CILC Symposium Corner

A Team Perspective

We asked the team from the Southeast Kansas ESC to share their experiences from the 2008 CILC Symposium.

What were your expectations for attending the CILC Symposium?
Were they met?
Carol Woolbright “The CILC Symposium gave us the opportunity to network with other like-minded educators across the US. The conference focus is interactive video, which makes it especially relevant. It definitely met my needs.”

Cindy Beisner “I learned about lots of new enrichment opportunities across the US and abroad as well as the names and places of other content providers for these programs. Of special interest to me was how the programs work technically, as this is my focus. It was nice to meet these participants face to face so when I do contact them I will remember who they actually are. The breakout groups were great. You heard lots of great talk about different programs, problems people have and solutions to them.”

Ann Lundy “The CILC Symposium provided a forum to network with IVC educators across the United States. The conference more than met my expectations: To share ideas with others involved in educational video conferencing is priceless.”

Audra May “My expectations for the CILC Symposium were to learn from other teachers/coordinators about their videoconferencing experiences, meet content providers, and learn more about the organization of CILC. Yes, my expectations were definitely met. This was my first time attending.I’ve been a CILC user for the last 3 school years and loved being able to access what CILC has to offer. I met with content providers, teachers and coordinators, and technical people. I gained the Premium feature to the CILC website with my registration and I am now using it more than ever!”

What was the biggest take away for you?
Carol Woolbright “Networking and establishing collaborations with other schools in other states were my biggest take aways. I also loved the different themes. They expanded our horizons.”

Cindy Beisner “My biggest take away was gaining more enthusiasm regarding enrichment programs and promoting them.”

Ann Lundy “For me, the biggest take aways were realizing the opportunities available to enrich the lives of our students through IVC collaborations and networking with providers in other states.”

Audra May I enjoyed being able to meet with such a variety of people in videoconferencing and taking away those new ideas and contacts. There are several individuals and providers that I keep in contact with on a regular basis. I have found several new friends in Texas that have been wonderful to me!”

As a result of the Symposium, what have you done that you were not doing or what is working better for you now?
Carol Woolbright “We have strengthened and expanded our collaborations with Arkansas and Ohio.”

Cindy Beisner “ I have set up an account with CILC for my consortium of schools to receive programs sponsored through CILC. We have participated in some of these programs this year and they have been great!”

Ann Lundy “We made the decision to post program opportunities on the CILC website. We have been amazed at the number of programs booked. An unexpected plus has been the opportunity to meet counterparts throughout the United States and Canada.”

Audra May “I have become a content provider of content programs. Being able to talk with other content providers was very helpful. I have posted several programs on CILC now and have had tremendous support from CILC in getting it this far.”

In relationship to your job goals and responsibilities, have you incorporated anything new you gained by attending the Symposium?
Carol Woolbright “The Symposium made me think more clearly about how we deliver programs and how we can improve.”

Cindy Beisner “I have made a list of providers through CILC and am promoting them to my consortium. I do pass along all the program listings that come out weekly to my administrators who then pass them along to teachers. I have asked each district to let me present at an in-service next year and bring in some providers over IDL to share their programs with teachers. This will gain a lot of enthusiasm for these programs!”

Ann Lundy “In March our State IVC group in Kansas, KAIDE, organized a state-wide focus on distance learning. KAIDE networked with the Great Plains Internet 2 Workgroup in sending out both interactive and streaming video in an attempt to raise awareness of emergency preparedness. This was our first attempt at such a large project and the governor signed a proclamation declaring March 10-17 as Kansas Distance Learning Week!”

Audra May “I now have new goals when dealing with my teachers. After wonderful collaborating sessions, I have learned the do’s and don’ts of being able to collaborate and work with the teachers and their schedules. I work on how to find the most effective programs for my teachers and how to get them more involved in collaborating projects.
There are several projects that we are working on for next year that we gained from attending the Symposium.”

What further needs do you have that the Symposium Community might be able to fulfill?
Cindy Beisner “We want to continue in the Premium Service Plan as we see participation in future programs.”

Ann Lundy “We need to continue to have networking opportunities for IVC groups: it is a wonderful experience to attend a conference and return home with ideas from each session attended. IVC is growing and we need to continue to be the messengers.”

Audra May “I have gained new contacts in the content area as well as the collaborations area. Coming together with new people is a wonderful experience and gives you the face-to-face time that you do not normally have. Especially from being an out of state member, I gained contacts that I would not normally have found.

I would like to have more next year on the technical end of videoconferencing. There are multiple types of equipment and bridging out there and I would like to learn techniques and tools to make the troubleshooting end of videoconferencing easier. I would also like to see how others have set up their equipment and how they get the most out of what they have. We just added the Chromo Key to our room and I would love to meet others that have the same technology!”

Thank you
CILC wishes to thank each member of this team for sharing with all of us.
Let’s all look forward to a 2009 Symposium: Date to be announced!