With the rollout of Cisco Webex Teams to all DET schools and teachers across Victoria, your school now has the capability to connect with other schools, museums, zoos, aquariums, authors and so much more to enrich learning for your students!

What is Cisco Webex Teams?

Cisco Webex Teams is cloud software that is designed so that you can connect between remote sites using virtual meeting spaces, messaging, file sharing, whiteboards and video calling. Think of it like Skype or Facebook Live, only with additional tools to help you get the most out of meetings or lessons between schools. Importantly, as this has been rolled out to the DET Schools in Victoria connections throughout the Victorian network should have no dramas with firewalls.

There are many, many names for using this type of technology; virtual learning, web conferencing, virtual excursions, interactive video conferencing, online collaborative connections etc. Regardless of what you want to call it, the technology uses a camera, speaker and a microphone so that you can see and hear someone from a remote location and they can do the same with you. You can share your screen, use another camera to for different views or even use green screens to create interactivity with remote learners.

So, what can you do with Cisco Webex Teams in a school setting?

Running a volcano lesson during a video conference

It’s all about creating live connections between learners that would not otherwise be possible due to distance. When thinking of school use cases, try to think of how you would create lessons with two or more groups of students. Generally, if you can create a lesson that would involve a group of children communicating with another group of children, you can use Webex Teams to facilitate those discussions between two or more sites.

There are so many possibilities, here are just some of things we’ve done whilst using video conferencing technology;

• Have students prepare and showcase a school project with another school.
  Students showcasing their learning during a soil video conference at the Sydney Royal Easter Show 
• Collaborate with another school around a shared project. This could be an artwork, a drama piece, a science project… really anything you can think of!
  Science of cooking video conference
• Create a school debate around a shared learning topic
• Form a virtual learning science club with another school
  Running ‘Leadership Its not Rocket Science‘ with schools & libraries together with Sydney Olympic Park & GWS Giants 
• Connect with an educator from a museum, zoo, aquarium or similar to discover more about their collections. A great place to start here is Virtual Excursions Australia or via Lv2vl. For many years, Fizzics Education has run science video conferences with schools across the globe for students of all ages.
  Running an air pressure demonstration during a weather video conference 
• Engage in professional development and collaboration with a partner school
  Skewering a balloon during a science professional development workshop 
• Students could share their coding projects or even teach each other whilst sharing screens
• Create a school reading calendar, with students reading their favourite books to other schools
  Reading ‘An Aussie night before Christmas’ during a video conference to US schools 
• Connect with a hospital school to learn about school life from a student in long term care. This is also an opportunity for students to connect with their peers who may be suffering from a long term illness
  Connecting with Bankstown Hospital for4 slimes in 30 minutes
• Connect to schools in other Australian States. Reach out to NSW Distance & Rural Technologies for connections with NSW schools or contact the Independent Schools & Technology Unit to connect with the Australian Independent school sector.
  Running a liquid nitrogen video conference with schools
• Connect with a school overseas to learn more about their culture. Check out the Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration in the USA or reach out to Asia Connexions at the University of New England

Further resources

• Top Tips for teaching via Video Conference
• Churchill Fellowship Report into Best Practice in Science Education via Video Conference
• Join the International Society for Technology in Education.
  There is a Professional Learning Network of educators from around the world interested in Interactive Video Conferencing.
• Get in touch with us! We’ve helped many schools get going with virtual excursions and are always available to help. You can find out more about virtual learning events by joining our newsletter by clicking on the footer below too.

Happy teaching

Ben Newsome

Article date: Feb 14, 2019. Updated Jan 23, 2021