Activity 3B
C & I 335
Summer, 1998

Melissa Netznik
Lincoln School
Springfield, IL

1. CU-See Me, Cornell University

• potential educational use: This program may be used to allow students to videoconference with other students and people throughout the world.
  
• who makes it, and how it may be obtained: This program is under copyright of Cornell University. It may be obtained by downloading the program from their homepage.
  
• what it does: It is a videoconferencing program that allows people to videoconference with another site located anywhere in the world. Multiple parties can participate in the videoconferencing by using reflector software.
  
• its cost: There is no cost to the program itself.
  
• URL for more information: http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/
  You can also join the CU-SeeMe listserv. Join by clicking on the home page and on CU-SeeMe Discussion List.
  
• hardware and software requirements: The following are the requirements for the Macintosh:

  a. Macintosh platform with a 68020 processor or higher
  b. System 7 or higher operating system
  c. Ability to display 16-level-grayscale (any color Mac)
  d. an IP network connection
  e. MacTCP or Open Transport
  f. Current CU-SeeMe application
  g. Apple's QuickTime, to receive slides with SlideWindow

   

The resources needed to use CU-SeeMe are available at Lincoln School. We have used the program on a trial bases. I would be very interested in making more use of the program to allow students to videoconference with students and other people around the world. We do a "world tour" during our first quarter's thematic unit. It would be ideal to have students videoconference with classrooms from the countries that they are researching during this unit.

• potential educational use: Students can create multimedia presentations to present research and information using Hyperstudio. This program allows learning to be very student-centered.
  
• who makes it, and how it may be obtained: This program was created by Roger Wagner Publishing. You can visit the Product Catalog on the home page to receive further product information, pricing, system requirements, a list of authorized vendors, and a form for ordering your free HyperStudio Preview CD-ROM.
  
• what it does: Like other multimedia authoring systems, Hyperstudio offers the ability to bring together text, sound, graphics and video. However, only Hyperstudio also has the following features: allows user to access data on the Internet, allows user to create and edit QuickTime movies, built-in image capture with AV Macs or the QuickTake camera, Mac-Windows project compatibility and the widest range of file type compatibility and sound. Hyperstudio buttons can direct Netscape to open to a specific home page or other URL location.
  
• its cost:
  Single Copy: $199.95
  5-Pack: $450.00
  10-Pack: $795.00
  
• URL for more information: http://www.hyperstudio.com/abouths/indbod.html
  
• hardware and software requirements: The following are the requirements for the Macintosh:

  To Receive Video:

  a. System 7.1 or higher
  b. 68030 processor or higher
  c. Minimum 4 MB free RAM
  d. CD-ROM drive recommended

  To Send Video:

  a. The necessary requirements to receive video
  b. Quicktime installed
  c. A video digitizer and camera

At Lincoln School, students use the Hyperstudio program to create multimedia presentations, usually as a culminating activity, to present the information learned and researched gathered in a thematic unit. Our school has provided inservice training for teachers, along with their students, to learn the program. With further knowledge, I would like to continue using this student-centered multimedia program.

• potential educational use: This program would be useful in education because it would allow teachers and administrators to create databases. You may then browse records, perform queries, and add and delete records. This may be helpful in sharing information about students. Records for students with IEPs, for instance, would be able to be searched to inform teachers about important information, such as objectives.
  
• who makes it, and how it may be obtained: Claris makes this program, and it can be purchased through the Claris or FileMaker home pages. You can also receive a list of authorized vendors at this site.
  
• what it does: FileMaker Pro offers a much simpler solution to publishing databases on the Web. It allows the user to publish a database on the Web and immediately browse records, perform inquiries, and add and delete records. This can be done from the Web browser.
  
• its cost: The FileMaker Pro CD costs $199.00
  
• URL for more information: http://www.filemaker.com/
  
• hardware and software requirements: The following are the requirements for the Macintosh:

  a. Minimum 8 MB free RAM
  b. CD-ROM drive
  c. TCP/IP connection
  d. Apple Talk connection to share data
  e. System 7.1 or later

   

We do not have the FileMaker Pro software in our building, and I have not used this program. I don't know that it would be a program that we would consider purchasing because the simple ClarisWorks database works well for our needs. We have not had a need to publish these on the Web. After a demonstration, we may see that the FileMaker program does make creating and browsing databases easier and may wish to purchase the program.