Video Conferencing

 Quarterly staff meetings  No involvement of MDE or evaluator  High cost (travel/time)  Limited interaction as a group between meetings Monthly staff meetings Attendance by MDE & evaluators NO cost - lots of scheduling flexibility More frequent interaction and information sharing

 Yahoo group ◦ Store common files (including documents, pictures) ◦ List-serv  Benefits ◦ It’s free ◦ It’s relatively secure (only we can access the files) ◦ It keeps our files organized and accessible to all staff/group members

 Horizon Wimba Online Meeting Room ◦ Monthly staff, agency & evaluator meeting ◦ As needed collaboration  Benefits ◦ It’s free to us (because of our position at the University). ◦ We get free training and tech support (again through the university). ◦ We can use video conferencing, voice over IP, or phone-in options all at once. ◦ We can also text each other during the meeting. ◦ We can document share.

 Staff willingness to use the equipment (some don’t want to be on camera).  Learning curve – time to learn technology and how to make it work in each unique setting/configuration.  Sometimes the technology doesn’t work (although that’s been rare for us).