ICCAN

 

Contents:

• Hanna Learning Centre Knows the Challenges & Opportunities
• Bytes & Pieces
• Linking-in to Health Seminars & music lessons
• Glossary of Terms
• Training Manuals out in March
• Mobile Unit will Benefit Smaller Communities
• Violin Lessons May Soon be Offered in Provost, AB
• Q&A with Karen Lynch
• Great Rates for SMARTBoards
• Who is Getting Connected?

 

Videoconferencing has been part of Ruth Karg's world for over a year. Her advice to those just getting started? Be patient. Be realistic. And be careful not to let it overwhelm you.

"You can't let this new equipment overwhelm you and make you feel that you can't keep up," says the ClicSite Coordinator for the Hanna Learning Centre.

"If you're a program coordinator with little or no staff, it's important not to feel pressured into taking on more than you can handle," she says.

"Look for what your community needs and where the interest is going to be – know what you have for capacity – and then use the technology in a way that enhances what you're already providing to your community."

Frustrations are par for the course

As for getting used to the technology, she says there are "hordes of frustrations along the way."

In the middle of an agricultural presentation last June and a full room of 20 people, the system went down at least six times throughout the presentation.

"In some ways it was really scary because it was my responsibility to ensure that the connection was up, and when it wasn't, I knew we were missing parts of the presentation. "On the other hand it was also really rewarding because the occasional down time allowed for spectacular interaction among the group that was there."

As a result, the group was able to learn something new from the information coming from "outside" but was also able to use the information right away to interact with one another about the topic at hand.

"Yes, it's embarrassing and frightening to be the guy in charge when it's not working perfectly, but people adjust and make use of that time as productively as they can."

Technology glitches common

Ruth notes that technology glitches are common, even in larger organizations that have lots of specialists on hand.

Last spring she attended a conference at the University of Calgary and the technology was repeatedly down during the sessions. "They had more trouble than I had in an average session," she says.

"So even the big guys who know exactly what they are doing – and have the technological skills and capacity – they too have issues. That's just technology!"

Ruth says that most people are very understanding. They are accustomed to computers and the hiccups that come with technology, and videoconferencing is no different.

Learning the etiquette

Susan Richmond, Director of Volunteer Services at the Hanna Learning Centre recalls her early experiences with videoconferencing.

"It took a while for it to sink in that you are seeing people in live time, and then you become quite aware of the distractions and noises, for example, a clicking pen," she says.

"You have to be aware that the microphone is on, so having sidebar conversations is not good etiquette, unless you turn your mic off."

Doing it right

When introducing new technology and process into an organization, Susan stresses the importance of taking the time to "do it right the first time, rather than piecemeal, so you don't have to go back and do the fixes."

She notes that iCCAN is a major undertaking that will bring significant payoff in the future, despite some of the learning curves and frustrations.

"It's pretty amazing when you think of the magnitude of this project, how vast the province is, and the small group of people taking on a pretty big scope. We can't lose sight of the need to do this right and can't lose the focus on the future impact of this project."

She is also pleased about the project's ability to procure "highend equipment at a fairly significant cost reduction."

Susan's primary role is to support the local voluntary sector and providing services, support, and training opportunities to various organizations in the community.

 

New Volunteer Alberta site now live

Dawna Morey of the Community Information and Referral Society of Red Deer & District and her CIRS team in Red Deer are now part of the iCCAN community. Dawna became live last month and her videoconferencing number is 70.65.0.39.

New communication tool

The iCCAN electronic mailing list has been set up to act as a single point of contact for all iCCAN participants across the province to communicate, share ideas and get involved in iCCAN programming opportunities. Weekly announcements will go out on the electronic mailing list to notify the iCCAN community of upcoming opportunities, events and collaborations. To subscribe visit this page: iCCAN Mailing List.

Did you know…

You can use the iCCAN logo for brochures and other material. Contact Barb at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

iCCAN programming is getting started!

iCCAN is pleased to introduce the first phase of iCCAN programming with the Lunch ’N Learn series and iCCAN Coffee Hour.

Lunch ’n Learn Series

The iCCAN Lunch ’N Learn Series will feature videoconferencing training opportunities for site coordinators, program facilitators and support personnel. The series will also pilot a professional development stream focusing on community programming, skills development and other hot topics. The schedule will be released in mid February via the iCCAN electronic mailing list. The Lunch ‘n Learn series will be held: 3rd Wednesday of each month • 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Coffee Hour

The iCCAN Coffee Hour is a weekly VC forum which allows iCCAN members to join informal VC training, collaborative opportunities and knowledge sharing. Join us to make our iCCAN community strong.

Coffee Hour will be starting Feburary 12
in the iCCAN videoconference room.
Every Thursday • 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

 

Linking-in to Health Seminars & Music Lessons

A series of health seminars delivered by videoconferencing was so popular in Hanna last year that the Hanna Learning Centre is offering it again in 2009.

The seminars, dealing with everything from bi-polar disorder to cross-cultural parenting are delivered province wide, with as many as 20 different sites dialed in at a given time.

"Our Executive Director Jann Beeston received an email about the Community & Family Resource Centre Health Series. We spoke with our hospital administrator to see if we could link people in via the videoconferencing equipment in our office," says Ruth Karg of the Hanna Learning Centre.

"They agreed to work in partnership with us, and the series became really popular."

Partnering with post-secondary

Next on the horizon for the Hanna Learning Centre is a Early Adapters partnerships with Red Deer College.

"We're looking at running a music course via videoconferencing this spring, where people can register with Red Deer College and participate in music lessons arranged by the college," explains Ruth.

"We will also offer counselling in person and via videoconference to students who are interested in attending Red Deer College."

In March, a watercolour painting course will be offered.

Brown Bag Lunch series

The Hanna Learning Centre continues to offer its Brown Bag Lunch series as well.

"We've had as many as 13 people show up in a morning," says Ruth. "Sometimes we don't attract anybody. It just depends on the time of day and the content."

 

Glossary of Terms

Bandwidth: The amount of information that can be sent in an information channel. High bandwidth Internet access means those web graphics load quickly on your web browser. High bandwidth videoconferencing means that the picture and the sound will be clear. In teleconference, the video and audio signals must be compressed to move through telephone lines in real time. The quality of the image and sound you end up with are determined by the size, or bandwidth, of the telephone/ internet connection and the quality of the codec (or compression/decompression device) and the compression of the logical sequence of the steps employed.

Broadband: A high-capacity communications circuit/path. It usually implies a speed greater than 1.544 Mbps. (Contrast with wideband and narrowband).

Codec: Videoconferencing hardware that codes the outgoing video and audio signals and decodes the incoming signals. The codec converts analog-signals to digital signals and compresses the digital signals. Incoming audio and video must be decompressed and converted from digital back to analog.

E164 Address: Is a national destination code (NDC) or a subscriber number (SN) that has up to 15 digits. Originally E164 was developed by the International Telecommunication Union. An example of an E164 address is Hanna's IP number 199.213.6.242@4994582001. It is a combination of an IP address and E164 address.

Frame Rate: Frequency in which video frames are displayed on a monitor, typically described in frames-per-second (fps). Higher frame rates improve the appearance of video motion.

IP (Internet protocol) Address: Is a unique logical numerical network address that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network. Videoconferencing systems use the IP Address like a phone number to make a VC call.

IP (Internet protocol) Name: Is the name located at the top right corner of your LifeSize screen. It identifies to the remote site the name of the site calling. On the LifeSize screen you will notice your IP name and address.

Multipoint Videoconference: Connects three or more sites into a single call. The sites must connect via video bridge. (Compare with point-to-point videoconference.)

Point-to-Point Videoconference: Is a videoconference between two sites. (Compare with multipoint videoconference.)

Video Bridge: computerized switching system which allows multipoint videoconferencing.

Videoconferencing The facilitation of a real-time conference among people from remote locations by means of transmitting and receiving audio at the same time without any interference or clipping that happens when using a walkie talkie – where only one person can speak at a time.

 

BENEFITS For smaller communities

From apprentices to working moms…

Cheryl Lawson gets a lot of requests for courses from the six communities she serves in Beaver County, but she can't get the instructors to travel to the more distant, smaller communities.

Even if the weather cooperates and the rural roads and highways are dry, it's just not economical for the Beaver County Community Adult Learning Council to offer different classes in each community for the small number of people who might attend.

A Solution May be on the Horizon

Cheryl coordinates the Community Adult Learning program, the Adult Volunteer Program and the Family Literacy Program for Beaver County. She is hoping to do a pilot project with Holly Cependa in Vegreville.

"We can have an instructor in Tofield or Ryley, and then have people in Viking or Kinsella or other communities in our regions access the course via the traveling unit," says Cheryl.

"We hope to be able to share instructors with Vegreville for courses such as sign language, yoga, ESL courses, tutor training for adult literacy programs, and facilitator training or PD for family literacy programs. This will open up a wider range of learning opportunities for people in our smaller and more distant communities."

"I'd actually like to have two portable units, so we could have a class in Ryley and also present in Tofield and Viking at same time."

Apprentices Would Benefit

Cheryl looks forward to the day when her communities can access courses from Norquest College, NAIT or other colleges so students don't have to leave their jobs and families and incur the costs of living away from home.

"In Alberta many people don't complete their apprenticeship because they can't afford all the costs such as moving to city for 8 weeks," says Cheryl. "Also, employers sometimes have difficulty letting them leave, as they may be the only employee doing that job in a small community."

Upgrading Skills

Cheryl says she sees more and more people wanting to upgrade their skills, but just can't afford to leave town for any period of time.

"I have a lady who wants to take computer courses so she can get a job in accounting or as an administrative assistant," Cheryl explains. "But when you're making minimum income, or have kids at home, you can't afford to travel to the city to take courses."

Literacy Opportunities

Cheryl sees great possibilities for literacy programming as well, especially as more people move to rural Alberta from other countries and need to improve their English language skills.

Connecting to PD

With so many conferences and professional development sessions now able to link people in through videoconferencing, Cheryl is looking forward to accessing more learning opportunities herself.

"Getting this kind of professional development makes our world much broader and gives us more skills to help our community," she says.

Patience

Cheryl hopes to be fully connected by this summer. She wishes it was sooner, but understands that things take time.

"There are only a few people out there who know this technology to help us – and they are spread pretty thin. I'm just looking forward to having this in place as soon as it's possible."

 

Violin lessons

may soon be offered in Provost

Violin lessons via videoconferencing is just one of many great ideas that Sherry Gagne has for creating new opportunities in adult learning and literacy in rural Alberta. The coordinator for the Provost and District Adult Learning & Literacy Centre is thrilled by the many possibilities that videoconferencing capability has in store for her region.

There are so many possibilities for community use of this equipment.

"We have a family of five that takes violin lessons from an 85-year-old instructor who lives in Lloydminster," says Sherry.

"They are looking at buying a desktop videoconferencing unit for her so she can teach from her community, while the family members attend the sessions from our office here in Provost. That means they wouldn't have to travel over an hour for their lessons."

Others in community have said that if music lessons were available through videoconferencing, they would also be interested.

Financial training

Sherry is also discussing the possibility of working with the community of Killam, and possibly others, to provide accounting instruction. Plans for a pilot project are underway, with local instructors having expressed interest and the possibility of working with Edmonton Financial Literacy Services.

"There are so many possibilities for community use of this equipment," says Sherry. "The oil & gas sector is big here - so they could use it for meetings, job interviews, and specialized training for their employees."

 

Q&A with Karen Lynch

Executive Director, Volunteer Alberta

Why is the iCCAN project unique?

Everyone thinks technology is the answer to increased efficiency, reduced carbon emissions, and seamless communication but much of Alberta is still dependant on dial up connectivity at the very least - and some nonprofit/voluntary sector organizations are still struggling to access current software and hardware. iCCAN is a unique partnership in that we're looking at how we can leverage the Alberta government's massive investment into Supernet to reach the possibilities that technology offers.

How will videoconferencing improve the way you work?

We joke around the office that we are all way more aware of the state of our makeup since we have videoconferencing. Most of the time the broadcast quality is so good - you can see the facial pores! Joking aside, all of us and our colleagues are looking at every project we have now, plus projects we want to work on, and determining how we can deliver them through videoconferencing. But the real opportunity comes through the ability to deliver best practice knowledge, professional development training and by being a venue for the sector to connect on initiatives.

One example of a project that will benefit through videoconferencing is the Intersections project - which is looking at how we can better engage new Canadians as volunteers in the nonprofit/voluntary sector. If we can connect rural nonprofits across the province through videoconferencing to talk about this issue and then implement the learnings through a 'videoconferencing working group' we can share our learnings in a way that involves a lot less travel time, which also reduces our costs and increases and extends the funding for Intersections

What are some of the other benefits of videoconferencing for Volunteer Alberta?

While professional development and learning are the key areas of focus of the iCCAN project, another big benefit is the ability to have provincial meetings without having to travel. This is a huge benefit for the three provincial organizations. With videoconferencing we don't have people getting up at four in the morning to get on the highway, often a snow-covered highway, to drive several hours for a meeting. That has huge implications from a risk management perspective.

What are your thoughts about the collaboration aspect of iCCAN?

The collaboration has been very interesting. Until I looked at a map to see where we have common sites with Literacy Alberta and Community Adult Learning Councils I didn't realize how many shared sites there are! I was quite amazed, and it means that when we have opportunities for professional development, for example a webcast that's happening, we can suggest to the two others organizations that they attend. I think the whole idea of a shared services model is going to be a major benefit.

Any other thoughts on how the iCCAN project is going to help Volunteer Alberta further its mission?

Volunteers are not free anymore, and because of that we need to pull all of our resources together to engage volunteers and keep them volunteering and encourage volunteerism in our communities. To do that you need to ensure that all the best practices are being communicated and integrated into our organizations. Because Volunteer Alberta is the lead organization on volunteering it works on translating future trends into practical realities for volunteer engaging organizations. This project will allow us to deliver those best practices in a way that we have not been able to do before. We'll be able to drive learning through technology.

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Karen Lynch speaks about iCCAN.

 

Great Rates for SMARTBoards

The iCCAN project has secured a preferred rate for the purchase of SMARTboards. The iCCAN project will not be covering any of these costs, but the preferred pricing is very reasonable.

This offer includes support and service from Evolution as well as training offered by their Learning Technologies Consultant James Tapankov.

The SMARTBoard interactive whiteboard is a product of SMART Technologies. It is a large, touch-controlled screen that works with a projector and a computer.

The projector puts the computer's desktop image onto the interactive whiteboard, which acts as both a monitor and an input device. Users can write on the interactive whiteboard in digital ink or use a finger to control computer applications by pointing, clicking and dragging, just as with a desktop mouse.

Buttons launch a popup keyboard and a right-mouse-click menu for more input options. The interactive whiteboard is usually mounted on a wall or a floor stand and is used in face-to-face or virtual settings in education, business and government.

More details about this offer are on the website. Visit www.iccan.ca or email Brenda Williams-Forrest of Evolution AV at bwilliams-forrest@evolutionAV.ca .