in Australia and showed the strong potential for collaborative technologies to bring together distant communities together to learn about their world and culture in a real time environment.

Check out the video of the program at Vimeo – Video conferencing science club

Thanks to Blacktown Libraries, Auburn Library and Hurstville Museum & Gallery for hosting the students!

For further information about how you can get involved please contact Ben Newsome at Fizzics Education.

November 2, 2014November 2, 2014

Dinosaur Day 2014

The Australian Museum has been involved in the ClickFest video conferencing festival since it started in 2011 and is proud to be part of this exciting event. ClickFest will be launched with Dinosaur day on 3 November 2014.

Join Winny the Australian Museum’s Muttaburrasaurs as she opens ClickFest and Dinosaur day.

Dinosaur Day – Meet Winny

Time: 10:00

The Australian Museum launches the 2014 Dinosaur Day with Winny our Muttaburrasaurs. Come along to meet Winny to learn more about Australian Dinosaurs. Winny Saurs is a life size Muttaburrasaurs dinosaur puppet and she takes you on a journey to explore her world. You will be transported back 100 million years into Cretaceous and discover what life was really like for the dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Day – Fascinating Fossils

Time: 13:00

Fossils are fascinating reminders of life in ancient times and provide a window into the past. They can also reveal an amazing amount of information about extinct species and the ancient world. Step inside the shoes of a palaeontologist to use fossil material and modern animals to reconstruct some extinct Australian animals.

Further Information: See the Australian Museum website for extra resources.

These sessions are being hosted by the Distance and Rural Technologies (DART). DART connections help us by providing a booking system, technical support and marketing to teachers.

October 9, 2014October 9, 2014

Video Conference Checklist

We’ve all been there, you nervously start a video conference hoping that all your equipment works, praying that no one has snuck in and played around with your Tandberg settings in the dead of the night while you weren’t there. You dial the VMR number and ask the magic question… ‘Can you hear me ?!?!’, you hold your breath and never get a response….. booh…. you find yourself on the phone with the remote end for the next twenty minutes trying remove the gremlins that have crawled into your system rather than delivering the fantastic educational experience that you had so meticulously planned.

[pullquote align=”right” textalign=”center” width=”30%”]…you can always have a v/c without the picture, but you can’t have one without the sound![/pullquote]

Wouldn’t it be better if you could just start the video conference and everything just worked straight out of the gate ? There is a way to achieve this, and it can apply to setups of any size and any type and any organisation. I call it a ‘pre-flight check’.

The basic idea of a pre-flight check is to do technical checks on everything BEFORE you start the video conference. Granted most of us delivering video conferencing are not technical and very few of us have the luxury of having a technical person on standby to help with the set up. So it will pay you greatly to spend a few minutes before an event doing some basic checks on your equipment. Even if you know the state of your gear or your gear has not moved it is still a good idea to check everything is working just so you can eliminate your end as being the problem if an issue does crop up it’s ugly head during your event. Following is a checklist that has been implemented at the Powerhouse Museum, since we have started this process we have had very few technical problems and we have also found that our staff are more confident and know the equipment better as a result.

[important]

1. Check Your Network

Check that you have an IP address. On a Polycom unity The IP address is shown at the bottom of the display when the unit first boots up. On a Tandberg you will see the IP on the top left. An IP address has the form nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn, If you do not have or cannot see an IP address try switching to another network port or talk to your network administrator.

[/important]

[important]

2. Check Your Primary Camera

Check that the primary camera is plugged into the correct port and you are getting a loopback image on the screen.

[/important]

[important]

3. Check Your Secondary Camera

If you are using a secondary camera, switch over to it and check that you are getting a loopback image.

[/important]

[important]

4. Check Your PC

If you are planning to use content sharing from an external PC, then you MUST check that it is working beforehand. There are several things that can go wrong here! Make sure you are familiar with the ins and outs of switching your computer from mirrored or extended display modes and check that you have all the right sort of connectors available to connect to your v/c codec. Exactly how this done is something that I can save for another article….

[/important]

[important]

5. Lighting

This seems like an obvious one, but you should keep in mind that a camera does not perceive light exactly as the human eyes does and low light levels can translate into a fuzzy or graining looking image at the remote end. Conversely high light levels can cause the image to look grey or colourless. Critically review the lighting and check via camera loopback that the lighting is not too dark and not washed out. There should be a nice contrast between each half of the face and skin tones should look natural for onscreen talent.

[/important]

[important]

6. Make a Test Call

Once you have tested the above make a test call to another v/c unit, and test everything again from steps 1-5.

[/important]

[important]

7. Test the sound

Finally, while on the test call confirm that there is two way audio. The sound should be loud and clear and not distorted. Remember you can always have a v/c without the picture, but you can’t have one without the sound!

[/important]

Some v/c setups are easier then others. — Some v/c setups are easier than others.

Another good idea is to use a service like VTC Call Back (http://vtctest.pointsofdata.com/) Using this you can make a test call and it will call you back and check your video and audio is working.

Try to plan the time it takes to do this into your event schedule, I would recommend that you allow yourself at least 15 minutes for the basic checks written above, longer if you have a more complex setup. If you make a good habit of running through this before every event you will save yourself a lot of heartache in the long run.

Keep up the good work !

—

Stephen Bancroft is an an Electrical Engineer and Computing expert, he has over twenty years experience with internet based technologies and has worked extensively with live sound and broadcast. He is currently writing technical articles exclusively for VEA.

October 3, 2014November 2, 2014

ClickFest 2014

SciFest showcases science across Australia

ClickFest is an annual video conferencing festival run in November each year. ClickFest is an exciting initiative from education organisations across Australia. It highlights the diversity and scope of video conferences available to schools across Australia. Sessions are delivered free or at reduced cost to schools, providing a great opportunity for teachers to give it a go.

Topics and programs will vary over the month long video conferencing festival to provide flexibilty for teachers and students. Each day multiple sessions will be available on a variety of topics from content providers around Australia.

4 November 2014

CLICKFEST: Transport Past & Present
Time: 10:00
Overview: Have you ever wondered what types of transport zoomed around our streets, railways and skies before motor cars, electric trains and planes? Come find out with Finn, our 20th Century transpor…

CLICKFEST: Sustainable Solutions Workshop
Time: 11:30
Overview: Put on your eco-designer thinking caps and take part in this hands-on workshop! Learn about ecological footprints and what it means to be sustainable. Meet Mr Airhead and teach him how to th…

CLICKFEST: Creative chemistry workshop
Time: 14:00
Overview: Designed to cover a broad range of chemical concepts that is accessible to primary students.- kitchen chemistry found at home- physical changes vs. chemical reactions- acids vs bases and ind…

CLICKFEST: Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development
Time: 15:30
Overview: Find out how your primary classroom can be transformed into an interactive science environment without breaking the bank. Learn how to use easily obtainable materials from the local shops to…

5 November 2014

CLICKFEST: For Good Measure fun with measurement and standards
Time: 10:00
Overview: What do ‘Peter Piper’ and ‘Jack and Jill’ nursery rhymes have to do with maths and measurement? What are gills, bushels, pecks and the smoot? Find out in this special hands-on maths video co…

CLICKFEST: Minibeast Magnified
Time: 11:00
Overview: Minibeasts Magnified explores the exciting and diverse world of invertebrates. Students will learn how to identify common groups of invertebrates and why they are important.Minibeasts Magnif…
5 November 2014 cont.

CLICKFEST: Museum Secrets Revealed
Time: 10:00
Overview: Become a detective and discover how scientists collect, preserve and display the many extraordinary specimens in their collection. Explore the Australian Museum specimens to investigate how …

CLICKFEST: Geology Rocks
Time: 13:00
Overview: The Video conference will look at the dynamic earth forming processes. There will be explosive experiments demonstrated including the step by step exploration of the different phases of a vo…

6 November 2014

CLICKFEST: Human Body – Look at the major body systems and senses
Time: 09:00
Overview: Students look at major body systems and how the five senses work in this engaging workshop! Where is heat in your body conserved? How do the lungs work? Heart, kidneys, bones, liver and other…

ClickFest – Australian Giants

Time: 09:30

Overview: Giant animals from dinosaurs to megafauna have roamed the Australian continent at different times. Find out about some of these Australian giants. Look at fossils and learn what they tell us…

ClickFest – Australian Giants

Time: 10:30

7 November 2014

CLICKFEST: Innovation (Yr 4-10)
Time: 09:30
Overview: Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre offers engaging workshops that enable students to explore science, technology and innovation through experience. Whether they are inves…

CLICKFEST: Innovation (Yr 4 – 10)
Time: 11:30
Overview: Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre offers engaging workshops that enable students to explore science, technology and innovation through experience. Whether they are inves…

CLICKFEST: Innovation (Yr 4-10)
Time: 13:30
Overview: Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre offers engaging workshops that enable students to explore science, technology and innovation through experience. Whether they are inves…

10 November 2014

CLICKFEST: 4 Slimes in 30 minutes – Kitchen Chemistry fun!
Time: 14:30
Overview: 4 slimes in 30 minutes…. how could you go wrong?!?Join Fizzics Education for SciFest as we dive into kitchen chemistry in this fun yet educational workshop. Slimes we will investigate are:-…

11 November 2014

CLICKFEST – Art Around the Library Session 3 – Captain Cook – Portrait drawing

Time: 10:00

Overview: Explore the extraordinary Pictures Collection of the State Library of NSW in this exciting new series of video conferences held on Tuesdays during Term 4. Highlighting five different artwork…

CLICKFEST – Art Around the Library Session 3 – Captain Cook – Portrait drawing

Time: 12:00

12 November 2014

18 November 2014

19 November 2014

Clickfest – Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 09:30

Overview: In this virtual excursion your students will go back in time to the 1850s to share an hour in the life of a Mounted Trooper (played by a costumed interpreter) as he talks about the difficult.

Clickfest – Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 11:00

21 November 2014