Since their installation on campus, the videoconferencing systems have been used in varied ways.
While the Knapp Center's videoconferencing system continues to be effective for small groups, the addition of the videoconferencing system in Pendleton, made possible by a generous gift from an alumna, has greatly expanded the possibilities of videoconferencing at Wellesley. The Pendleton system provides state-of-the-art technology, including three cameras for greater coverage, multiple viewing screens, and a microphone for every two participants. The room is equipped to share documents, spreadsheets, video etc. with the far site. Moreover, it comfortably seats 30 participants, in other words, an entire class, if desired.
One of the benefits that the Pendleton system provides includes the opportunity for faculty to participate with colleagues and experts from around the US and abroad in meetings and discussions; indeed, the system enables Wellesley to connect simultaneously with at least three external sites. The system also offers faculty the option of inviting students from other institutions to partake in a live classroom or workshop experience; and it gives our own students who are studying abroad, the chance to be part of some of the unique happenings on campus such as the Tanner Conference and the Ruhlman Conference. Likewise, it provides the opportunity for those students abroad and those on campus to interact. A possibility for the future would be to simultaneously stream video from the videoconference classroom to alumnae off-campus.
Knapp Videoconferencing Facilities Use
At different times, faculty and staff have conducted Wellesley-related job interviews. In another capacity, Economics Professor David Lindauer, who had expected to fly to Washington for a World Bank meeting, arranged instead to videoconference from the Knapp Center to Washington and Jakarta. In this way, he saved both the time and expense of the trip to Washington. Other users of the facility include students who have arranged video interviews for jobs in San Francisco and Seattle.
Pendleton Videoconferencing Facilities Use
Videoconferencing equipment was used during the 2001 Business Leadership Council (BLC) program. The initial part of the videoconference, entitled Reacting to a Domestic Tragedy while Abroad, was presented by a group of Wellesley students participating in the PRESHCO program in Cordoba, Spain. The panel of five students spoke about their individual experiences and observations after September 11, while living abroad.
In March, 2002, a series of lectures about electronic discourse was sponsored by the Mellon Residential Life Grant. Face Time was made up of faculty notables discussing FirstClass's Community Conference-- why they participate on Community and how they benefit from it. One of the panelists, Professor Flick Coleman, who teaches Chemistry at the College and was then a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, joined the discussion with his Wellesley colleagues via videoconference from Madison.
On March 4, 2002, Professor Flick Coleman was the guest lecturer in Carla Verschoor’s Inorganic Chemistry course, again videoconferencing from the University of Wisconsin. Flick not only spoke to the students from a distance, but also used a computer to share 3-D animations, and a document camera to write in real-time. Click on the image below to view an excerpt from this video conference.
On April 19-20, 2003, Professor Kyle Kauffman and Professor David Lindauer from Wellesley's Economics Department, organized a Knapp Social Science Center Symposium, entitled AIDS and South Africa: The Social Expression of a Pandemic. A significant part of the two-day conference were two hour-long videoconference links with the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The first videoconference, Living with HIV/AIDS, was moderated from the Pendleton Videoconferencing Room by Cal Volks, University of Cape Town AIDS Programme Director and joint organizer of the two videoconferencing sessions. It was attended in South Africa by young African adults talking frankly about their lives with HIV/AIDS and its effect on their immediate families.
The second videoconference, The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the South African University System, was moderated by Cal Volks and included students from the University of Cape Town. Both videoconferences were attended by Wellesley College students, faculty and staff and the live coverage was simulcast to two overflow rooms to accommodate the large turnout. Click on the image below to view an excerpt from this video conference.
