Videoconference Planning:

The videoconferencing facilities can be used for both meetings and educational events. For those of you new to videoconferencing, we are confident that you will find this tool advantageous to your work projects as you become accustomed to using it.

Scheduling:
In order for your participants to have the best experience possible, it is very important that you follow through on the scheduling procedure.

When planning an H.323 videoconference, it is imperative that you spend time on the preparation and coordination of the event. These things don’t just happen. They require a lot of diligent follow through on the part of the person that puts the videoconference together (The Event Coordinator). When you choose to schedule and use this technology, you take on the responsibility and duties of the “Event Coordinator”. See "Videoconference Scheduling".

Less is More Part 1—Brevity:
Keep your meetings and trainings as brief as possible. The contemporary phrase “less is more” is over used, but in the case of videoconferencing, it is definitely true. You can’t expect your participants to stare at a video screen for long periods of time and maintain their undivided attention, no matter how interesting the subject matter is. You must keep your presentations short and interesting. If your material demands that you go long, you should plan for breaks in the presentation.

Less is More Part 2—Class Size:
This interactive videoconferencing technology works best when you have a few sites connected with only a few people at each site. A videoconference with three or four sites participating and three or four people at a site can be a very rewarding interactive experience. As you add sites and participants, you begin to lose the intimate interactivity and your videoconference facilitation process becomes more formal. It then must, by nature, become more like a lecture and less of a discussion. Rather than the extemporaneous give and take of a chat session, you must structure the participants' input by asking for questions and views by specifically calling on each site, usually alphabetically, in order to keep control of your event.

Be on Time:
Being on time for an H.323 Videoconference means being early. Due to the nature of the technology, all sites must be connected before the actual videoconference start time. This is usually anywhere from ten to thirty minutes before—depending on how many sites are connecting. The Event Coordinator and Presenters must also arrive early in order to familiarize themselves with the studio setup and oversee the pre-presentation details. As the Event Coordinator, you and your Presenters should arrive at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time of the event.

Presentation:  
Please take the time to think through every step of your presentation. Rehearsals are a good way to prepare and in many cases should be mandatory. If you are new to teaching at a distance, you’ll find that it is much different than teaching to students in the same room. Visual aids must be bold and clearly viewable on the screen. 

Don’t take for granted that you’ll be able to come in without preparation and immediately start presenting. Just because something works in the traditional classroom doesn’t necessarily mean that you can do it effectively in the video classroom--or do it at all for that matter. If you are going to be using visual aids, multimedia, or audio, be sure to discuss them with us several days before your scheduled videoconference. You may find that you’ll have to re-think your approach to your session.

Revised on 11-07-07