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Videoconferencing on-line: Enhancing Communication Over the Internet

By David Fetterman
Reviewed by Meg Turner
 
Once an expensive, relatively inaccessible technology, videoconferencing is becoming increasingly popular. Due to a new developing technology, which employs free software and a $100 camera, videoconferencing is on the rise.

David Fetterman, a University professor at Stanford, begins by applauding several ways he has used videoconferencing personally to:

  • communicate with collegues
  • provide consulting
  • teach courses
  • hold office hours
  • At the time of this article, Stanford University had plans to supplement classroom activities, office hours and seminars, using this new technology.

    Being able to see as well as transmit ideas also allows users to share "illustrations, maps, book covers and physical settings" simultaneously. Fetterman points out the positive implications for more interpersonal ways of communicating over the Internet, since participants can actually see non-verbal "language," such as gestures and smiles.

    Using a simple internet connection, free software called "CU-SeeMe," downloaded from Cornel University and a Quick Cam camera by Connectix, collegues and students can now communicate across geographic lines. Connections can be direct or participants can connect to "reflector sites." The author provides an "out-dated" url for a visual guide on how to set this all up and describes the Setup steps involved.

    This inexpensive, relatively simple setup is appealing; however, Fetterman admits that the hardware and software is not without problems. Software bugs, incompatible operating systems and different software versions keep this technology from becoming too popular just yet.

    My thoughts and additional info....

    This article provided a quick intro to CU-SeeMe, but I found the lack of information relative for teachers frustrating. When I couldn't find the visual guide at the site listed I kept 'taking away' parts of the url until I found the homepage. From there I was able to find a site which is currently being revised, but still has some great information! Go to http://www.jungle.com/msattler/sci-tech/comp/CU-SeeMe-no-frames/ to learn more!

    I also looked at Fetterman's references and found that Global SchoolNet is collecting some great info on how schools are using CU-SeeMe to bring students together for online collaborative projects:

      "Picture this: Students in 12 U.S. states and six other countries sharing information and working on projects together across geographic and political lines. They use e-mail, the World-Wide Web, and live video teleconferencing with their PCs....

      ....The project's aim is simple and broad: By connecting schools and students nationally and internationally using the Internet, it hopes to demonstrate how the Net can be used as a tool for research and as a medium for interactive--and collaborative--learning..."

    To get in touch with schools around the world using CU-SeeMe video conferencing software, subscribe to CU-SeeMe-Schools by sending subscribe cuseeme-schools Your Name to lists@gsn.org.

    Click on http://www.gsn.org/teach/articles/cunet.html to learn more.
     
    See http://www.gsn.org/teach/articles/videoconf.html to learn more about Elements of an Effective CU-SeeMe Video Conference.

    *********************

    When people can see and hear eachother while communicating electronically, our world begins to change a little more. International cooperation might even be fostered, as people learn to communicate with one another across cultural boundaries, unhampered by the biases that sometimes occur in "real time" conversation.

    Communicating via this technology allows people to pause before responding, to process the sender's message and reply thoughtfully. Aren't these interpersonal skills we'd like students to learn?


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