Design Class Conducts Video Conference Mr. Grodek joins the class from a design firm in Texas

As technology has improved, new methods of teaching and learning have been implemented into the curriculum to advance the learning process. In the past few years we have seen new Apple computers, LCD projectors, and an assortment of cameras to name a few additions to NCHS’ collection of digital equipment. Each of these new advances has helped to facilitate the educational journey.

Now we boast an exciting addition to the technological advances used in school. Web conferencing is a technology that allows people to communicate through the web despite considerable distances. Used with a computer, web conferencing includes the use of a camera and microphone to approximate a face-to-face encounter between the people displayed while communicating on the computer’s monitor.

	Accounting Class Conducts Video Conference Bob Suarez, Phoenix Group, Cincinnati Insurance, Peru, IL

The first teacher to effectively use web conferencing was Mr. Blidy, the art teacher. In many of his art classes last year, he used this new technology to give his students the ability to communicate with outside experts on various topics concerning his classes and curriculum. Examples of this include Mr. Blidy’s students sending digital copies of their artwork to a professional artist who then critiqued each piece with the class.

Another experience occurred in this year’s consumer education class, when this class was able to talk with insurance expert, Bob Suarez, who answered various questions made by the class. Recently, Mr. Blidy and Ms. Mendell attended a state-wide conference where they presented their experiences from teaching through the use of web conferencing.

The Multimedia Class has recently had the opportunity to have a video conference with Mr. Paul Ewen who lives in New York City. He is a writer, editor, and producer of public service commercials. He has been part of three Emmy Award winning broadcasts and has won a Promax Silver Award for his American Voice Campaign for MTV productions. He has published articles on editing including "The Essence of Editing: Much More Than Technical Aspects of a Program" in Student Filmmaker Magazine, June 2006.

The conference allowed the Multimedia Class to see and hear Mr. Ewen using web cameras, video projectors, and iChat software. The video was projected to a large screen on the wall. The class was also able to watch some of his commercials, including "Vote For Something", "Global Warming", and "American Voice".

The class was able to ask him questions about his job, his commercials, and his creativity. Prior to the interview, students created public service commericals of their own that Mr. Blidy posted on the school's web site for Mr. Ewen to view. During the interview, Mr. Ewen was able to provide valuable feedback about the student made commericals.

Mr. Tom Grodek, a production artist for Sherry Matthews; an advocacy marketing corporation for non-profit agencies, joined us from Texas through iChat software. Mr. Grodek answered questions posed by Design students regarding his schooling and career.

A new feature this year was the ability for Mr. Grodek to view student work in real time. Pictured left, Mr. Grodek provides feedback on a student design project. Mr. Grodek was able to view, question, and provide immediate feedback on each students' work.

On April 8th, Mr. Blidy’s computer graphics class used web conferencing to converse about various works of art they had produced. The expert they contacted was Mrs. Amy Murphy, a former art director for Warner Bros. During her time with Warner Brothers, she helped in the production of television shows such as The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Right now she is a teacher at Naperville Central High School.

The Computer Graphics Class had the opportunity to interview her and ask her various questions about her career and creations. Then she observed the classes’ work and commented on it. What made this interview different was that instead of having the video of the interview projected on a big screen, the video was confined to the screen of a laptop computer. The students converged around the computer and the result was a much more personal and individual web conferencing experience.