Distance Learning Ardleigh Green Junior School

Connecting to International Classrooms and NASA, Using AVer Distance Learning

 

Year five pupils at Ardleigh Green Junior (AGJ) school in the London borough of Havering travelled live via video link across the Atlantic to carry out a scientific investigation about meteorite impact with their partner school in Naples, Florida.

 

AGJ connected securely and interoperably in a three way call that included a science specialist from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA, and First Baptist Academy. The call was completed using AVer ClassHD video conferencing hardware and Janet VC Services (JVCS).

 

Katie Shephard, Year Group Leader and class teacher at AGJ school said “Thanks to the Aver ClassHD we have been able to use the Janet booking system to partner with a school in the USA and a representative from NASA. This has saved us a significant amount of money that might otherwise have been spent on school trip costs, and was a great opportunity to enhance the pupils learning in KS2 Science, linking their skills directly for working scientifically in the new primary curriculum”.

 

AVer Categories AVer for Education Case Studies AVer for Business Case Studies Distance Learning Ardleigh Green Junior School ARD GREEN LOGO Ardleigh Green Junior School Ardleigh Green Junior School was opened on March 1st 1933 (Saint David’s Day) in the same wooden building it occupies today. The school continues to receive local and national recognition for its work which has included awards for ICT, Art, Basic Skills, Sport, Video Conferencing and Geography. AVer Solution: CC30 Connecting to International Classrooms and NASA, Using AVer Distance Learning Year five pupils at Ardleigh Green Junior (AGJ) school in the London borough of Havering travelled live via video link across the Atlantic to carry out a scientific investigation about meteorite impact with their partner school in Naples, Florida. AGJ connected securely and interoperably in a three way call that included a science specialist from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA, and First Baptist Academy. The call was completed using AVer ClassHD video conferencing hardware and Janet VC Services (JVCS). Katie Shephard, Year Group Leader and class teacher at AGJ school said “Thanks to the Aver ClassHD we have been able to use the Janet booking system to partner with a school in the USA and a representative from NASA. This has saved us a significant amount of money that might otherwise have been spent on school trip costs, and was a great opportunity to enhance the pupils learning in KS2 Science, linking their skills directly for working scientifically in the new primary curriculum”. Tammie Mihet, a 4th Grade teacher at the First Baptist Academy, Naples, Florida said “Our pupils benefit from an international partnership in many ways. They are able to take what they are learning and teach it to others creatively and authentically. In addition, they are able to expand their world beyond the walls of the classroom by learning from the perspective of others. Video conferencing enables the teacher to broaden the student's scope of the world and allows students to interact with cultures they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to meet. Connecting with NASA, our students are able to take what they are learning and apply it in an authentic way. The students are able to learn firsthand from a professional working within the field of science the students are studying. They get to experiment, collect data, hypothesize, and synthesize information with a real working NASA scientist! This is a fantastic way to motivate and engage learners by just a pressing a button on a remote control”.

 

NASA's Digital Learning Network, or DLN, delivers interactive instruction in support of long-term retention of knowledge as only NASA can. The DLN has reached close to one million students and teachers with videoconferences and webcasts that feature NASA-related science, technology, engineering and mathematics instruction. With standards-based IP videoconference systems and high-speed internet connectivity, participants can take advantage of free interactive lessons and professional development events through distance learning technologies. Schools in the UK are only able to take advantage of these interactive lessons via their partner schools in the USA.

 

Erin Mckinley, Education Specialist – NASA Digital Learning Network, said “While I enjoy every lesson that I teach, this particular connection was especially unique because I was just a small player in the already established partnership between the Naples, Florida and London school. I typically field questions from students at the end of my lessons, but recognising the unique opportunity the students on both sides of the Atlantic had in talking live with each other, I could just enjoy listening to them ask each other questions. I realised that, regardless of where they physically live, all students are curious and enjoy learning”.

 

AVer Categories AVer for Education Case Studies AVer for Business Case Studies Distance Learning Ardleigh Green Junior School ARD GREEN LOGO Ardleigh Green Junior School Ardleigh Green Junior School was opened on March 1st 1933 (Saint David’s Day) in the same wooden building it occupies today. The school continues to receive local and national recognition for its work which has included awards for ICT, Art, Basic Skills, Sport, Video Conferencing and Geography. AVer Solution: CC30 Connecting to International Classrooms and NASA, Using AVer Distance Learning Year five pupils at Ardleigh Green Junior (AGJ) school in the London borough of Havering travelled live via video link across the Atlantic to carry out a scientific investigation about meteorite impact with their partner school in Naples, Florida. AGJ connected securely and interoperably in a three way call that included a science specialist from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA, and First Baptist Academy. The call was completed using AVer ClassHD video conferencing hardware and Janet VC Services (JVCS). Katie Shephard, Year Group Leader and class teacher at AGJ school said “Thanks to the Aver ClassHD we have been able to use the Janet booking system to partner with a school in the USA and a representative from NASA. This has saved us a significant amount of money that might otherwise have been spent on school trip costs, and was a great opportunity to enhance the pupils learning in KS2 Science, linking their skills directly for working scientifically in the new primary curriculum”. Tammie Mihet, a 4th Grade teacher at the First Baptist Academy, Naples, Florida said “Our pupils benefit from an international partnership in many ways. They are able to take what they are learning and teach it to others creatively and authentically. In addition, they are able to expand their world beyond the walls of the classroom by learning from the perspective of others. Video conferencing enables the teacher to broaden the student's scope of the world and allows students to interact with cultures they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to meet. Connecting with NASA, our students are able to take what they are learning and apply it in an authentic way. The students are able to learn firsthand from a professional working within the field of science the students are studying. They get to experiment, collect data, hypothesize, and synthesize information with a real working NASA scientist! This is a fantastic way to motivate and engage learners by just a pressing a button on a remote control”. NASA's Digital Learning Network, or DLN, delivers interactive instruction in support of long-term retention of knowledge as only NASA can. The DLN has reached close to one million students and teachers with videoconferences and webcasts that feature NASA-related science, technology, engineering and mathematics instruction. With standards-based IP videoconference systems and high-speed internet connectivity, participants can take advantage of free interactive lessons and professional development events through distance learning technologies. Schools in the UK are only able to take advantage of these interactive lessons via their partner schools in the USA. Erin Mckinley, Education Specialist – NASA Digital Learning Network, said “While I enjoy every lesson that I teach, this particular connection was especially unique because I was just a small player in the already established partnership between the Naples, Florida and London school. I typically field questions from students at the end of my lessons, but recognising the unique opportunity the students on both sides of the Atlantic had in talking live with each other, I could just enjoy listening to them ask each other questions. I realised that, regardless of where they physically live, all students are curious and enjoy learning”. Comments from the year five pupils at Ardleigh Green Junior School: “I learnt that craters had five parts and I liked seeing the baseball fall into the cocoa powder” "When you use video conferencing you get to talk to the people and ask questions face to face that you cannot find on the internet"

 

"I liked connecting with NASA and the other school (in Florida) because we could see the point of view from both sides"

 

Benefits to the Primary curriculum:

 

The benefits for the pupils at AGJ School to the new 2014 Primary Science Curriculum were that they were able to meet statutory requirements for upper KS2:

 

  • planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary
  • taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate
  • recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs and bar and line graphs
  • using test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests
  • reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations
  • identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments

 

What AGJ School did to connect to NASA:

 

The school wanted to video conference using a secure, high quality video link – one that they could use regularly and reliably to connect with other schools across the UK and beyond and with NASA.

 

  • They used an affordable VC codec (for the equivalent cost of only 3 iPads) – the AVer ClassHD
  • With installation support from Aver, the school installed the hardware onto their network
  • With support from Video Conferencing for Learning (VCfL), the school registered with Janet VC services (JVCS)
  • AGJ school were introduced to a partner school in the USA by VCfL
  • Working together with their partner school in the USA, AGJ school organised a VC session with NASA

 

What your school needs to connect to partners internationally via video conference:

 

  • VC hardware – affordable, secure and providing a high quality, reliable connection (see AVer CC30)
  • A broadband connection that supports VC (see the Department for Education Guidelines)
  • Registration on JVCS

 

Useful links/ Contacts

 

Janet VC Services
Department for Education Broadband Guidelines