The Chronicle: Video-Conferencing. Quote: “In the world of public policy, American University and Cleveland State University are separated by more than a few hundred miles: Public-policy students at American usually train for careers in the federal government, while most of their Cleveland State peers plan to work on local or state levels. Using videoconferencing technology, a husband-and-wife team aims to expose students at both institutions to opposite ends of the policy-making spectrum.”
Comment:This kind of application is a really positive one to my mind. More than the technology for its own sake and more than an administrative or economic rationale, there is an educational rationale whereby the technology enhances an experience. For our students, we use H.323 to allow classes to happen that might not otherwise happen – a good thing, but quite prosaic. We do very little where we use it to expose them to other cultures and ways of thinking. [Serious Instructional Technology]