The first collaboration I had with my researcher, Dr. Jim Madsen was signing up my class 621 made up of bilingual 6th grade students, mostly from Dominican Republic, Mexicp and Ecuador, to participate in the Wisconsin Ice Cube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) South Pole webcast, on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, at 2pm Eastern Daylight Saving time. I must confess I was a little nervous at first, but everything turned out just fine. After receiving confirmation from Megan Madsen, WIPAC's Education Outreach Coordinator, I secured the classroom period, one week ahead with my co-teacher Ms.Martinez-Rios, as well as any necessary equipment with Mr. Sanchez, our Technology Coordinator. Next, I set up the day before the equipment I needed to participate in the webcast and downloaded a free program called WEBEX. The period of class prior to the South Pole webcast I went over rules and student expectations for the webcast, as well as discussing the topic of Neutrinos with them. I had asked Mr. Sanchez to let me use his Mac laptop to guarantee that the transmission went as smooth as possible. Right before the start of the webcast: yikes! the high tech Mac was not letting me login into the WEBEX website. On quick thinking I switched my old and trusty Dell and lo and behold! We got instant connection. No video was available, but we could hear the sound loud and clear. We spoke to scientists; heard students from Lima, Peru and other classes in the US asking questions, and my class 621 was able to ask a couple of questions to the researchers about Neutrinos and why is it important to study them. How cool was that: Bilingual kids from Washington Heights interacting with scientists and students from other states and countries using web-based technology. Overall the students were thrilled to be part of a webcast and thus began the excitement amongst in my school about the Ice Cube Neutrino project!
**TIPS FOR CLASSROOM WEBCASTS **
Equipment needed *Computer with Internet access. *LCD Projector. *Microphone (the built-into the computer is good enough). *Set of External Speakers (so your classroom audience can hear the audio part clearly). * An optional Webcam (audio is primarily used with even low bandwith) Always register and secure classroom time and space ahead (2-3 weeks). Involve your colleagues: get assistance from your school Tech Coordinator to have all necessary equipment. Do not leave it to the last minute. Check that the equipment works (LCD projector, speakers, Internet) and have a plan B, a second computer and worst come to worst using your cell phone Make sure to get the audio conference number and access code. Get the webcast moderator cell phone number just in case you cannot access the conference phone number. I believe these webcast experience will come in handy for the Real- Time PolarConnect Events I will be implementing pretty soon from the field.