Good Practice Guide
- Learn the system and feel comfortable . Take time to practice before your conference. The goal is for the system to appear invisible.
- Know your role as facilitator. If you are facilitating a videoconferencing meeting, make sure introductions are performed at the beginning of your call. Also be prepared to troubleshoot if technical problems arise.
- Maintain eye contact . Relate to your participants by looking directly into the VIDEO CAMERA. Often we look at the television or computer monitor to talk to those at the other end, but this may require you looking away from the camera. Situate the camera in an area that is comfortable for you to maintain eye contact.
- Position yourself on-camera . Position yourself accordingly when doing a presentation over videoconferencing. Consider having the edge of the television screen fall between your elbows and wrists when your arm is outstretched.
- Move and gesture carefully . Attempt to move in a non-distracting way. Avoid fast, quick movements or pacing.
- Speak clearly . Speak in your normal voice. Volume can be changed with the microphone and speakers. There may be a small time delay when speaking so use caution before interrupting others when they are talking.
- Keep noises to a minimum . A good practice in any videoconferencing meeting is to mute the microphone when you are not speaking. Videoconferencing microphones can be very sensitive and will pick up any stray noise in the room making it difficult for others to hear.
- Select your clothing appropriately . Wear solid, dark clothing rather than busy patterns. Avoid wearing white as it had a tendency to glare over the videoconferencing system.
- Finally, it is a good idea to make sure everyone in each site knows where the restrooms are as well as a phone.
Checklist
To conduct a successful videoconferencing session, the following tips should be considered:
- Check that all equipment is working properly.
- Check that the network is connected at least half an hour before the session is due to begin. This allows sufficient time for a contingency plan to be put in place to ensure that the video conference can still go ahead.
- Make sure that lesson plans and resources are available.
- Ensure a good sound quality by:
- setting up the videoconferencing equipment in a room in a quieter part of the school, where there is no 'echo' or external noise, such as that from a generator, heater or air conditioning system, etc.
- using a handheld microphone instead of a built in one, as the child speaking can hold this closer to their mouth, which subsequently cuts down on the amount of background noise that is picked up. If this is not an option, ensure that those speakers taking part in the video conference are seated at an equal distance from the microphone.
- Placing speakers as far away from the microphone as possible to ensure that the sound is not picked up by the microphone. A way to prevent this, however, would be to mute the microphone when not in use.
- Insisting that children speak a little more slowly, loudly and clearly into the microphone.
- Ensuring that children are not fiddling with pencils or rustling sheets of paper, as the noise this produces is picked up by the microphone and can be very irritating for the listener at the other end.
- Ensure quality of lighting by:
- Using a gentle light to shine on the participants' faces. Check, however, that this does not produce shadows.
- Making sure there is no window behind the location where pupils will be seated. If available, a good idea might be to place a simple screen behind those participating in the video conference
- Ensure a simple background. A colourful classroom display is not a good idea. If possible, ensure the backdrop is a single colour, pastel colours being perhaps the most appropriate.
- Make sure that the pupils taking part in the session remain relatively still and that there is little or no movement in the background. Again a screen would eliminate this.
- Ensure that all children taking part in the video conference are in camera shot.
- Make sure that children look straight into the camera when speaking so it would appear that they are speaking directly to the audience at the other end.
- Pupils taking part in a videoconferencing session should wear plain clothing - avoiding stripes and checked clothing. Bold colours should also be avoided, where possible.