For your convenience, an electronic version of this narrative can be found at:
http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/

My interest in online collaborative learning began in college.  I graduated from Stetson University in DeLand, FL with a Bachelor of Science Cum Laude majoring in Elementary Education and a minor in Information Technology.  I had the unique experience to conduct my senior research about instructional technology, including collaborative projects, at a nearby school sponsored by the Walt Disney World Company. During my first 2 years as a classroom teacher, even though I was in “survival mode” like all new teachers,  I could not escape the memories of the effective teaching and collaborations I had witnessed in college.  As a classroom teacher, I regularly connected my students to the world through postal projects, email projects, and online chats with other students and experts.  I also volunteered to maintain the school web page including a student gallery where I featured student created projects online.

        In 2001, I accepted a job as Instructional Technology Specialist at the same campus.  I have had the privilege of serving at Tom Green Elementary for five years in this capacity. My duties include overseeing the implementation of the Texas Technology Application state standards as well as assisting teachers with the district technology proficiency requirements.  My interest in online collaborations has driven me to implement several projects and grants over the past five years to address curriculum needs. 

          Four years ago, my curiosity drove me to investigate the uses of videoconferencing in education.  Our region service center installed a state of the art videoconferencing room at a nearby high school that was underutilized.  With 4 other educators, I applied for a grant titled “Learning Journeys” and was awarded money to fund programs and the cost of transportation to allow our elementary students to connect with experts such as NASA and the Buffalo Zoo using our local high school’s videoconferencing equipment.  It became evident that utilizing videoconferencing not only engaged students at the time, but had an impact on what they remembered long term.  My continual effort to find money for videoconferencing programs was noticed by our region service center.  In 2004, the service center graciously equipped our campus with the necessary technology to conduct videoconferences from any classroom in our school.  We were excited to finally be able to conduct “virtual field trips” without getting on a bus!  Since then, we have participated in many video conferencing events with experts around the nation based upon classroom needs.  With the equipment now at our fingertips, the visions of how to utilize this equipment in conjunction with online collaborative experiences began to emerge.

           Videoconferencing is an effective instructional tool in the classroom, but collaborative videoconferencing brings student learning to an even higher level.  In our collaborative videoconferences, Tom Green students are learners and leaders.  For two years, collaborative videoconferences actively engage our students in learning endeavors with students around the district, state, and nation.  In 2004, I arranged for some of our classrooms to participate in collaborative videoconferencing programs such as “Science Seekers”, “Math Marvels”, and “Read Across America.   As a witness to the students’ motivation during these projects, in 2005 I began developing collaborative videoconferencing projects to meet our specific curriculum needs such as “Around The State In 60 Minutes” and “Invention Convention”.  As a result of the success of these projects, and the impact on student learning, an interest around the district in collaborative videoconferencing has emerged. Our district’s Technology Department is dedicated to expanding our distance learning capabilities to include all campuses and has added a Distance Learning Facilitator position for the 06-07 school year.

Around The State
Invention Convention
Earth Cycles
The Heat Is On!
Participants
Connections With Experts

Around The State - October 2005

             Every year, fourth graders in Texas learn about the geography, economics, and history in the various regions of our state.  In 2005, we took a different approach to this unit and connected our students with residents their own age in the various regions.  We decided that what better way was there to learn about the regions, than from students who call that region home.  This collaborative videoconferencing project connected over 150 4th grade participants as well as over 100 viewers in the state of Texas. With the assistance of collaborative list-serves and my region service center, I located classrooms in each of the regions in Texas with videoconferencing capability and invited them to participate. I was overwhelmed by the number of eager educators ready to engage their students in this collaborative online experience! In fact, the response was so large, that the distance learning coordinator for our region duplicated this project on another date to accommodate many more teachers and students. The requirements and specific learning goals of this project can be found by going to http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/60MinutesAd.doc

             As a result of this conference, students from around the state became experts about the region of Texas they reside in, and shared this information with their peers.  For this event, I coordinated schedules, prepared the advertising and informational documents, led Tom Green students in preparing their simulated newscast about the Texas Hill Country, assumed the role of mentor to all teachers involved on how to develop a successful presentation, as well as moderated the videoconference on the presentation day.

On the day of the conference, we referenced a Texas map to visualize how we were utilizing videoconferencing technology to literally go around the state to the various regions and connecting with a school in that region.  For security reasons, I am not able to post video of the students on the Internet, but you can view a portion of the event at

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/60Minutessegment.mpg

Around The State Teacher Feedback

Dear Christie,

Thank you so much for the fabulous opportunity for our students!  The "Around the State in 60 Minutes" was great fun and very educational.

Jo Evelyn Patterson

“Great job, Karlie and Christie!  This was an outstanding learning experience for your students.  Not only did they learn about other regions of Texas, but they learned other ways to use technology, communication, and presentation skills.  Keep up the great work!!!

Dolores Riley, Executive Director of Elem. Curriculum

Community News Announcement
Videoconference teaches 4th graders about Texas

As part of their exploration of the regions of Texas, 4th graders at Tom Green Elementary School utilized technology to connect with their counterparts throughout the state in a project last week, “Around the State in 60 Minutes.” Karlie Lemos’ class at Green Elementary learned from other students about their respective regions in a videoconference project developed by Christie Rickert, Hays CISD Instructional Technologist. Ms. Lemos’ class researched the Hill Country and reported their information in a news format to students throughout the state. A “green screen” for special effects made it appear that the students were standing in front of places around the Hill Country, such as the Capitol, caves, rolling hills, the Edwards Aquifer and a field of wildflowers.

Invention Convention - November 2005

          Invention Convention was the collaborative videoconferencing solution I created in response to a 3rd grade teacher’s plea for assistance in making her inventions unit more engaging.  In the state of Texas, third grade students are required to know the impact of inventors and inventions on various fields. During the Invention Convention Videoconference, third grade students around the state of Texas chose an invention area (such as pasteurization, medical vaccines, farming, photography, etc.) to become the experts on.  Students used online resources, text, and interviewed community members to research their topic thoroughly and in turn present an interesting presentation to students around Texas.  I was responsible for coordinating schedules, mentoring teachers involved, guiding our students for their presentation, and moderating the videoconferences. To advertise the event, I used online resources such as www.cilc.org to post the collaboration and involved the region distance learning coordinator to help find participants around the state.  The response once again was overwhelming!  There were so many interested teachers that we expanded to 3 different videoconferences, for a total of fifteen 3rd grade classrooms participating!  Over the three day period, there were over 200 students impacted by this collaborative videoconferencing project.  Information on the specific goals and requirements of this collaborative videoconference can be found at

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/InventionAd.doc

On the day of our conference, students from around the state shared presentations exhibiting their enthusiasm and active involvement in this project including impersonations of inventors, talking timelines of inventions, skits, simulated newscasts, and simulated game shows.  The conferences were engaging, and rich in educational content.  In order to make connections between the students’ presentations, we used a graphic organizer to draw conclusions on the impacts on invention fields.  After a presentation, I randomly chose students at different locations around the state to tell us all why that invention was important.  An example of a graphic organizer resulting from this videoconference, can be found at

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/Why is it important.doc

            This conference, as well as Around The State in 60 Minutes has received statewide attention from TETN as an exemplary model of effective uses of videoconferencing for collaborative purposes. The third grade teachers at Tom Green continue to tell me how involved their students were in the Invention Convention project and believe it was a good use of time. In addition, I received many emails from educators at other locations reflecting on this experience.  

Invention Convention Feedback

Christie,

I really appreciate you letting us participate in this project.  It was such a great learning experience for my student's.   My student's really need visual things to do and this was great for them.  I really appreciate you taking the time to get it together.

Laurie McBroom

A big Thank You to ESC 13 and Hays CISD for hosting Invention Convention. Great Job! We loved the program!

Tommy Bearden, Region 14 ESC Distance Learning Consultant

I was very impressed with what I saw. I thought, "We are sure lucky to have Christie in Hays"

Pam Johnson, Science Coordinator

We enjoyed doing that so much.  The kids learned so much about something that is so important to our community.  Anytime you want to get a videoconference together just let me know.  We enjoyed it all.  I look forward to working with you in the near future.

Lorianne Toombs

Thank you for letting us participate in Invention Convention. My kids are still talking about it.  It was also a different experience for me too.

N. Kennan

Our students really enjoyed the videoconference; they even got nervous before presenting. The students were just as excited to see students from other areas present. Keep me in touch if anything new comes up.

Thank you,
Kathy Mancillas

We're so isolated out here in our tiny school our kids are   astonished to see a whole roomful of students. Thanks for putting this whole thing together. I know how much time and effort you've put into it and I do appreciate what you've done. Pat

The Heat Is On - December 2005

Texas Connects is a series of state wide collaborative videoconferencing events that is created, planned, and coordinated by TETN, the Texas Educational Telecommunications Network.   In December of 2005, the state wide topic was “Sun, Moon, Earth” (http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/TXConnectFlyer.pdf)

and even received support from NASA including interactions with astronauts and scientists. With a team of fifth grade teachers, I wrote a proposal ( which can be found at http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/TXConnectProposal.doc)

for a solar energy project for the videoconference and our project was chosen to represent our region of Texas in this statewide event.  To prepare for this event, fifth grade students conducted scientific investigations about solar energy, and interviewed a solar energy user.  Students recorded these events with digital photography and video and created a movie and a power point about their solar energy investigation.  A representative group of 15 fifth graders were chosen to represent our school during the event.  Along with the 5th grade teachers, I had the privilege of preparing these students for this event from beginning to end. At the risk of sounding conceited, I must say that our students shined in their solar energy presentation.  For security reasons, I can not post the video of the student presentation on the web, but a portion of this event can be found at http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/solarsegment.mpg

In addition to sharing their own project, students had the opportunity to learn from other students around Texas and ask questions on various science topics.  Anytime you get 90 fifth graders together in one room, it’s natural to worry that they might be distracted and inattentive.  A true sign of the success of this project was how quiet the room was.  Students were engaged, and reflective on the science concepts learned throughout the entirety of the conference.

The Heat Is On - Feedback

I know, without a doubt, that our students will make drastic improvements in science this year because of the great things you and the other teachers in science are doing.  Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

Dolores Riley
Executive Director of Elem. Curriculum

How does Christie Rickert get all of those videoconferences and major projects done as a part-time instructional technology facilitator?   She is the "Technology/Videoconference Queen."  Thank you Christie for helping us integrate technology into EVERY subject.  You are amazing and an inspiration to all of us.  I know you are giving a lot of your personal time to TGE and you deserve to be in the spotlight. 

Patty Moreno, Music Teacher

Amazing!!! This is a perfect example of a truly awesome teacher who uses technology to reach out and engage her students in meaningful learning!

Robin Kelly, Tom Green Elementary Principal

Earth Cycles - February 2006

                Within a year after I began utilizing videoconferencing technology at Tom Green Elementary, other schools began to hear about what we’re doing and started showing interest.  In the 2005-2006 school year, the district has added one videoconferencing unit to a middle school and I have had the privilege of overseeing the implementation of the program. One afternoon I was discussing videoconferencing possibilities with an 8th grade science teacher and I mentioned that it would be great to have students in our own district collaborating together. For example, 5th graders and 8th graders both study earth cycles.  It only makes sense that these teachers could be collaborating and utilizing videoconferencing to make the instruction more engaging.  To my surprise, she was delighted at the possibility and thus intra district collaborations were born.

           At Barton Middle School, 8th grade science students in Mrs. Garraway's class became the experts for this collaborative videoconference.  They prepared presentations and interactive activities for the 5th graders at the Tom Green Elementary campus to participate in. Mrs. Garraway said that typically the 8th grade class involved is one that is difficult to engage and motivate. If you could have seen the enthusiasm from these students and the evidence of understanding for the content they presented, you never would have guessed it.  It was obvious that the collaborative aspect of this project made the students work harder and the pride in their word was visible.  This was our first intra district collaboration using videoconferencing  technology, and we believe it was a success.  Both classes involved gained knowledge from the experience.  

 Participants

      In addition to the collaborations I have initiated, I have also arranged for our students to participate in collaborations created by other people around the state.  As a participant in Science Seekers, our 5th grade students competed in a science challenge where they had to answer science questions, and justify their answer.  Students participated in this videoconferencing challenge with students in Lamar ISD to prepare for the Science TAKS test.  In the fall of 2005, I arranged for our 3rd graders to participate with Katy ISD’s Math Marvels collaborative videoconference.  Students were given math problems and were asked to solve the problem, and to communicate how they reached that answer to the other class. In preparation for the Math TAKS test, this was an effective lesson to emphasize various math strategies you can use to reach a correct answer.

      Another collaborative videoconference we participate in annually is Read Across America.  I do not coordinate this nation wide event, but I do work with the teachers at my school to plan and implement an exciting collaborative experience with a distant school.  Students from our campus join students around the nation to read together, reflect on favorite books and authors, and even re-enact favorite storybooks.  Some of my favorite RAA collaborations include a BEAR exchange (Be Excited About Reading) where classes dress up stuffed bears as a character, and exchange clues over videoconferencing to try to guess the favorite storybook character.  Another project that was a success was a bookmark exchange.  Students created and mailed bookmarks advertising their favorite storybooks and then "met" utilizing videoconferencing to dialogue about their favorite book.  This has been an effective conference for promoting reading and just letting kids celebrate reading together!  Over the last two years, our students have shared terrific projects with kids across America. This has impressed many educators and as a result I have received phone calls from teachers and librarians as far away as New York asking for my assistance in helping them to have a successful collaborative videoconference.  I'm always eager to help so that our students can benefit from watching a quality presentation developed by other students.

 Connections With Experts

          We still utilize videoconferencing equipment at Tom Green Elementary to connect our students to experts around the nation.  For several years now our students have had the chance to learn “outside the school walls” without having to leave the classroom.  This year we have had the opportunity to visit several zoos for science lessons, the Baseball Hall of Fame for economics lessons, interview the Fort Worth Opera performers, and connect with NASA scientists, and experts at the Institute of Texan Cultures for social studies lessons.  During one videoconference between 4th grade students and the Lee Richardson Zoo about animal adaptations our students were shown a chinchilla.  Seeing the chinchilla move around brought this animal out of the “text book” and into their lives.  This brought on a lot of questions and as a result the students used email to connect with the zoo expert to ask questions.

  My projects have promoted collaboration between my students and other students as well as experts by utilizing interactive videoconferencing technology.  Collaborative videoconferences have been an effective platform to share unique classroom projects and to learn with other Texas students about social studies concepts such as the regions of Texas and inventions. My projects have had a positive impact on student learning because students have been motivated to create a meaningful presentation to share with other Texas students.  Also, teachers have benefited from the collaborative videoconferencing as they have not only modeled, but have observed examples of good teaching techniques.

  One thing teachers do not have enough of is time.  I am dedicated to utilizing classroom time efficiently.  Therefore, all projects that I design are tied to specific curriculum standards.  In the advertisement for my collaborative projects which you viewed earlier, you will see that the standards correlated to the events are clearly stated.   In addition to the core curriculum objectives that these projects enhance, these projects also meet the Texas Technology Application state standards which state:

The student is expected to:

(A)  use communication tools to participate in group projects;

(B)  use interactive technology environments, such as simulations, electronic science or mathematics laboratories, virtual museum field trips, or on-line interactive lessons, to manipulate information; and

(C)  participate with electronic communities as a learner, initiator, contributor, or mentor.

           Additionally, the ISTE Technology Standards for Students states that by fifth grade students should use telecommunications and online resources to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities and to communicate with others in support of learning.  It is my belief that at Tom Green Elementary we exceed this expectation through our collaborative videoconferences.  After reading about my projects I’m sure it is evident that my projects are based on curriculum needs as stated by teachers, and are directly tied to the learning standards.

I believe that in order to truly understand the impact of a project, you must assess teaching and learning.  Since the collaborative projects I create truly require joint planning between me and the classroom teacher, the assessment decisions of the project are typically left to the discretion of the classroom teacher. However, I recommend using rubrics to guide student progress. 

An example of a rubric I have created for these collaborative projects can be found at

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/Rubric.doc

 An example of a rubric that a participating teacher created to assess student learning can be found at http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/Project Requirements.doc

 We have also collected information regarding the success of the project by using a student feedback form such as the one found here

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/Student%20Evaluation%20Form.doc

          As a result of these collaborative projects, students have become active learners.  Students are engaged in their learning, since they know they are going to be either on camera or play an important role behind the scenes during the delivery of their project.  In preparing for the “Around the State in 60 Minutes” videoconference, I went to the class and explained what we were going to do.  We divided the class into groups for research.  Each group was to write complete sentences of interesting information on the area of focus (economics, history, geography, etc.)  Students immediately began asking “Who gets to talk on camera?”  As a teacher, I knew I could use that to my advantage! I told them that we would be having auditions and part of their audition was how well they collaborated with their group in obtaining interesting information about their topic.  The classroom teacher had to leave briefly and when she walked back in, she saw all 20 of her 4th graders talking about Texas history, economics, and geography! Even the seemingly shy students were all “auditioning” for their spot to be on camera! It was impressive! When the research was collected, they then worked together to write an interesting mock news report about the topic.  Finally, we held reading auditions.  Students were given time to practice reading in an expressive and clear voice.  The students knew that if they were given the role of anchor or reporter for our videoconferencing project that they would be required to do extra homework to prepare for the mock news report.  Despite all of these requirements, I had a roomful of students audition! I do not believe that we would have had the same impact on student learning had we of done this unit without the collaborative videoconferencing component.

 I owe my success in collaborative videoconferences to several people.  The distance learning department at our region service center continues to be a strong source of support for videoconferencing.  This team of professionals has helped me solve numerous technical problems, and has offered continual advice on how to improve our collaborative projects. Having them as a resource has encouraged me to continually reflect and seek for improvement.  For example, after one day collaborative videoconferences, I called Felicia Nelson at Region 13 and asked for her opinion on how the activities went.  Two things she wanted me to think about were preparing teachers better for the visual media of videoconferences and increasing interaction between the students.  While I did both of these things for my own teachers on my campus, I was not extending the same support for the participants around the state.  In subsequent conferences, I was sure to make even more frequent contact with participants, and began to offer more resources on how to improve their presentation.  Since many of our participants were first time videoconference participants, this was an important step in making it an effective project.  Also, in order to promote interaction between the kids I made a conscious effort of providing time for kids to dialogue with other students, and to draw conclusions together such as using graphic organizers in Kidspiration as a way to record their thoughts .

           Some say it is only fitting that I am nominated for this award, because in 1999 I met the man I have been married to for 6 years now in an online environment. Now our 2 year old daughter uses videoconferencing to talk to her grandparents that live miles away.   This exemplifies how technology, and online collaborative tools, can positively affect ones life.  Naturally, videoconferencing in education has been a subject of research for me for over five years now.  The projects described in this narrative are not part of my job, they are my passion. When you have a passion for something, you continually want to learn more and do more despite the costs.  I have had to overcome financial issues, security issues, technical issues, teacher resistance, administrative doubts, correlation to standards, lack of time, and lack of resources. And yet, I’d do it all again! In fact, I am.  Due to the visible success of the effective use of videoconferencing on my campus, I have been asked by the district to assist other schools establish a similar program.  A lot of satisfaction comes along with accepting that position.  Years of research and persistence to make it work will now allow me to share what I love with others.  I have seen enthusiasm from students, the influence it has had on their learning, and the support from teachers and administrators as a positive enhancement to their education.   I believe that as time rolls along, we will see that these collaborative projects will have a lasting impact on our students.

CILC, Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, has been a resource that has enabled the coordination of these events much more manageable.  Their website offers a thorough catalog of not only content providers, but collaborative projects available.  I have promoted my projects in their collaborative projects area which in turn is emailed out to educators around the nation.  Additionally, I have relied heavily on the distance learning department of my region service center.  This team knows what schools have videoconferencing capability and have provided many connections to educators for me.    On my own campus, I continually promote my projects by asking students and teachers to reflect on their experience.  Then, I use that information in an email called “Technology Spotlight” to share with collective staff their recent experience.  I believe that the best way to convince a teacher that participating in one of my projects will be a worthwhile venture is to show proof from past projects of effective instructional outcomes.

The level of project assistance I offer various depending on the amount of experience teachers and students involved have with videoconferencing.  Since collaborative videoconferencing is a fairly new concept in education, I find that for the most part I serve as a mentor to participants on and off campus.  For my distant participants, I utilize email heavily for communication including tips, timelines, and online resources for improving presentations.  I have also had many phone conversations with off campus teachers wishing to prepare a successful presentation.  On campus, I offer the same but face to face including interactive trainings to increase teacher comfort with the technology.  Also, I arrange time in classrooms to prepare students on how to be effective presenters and to teach them a little more about videoconferencing technology.  We have utilized videoconferencing frequently as an instructional tool on campus, so there is a rarely a conference now where I have a class with no previous experience.  So as time has rolled on, the students have become the trainers as well.

Click below for examples of project assistance I have provided:

60 Minutes Confirmation

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/60MinutesConfirm.doc

Invention Convention Confirmation

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/InventionConfirm.pdf

Invention Convention Email Tips

http://asscmail.hayscisd.net/~rickertc/GSN/gsn/InventionTips.doc

In 2004, I was honored to be recognized as the Tom Green Elementary Teacher of the Year.  My colleagues unanimously recognized me as the teacher on campus that had risen above obstacles and plunged forward with a passion. It was an honor to receive this award voted upon by my peers, because it was the ultimate statement that my leadership has impacted and empowered other teachers.  I have also recruited many teachers on campus to be a part of local grant projects I wrote for videoconferencing programs, and Leapfrog reading equipment as well as national competitive grants I wrote such as HP’s education initiative called Technology for Teaching Grant and E Instruction’s Classroom Performance System grant.  In 2004 I served as the team leader for our grant project with HP and led a team of 5 teachers to create online portfolios to support our project. Currently, I am serving as a mentor through HP’s grant to 25 teachers around Texas. We utilize the Campus K12 online environment through ISTE as a place to share learning artifacts and plans.  Collectively, these projects have served as an example to my colleagues in the Technology Department.  They are beginning to understand why I believe online collaborative learning is a powerful tool, and are following my lead to implement such projects on their own campuses.

   I hope you have enjoyed reading my narrative and that you have seen a glimpse of the passion I have for interactive videoconferencing technology in education.  You have asked what your association could do to enhance our collaborative videoconferencing projects, and I am honored that you are willing to help us.  I have been searching for a safe website to further connect students before and after our videoconferencing events. However, student safety is of utmost importance.  Unfortunately I do not have the time to take on the role of monitoring website entries for appropriate and personal information as well as posting student questions and artifacts.  GSN could help overcome this challenge by creating a monitored place for kids to dialogue and upload projects.  My vision is to have a password protected website (password would be given to project participants only) to allow access to a type of discussion board area.  I would like to have a board for Pre-Conference activities, and Post-Conference activities that would be monitored by someone for appropriate content.   I envision students using this board as a safe means of dialoguing about educational topics and sharing projects they’ve created as a result of the collaborative videoconference.