Satellite Education Progam

Broken Hill SOTA’s Studio 2, TOSOTA’s studio and the remote student sites have all been equipped with new technology to enable out-of-town students to join together with their class teacher and their in-town classmates for satellite lessons which are broadcast via Optus satellite and the Department of Education and Training’s (DET) network.

TOSOTA studio

• interactive whiteboard
• video conferencing unit
• CD and cassette players
• DVD Player
• Assist Station
• Client Computer
• Document Camera

Remote student site

• computer
• graphic tablet
• scanner
• printer
• digital camera
• Headset, in addition to push-to-talk microphone

TOSOTA Studio

Assist Station

This is a touch screen monitor which the teacher uses to manage the lesson.  This involves managing students calls, managing the screen layout and sharing applications.

Managing student calls

A list of students logged into the lesson is displayed on the Assist Station.  Students can indicate that they would like to speak by pressing the ‘call’ button on their computer at home, which causes their name to change colour to red on the Assist Station.  The teacher can select that student, changing their name to green indicating that they are ‘on air’.  The teacher can display a photo of the student who is on air, while they are speaking.  A queue can be displayed with the order of students who called in, but the teacher can select any student to place on air, whether they have called in or not.

Screen Layout

The teacher controls what is displayed on the screen that students see at home.  This can be:

• a view from the video conferencing camera
• an application, such as a PowerPoint presentation or a Word document
• a photo of the out-of-town student who is currently on air

or,

• a ‘split screen’, which is any two of the above, side by side, at a reduced size

The teacher often changes between views during the lesson.

Sharing Applications

The teacher can also ‘share’ an application with an out-of-town student.  For example, students can be given control of a word document in order for them to make changes or additions, before control is then passed to another student or back to the teacher.

Electronic Whiteboard

The data projector is used to display on the whiteboard the same screen that out-of-town students see.  In-town student desks face the whiteboard, so that they experience the same lesson as their out-of-town classmates.

The electronic whiteboard can be used as a touch-screen to enable in-town students to interact in the lesson, just as out-of-town students use their keyboards or mice.

Confidence Client

The confidence client is a computer on the desk in the studio, the screen of which is the electronic whiteboard.  It is called the confidence client because the computer is an identical setup to the remote student computers and gives the teacher a view of the student reception of the broadcast (as well as being viewed by the in-town students during lessons).

Video Conferencing Unit

The video conferencing unit  consists of a camera, television and microphone.

The camera is operated by the teacher using a remote control.  The camera ‘presets’ are utilised so that the teachers can efficiently switch between commonly used camera positions eg view of teacher, or view of in-town students seated at desks.  The camera can also be manually panned and zoomed into different views using the remote control.  In addition, the camera can be controlled remotely by the Satellite Co-ordinator in Studio 2.

The microphone used in the studio is also part of the video conferencing unit.  It is very sensitive and can stay in one location in the room and effectively transmit student and teacher voices from around the room.

CD and cassette players

A CD player and a cassette player are linked to the video conferencing unit to allow music and other audio content to be transmitted through the system during lessons.

DVD Player

A DVD can also be played through the system during lessons.

Document camera

The document camera will give teachers access to a camera which is suitable for focussing on documents and other small 2D and 3D objects.  For example, the cover of a book can be examined, student work can be displayed or a variety of leaves from the garden could be compared.  In addition, the document camera can be used like a blackboard to record notes; the teacher can write on a piece of paper that is placed under the camera.

Studio 2 currently have a document camera which is used by the Satellite Co-ordinator during lessons.

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Phone: 08 80913317   Fax: 08 8091 3496

Email: tibooburra-d.school@det.nsw.edu.au