Preparation and Delivery of a Videoconferencing Session in the Classroom

The way you prepare for point-to-point and multipoint sessions is quite similar, with the preparation and management of the multipoint session being a little more extensive. We provide a description of all of the phases with notes on additional things you must do to organize a multipoint videoconference.

• Things to be done well before videoconference session
  • Testing: Test, test, and test your connection with the remote party! No amount of testing with any given site will be too much. Make sure that the people who will operate the equipment on the day of the videoconference perform at least one test themselves as well. There should not be any changes made in network configuration, software solutions or equipment being used between the last test and the actual event. Introducing new pieces of equipment without prior testing is always a big risk.
  • Firewalls: Almost all schools have a firewall installed and it is the single most challenging issue to be resolved before you start with a videoconferencing session. Make sure the people at your site know how to deal with firewall issues and know how to bypass them to exchange the audio and video streams between your site and the remote site.
  • Lighting: Make sure you have good lighting in the room and shining on the faces of the people who will be talking during the session. If you need additional lights, bring them to the room. For more information and tips on good lighting conditions and other elements of production, see the main Cookbook section, Developing a Productive Videoconferencing Room.
  • Camera position: Always position your camera to be as close to the display area as possible. If rearrangement of the room is needed to accomplish this, do it ahead of time.
  • Background noise: Eliminate all sources of background noise from the room (e.g. fans, disks, etc). Some of this work may take more time (like removing and relocating equipment that may be producing distracting humming noises) so you should plan to address it ahead of time.
  • Make a site label: Ask your students to design a school/group/project label that you can use for easy identification of your site.
  • Check echo: Make sure your site does not cause echo, otherwise it will be a very frustrating experience for all users at the remote site. It is imperative that you provide a system with good echo cancellation capability. One way around not having this is to ask everyone to mute their mikes while they are not talking. This, however, becomes everyone's nightmare when people forget to do it during the conference or, even worse, leave their microphones un-muted and leave their room!
  • Plan videotaping and recording: Videotaping the session is always good to do. There will be sessions on topics and with people that you would like to review later on and perhaps even show to the other people. Prepare all equipment you may need for this purpose, and make sure you have enough storage media. If you simply connect a VCR to your videoconferencing system, it will generally record ONLY the remote sites, and not yours. To record all sides of the conference, a separate "passive" endpoint is needed to do nothing but record. But if your system cannot save digital data coming to your end at all, you can easily use a camcorder and record both people at your site and the display with the images from the remote site. In some cases this latter option may be even better since you will be able to see the engagement of your students, analyze the session and see how you can improve it. Even a few strategic images made with a still image camera will be great to have in your documentation. This material will illustrate the range of sessions you have conducted with your students and be the best showcase of your joint efforts.
  • Checklist: Prepare a checklist with all tasks you have to organize and complete before the video session starts. Prepare a similar checklist for your students and enclose instructions on how to get to the room where the videoconferencing session will be held.
  • "Plan B": Always have a "Plan B" ready - what to do if the equipment fails!
  • Telephones: Telephones with full dial-in/out capability are extremely valuable to have at both sites. Make sure site coordinators and technical staff know the numbers at either end. If there is no telephone available in the room, you can use text chat and instant messaging as your back-up communication channel. Text-based tools can be extremely helpful in managing multipoint videoconferencing sessions. Some videoconferencing systems allow a telephone to dial into them, so people who cannot do video can at least participate by audio only.
  • Display & projection: The size of projection/display surface is very important. You should choose the size of the display surface that allows you to see the remote site as close to life-size as possible.
  • Agenda: Work with your remote party and define an agenda for a planned session. Avoid planning long parts when only one person is talking (listening for one solid hour of presentation is a challenging task for anyone, especially K-12 students). Apply some of the styles practiced by the TV media - maximum 10-15 minutes segments with conversation followed by short video clips, images presented to both sites or a Q&A section. Plan a detailed agenda so you know the optimal series of activities.
  • Appoint a session moderator: Agree with the remote party on who is going to lead and moderate the session. If there is only one remote party you can share this responsibility. If you are organizing a multipoint videoconference session, it is particularly beneficial to designate a session moderator -- someone to monitor and take care of session flow and dynamics.
  • Session materials: Prepare and distribute all materials that will be needed for the class or session to all participants well in advance (both local and remote participants). Involve students in this preparation stage too. This is especially important to do (and follow up on!) in the case of multipoint sessions where additional coordination of all sites will be needed. Otherwise you will find that it is discouraging to students at one site if they do not have all the same materials that students at other sites have.
  • Prepare your students: Explain the goal of the videoconference to your students and help them understand the detailed plan (dynamics) for the session. If they will be doing some research or other preparation activities before the session, ask them to do that well in advance. If the students will be interacting with other students at other sites, they could exchange materials or letters by mail in advance, as a way of getting to know one another before they start videoconferencing.
  • Engage students: Offer your students the opportunity to participate in setting the stage for the session (help with lighting, arrangement, videoconference system, camera positioning, testing) as well as preparing the agenda and materials that will be used for the event. The same students can also be extremely helpful if you do happen to have some technical problem during the session.
  • Props for opener & closer. Plan for an unusual, creative opener and closer for each session. This promotes motivation and sets a nice atmosphere for the subsequent sessions. If this requires having some props, make or find them ahead of time.
  • Invite guests: Invite some of your colleagues or the school principal to attend the videoconference (after you have carefully tested everything in advance!) The first-hand experience will help your colleagues understand the potential for this approach much better. Let them know the goal of your session and the identity of the remote participant(s).
  • Clothing: Check for the colors/patterns/makeup that work best in a videoconference. Avoid wearing "noisy" jewelry - this noise can easily be picked up by the microphones and transmitted to the remote site where it may prevent listeners from understanding what you are saying.
  • Food & Prizes. You may want to consider having some food/soft-drinks or symbolic prizes, if that fits in with the nature of the class and the logistics of the space. A simple quiz between students from two remote sites with symbolic prizes can be a great supplement to the presentation.


• Things to do 20-30 min before video session
  • Start connection: Connect to the remote site a minimum of 20 minutes before the event. You will need this extra time to fine-tune your connection and do any troubleshooting that may be necessary.
  • Check image color: If it is adjustable, adjust your color. Set the color or saturation to maximum and then adjust the hue. Back off on color only if it is too garish. Most videoconferencing clients are overly pastel.
  • Monitor other communication channels: Prior to the event, monitor your email, telephone, or text chat session for any changes in the schedule or any problem that may have occurred with the system at the remote sites. In the case of a multipoint session, we strongly advise you to use a text chat session (or instant messaging applications) to monitor the session status. This channel can be used to notify the sites of any problems or changes that occur prior to or during the session.
  • Check camera position: Make sure it is as close to the display as possible (see the description and rationale for this in the previous section).
  • Check echo: Check with the remote site to see if there is any echo present in the system. If so, adjust, switch or mute microphones as needed.
  • "Self view" window: Activate a "self view" window if your videoconferencing client supports this feature. This lets you see how you appear to the remote end.  If you are not visible, be sure to adjust your camera.
  • Are your students coming?: Make sure everyone was able to find and get to the room where the session will be held.
  • Have time for informal remote chat: Before the class, let people spend some time having an informal chat.  You, your students and the remote parties can use the time before the session for this purpose. This helps create the feeling of a natural meeting environment and also contributes to developing a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.


• Things to do during a videoconference session
  • Start on time!People at the remote site committed to participate within the agreed upon time span and you should respect that agreement and their time.
  • Introduce yourself and your group: Greet your colleagues at the remote site and help local and remote groups get to know each other right away. If you are connecting to a remote site for the first time and you do not know the people, the first thing you should say is your name, the name of your location/school, and where it is located geographically. Say this VERY SLOWLY and CLEARLY so that everyone can understand it. Be creative. A nice opener can set a great tone for the rest of the session that will follow.
    Example: Hello everyone! This is Cindy North. Coming to you from Moanalua High School in Honolulu, the city on a beautiful island Oahu, Hawaii!
    Show people at your site by rotating the camera or asking everyone to get closer to the camera and present him or herself. The presenters will appreciate seeing who will be listening to them and participating in the session.
  • Background channel: Keep running the text chat to monitor the session, troubleshoot as needed, or handle additional Q&A. This is especially important to have in multipoint videoconference sessions.
  • Expect video and audio imperfections: Some visual and auditory imperfections in the form of strange video or audio deformations may occur due to the possible loss of visual and/or audio data sent from the remote site(s). These imperfections are also called artifacts (you may see blocky effects or "missing" parts in video, and audio may sound like "chopped up").
  • Ask people to interrupt you if they have problems hearing you well: At the very beginning of your talk, let people know that it is alright to interrupt and let you know if they cannot hear you well (i.e. your audio coming to their site is poor quality). Very often people feel hesitant to let you know that they are having such problems because they do not want to interrupt the conversation flow and because they may think it is something "at their end".
  • Allow for time delays: When called upon, start and keep talking - don't hesitate because you see or hear something unexpected.  Delays are always present. Each person needs to establish a talking/listening pace; learn to insert pauses in two-way conversations.
  • Make several still photos of the session: You can use these to produce useful documentation of and about the session later on.
  • Talking tips: Talk slowly and be clear, distinct and loud, yet not so loud that it sounds unnatural!  Vary the tone of your voice. Avoid a monotone by talking as if you were in a natural speaking situation, animating and catching attention of the people that you are talking to. Once you start talking, JUST KEEP TALKING. Do not say "Can you hear me?" or something similar - assume they can hear you well and that everything is working fine. You already warned and asked them at the beginning of your session to let you know if something is wrong and they will do that.
  • Talking dynamics: You will notice that dialog develops differently during the videoconference session than in a face-to-face situation. Due to the time delays, short and frequent exchanges of comments can be disruptive - you may be caught in a situation where your audio and the remote site's audio overlap or mismatch in time, and so you may not be able to hear all comments of the remote parties intended. The best solution is to insert small pauses between your comments so that you are sure the remote party heard all that you said. Sometimes your short side comments like "I see", "yes", "...sure" may prompt remote party to stop talking as he/she may think that you want to say something more. The facial expressions and head gestures are good alternatives to provide "signals" with similar meaning - since such signals are visually very clear and do not send audio.  No confusing interruptions will be sent to the remote party. (People who know each other's talking patterns well usually handle such audio interruptions with no problem.)
  • Remind people to mute/un-mute their mikes: It turns out that no amount of warning is enough when it comes to asking people to remember this so you will probably need to do it again and again during the session. This is especially important in multipoint videoconferences.
  • Respect the rights of other participants: Do not monopolize the "air time"; give everyone an opportunity to participate.
  • Only one person should speak at a time, with no side conversations: Microphones will pick up all conversations and that can be very disturbing for the people at the remote sites. They may not be able to hear and understand what the main speaker is talking about.
  • No background noise: Do not make background noise (shuffling feet, tapping pencils) as this noise will be easily picked up by microphones and transmitted to remote sites.
  • No sudden movements: Sudden movements may distract the speaker's attention and therefore should be avoided. Depending on the videoconferencing solution used (especially the codec), sudden movements can also produce artifacts that will look like a loss of camera focus, producing additional distracting effects for the people at the remote site.
  • Avoid displays of casual behavior. Your colleagues at the remote site can still see you even if you are not the person who is talking. It is very distracting to see people fidgeting, yawning or talking among themselves. The proper etiquette is that you give your full attention to the event.


• Things to be done immediately after videoconference session
  • Interview participants (students): Organize a quick interview/discussion with your students right after the videoconference session; this is a perfect time since everyone will still remember all of the details. Ask them to comment on how well the group accomplished the goals you all set for the session, ask for ideas on how they would change the session if they would do it again and what themes they would suggest for the future sessions. Gather students' remarks about the technical part of the session as well - what was the quality of audio or video and how it affected overall performance, what was the most disturbing or pleasing part in their experience, to what extent was the session different or similar to face-to-face communications. Take notes or make an audio record of the conversation so that you can make a short transcript later. Some students could be in charge of this task - a group of students that were helping with that session may also help with this task.


• Other things to be done after videoconference session
  • Documentation: Together with your students produce a short web page about the session that you have just completed. State the goals and agenda, enclose materials that you and your students prepared, and add comments that both you and the students made about the session (see comments about the post-session interview above). If the school policy allows, add 1-2 still images that you made on that day and publish them as a part of your school Web site. Both students and their parents will be pleased to see such detailed accounts of the student experience and learning. The other visitors to the school Web site will also see the best evidence of the effort you and your school undertook to enrich students' experiences and strengthen their learning.
  • Make final video material: if you decided to record the session, make video clips in several formats (VHS tape, QuickTime files, etc.). In addition to capturing the entire session on video, it is always good to make a very short clip that shows the essence of the session. This can be very useful when presenting or discussing your work.
  • Post-session tasks: Make sure everyone completes all requested post-session tasks as a part of the learning process.