Interactive Video Conferencing
Interactive Video Conferencing, is a program created by the Minnesota Historical Society to provide interactive educational experiences for fourth through sixth grade students using new video-conferencing capabilities.
Three programs, including one featuring Harriet Bishop, the first schoolteacher in St. Paul, allow students to stay in their classroom while role playing, interacting in real-time with historical characters and participating in related activities.
The test programs, which were piloted in schools in six counties throughout Minnesota, reached 1,200 students in the spring of 2010. More than 100 teachers participated in the prototyping process and provided valuable feedback.
These programs are now being expanded and reservations can be booked in classrooms across Minnesota. Two additional video conferencing programs, one targeted at high school students and one for lower elementary students, are also in development and scheduled for launch in 2011.
(c) Programs. $3,000,000 in 2010 and $4,750,000 in 2011 are for programs and purposes related to the historical and cultural heritage of the state of Minnesota, conducted by the Minnesota Historical Society.