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Lessons Learned (4/28)

4/28/2014

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Adriana Baird:
  • Communication is a little bit slow via email, but this may have been due to the need to translate the Chinese surveys into English so that we could read the results
  • We are most productive when we meet in person, which is great for the three of us but poses a challenge for communication with our Tsinghua counterparts. This might be difficult in the future because Coco and Sean are not very comfortable with Skype, but it is great that Sean is actually coming to Stanford this week!
  • We made a timeline for our scope of work assignment, and it will be very important for us to stick to it, given the limited amount of time left. 

Click "Read More" to see the lessons learned from other students.

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Lessons Learned (4/21)

4/21/2014

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Yari Greaney, Walk!Man:
  • Don't be shy to repeat questions until you get the answer you are looking for.
  • Get verbal confirmation that everyone understands the next action items.
  • Follow up conversations with an email.
  • It's really fun to collaborate with Tsinghua students!

Adriana Baird, Micro-Travel:
It was really helpful to have the email response from our Tsinghua counterparts, but the gap between the information we have and what they have already accomplished with the project is still there.  This has really stressed the importance of holding a videoconference or some sort of direct communication between us and the Tsinghua students that is more immediate than email.  It has also been very helpful to meet and talk frequently among ourselves, either in person, over email, or through messaging. 

Click "Read More" to view all lessons learned.

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International Learning, A First

4/7/2014

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Our first video conference between students in the U.S. and China took place in the Highly Immersive Classroom at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). According to GSB technology specialist Bryan McCann, this session represents the first full-scale class-to-class exchange to make use of the HIC, which has only been open a few months. (While the HIC has been used for smaller events, this is the first time two academic Stanford classes have united.)

The visuals and acoustics were excellent, thanks to four large video screens stitched together and microphones installed at strategic points around the room. It felt like the URBANST 102 students in Beijing were sitting in the same room as our class at Stanford!
International Urbanization Seminar at Stanford
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Urban Studies 102 in Beijing
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Photo: Students at Stanford University's home campus (left) discuss urban and social development directly with a group in Beijing (center) made up of Stanford students in the Bing Overseas Studies Program and Peking University students.

As a warmup activity, students were asked to describe Beijing in three words. The word art here showcases their responses, with more common words appearing larger in the diagram.

We then discussed the first assignment of the quarter, Urban Lab #1, where students documented their hometowns. These ranged from small towns in Nebraska and Massachusetts, to a village in Corsica, France, to dense urban centers such as Beijing and Bangkok.
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Word art created from student descriptions of Beijing.
The connection was largely seamless (just a minor hiccup with getting slides to show), and it was exciting for everyone involved to pioneer this technology for use in educational exchanges. Many thanks to the GSB tech team and the hard-working SCPKU staff for helping us set up this joint experience. We look forward to additional trans-Pacific teleconference sessions in coming weeks!

One of the Stanford students based in Bejing later posted this note about his experience in the combined classroom:
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Image Gallery
Lessons Learned
  • Double-check the script/discussion outline with fellow instructors before starting the session. It's worth taking the time so the rest of the session flows smoothly.
  • For long sessions, take a break in the middle! Students also appreciate snacks.
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Trans-Pacific Connection is a go!

3/31/2014

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PictureTop right: PKU. Bottom right: Tsinghua's studio
Today, we tested out the teleconference equipment in the Wallenberg Learning Theater, which features an immense, room-spanning screen; an arsenal of computers, microphones, and cameras; and the ability to control everything by iPad.

After some initial connection snafus, we got in touch with our collaborator at Peking University, Professor Song, through Skype. During the video call, we introduced ourselves to the Stanford students studying abroad at the Bing Overseas Studies Program in Beijing. It was fun to see them in person and to send them greetings from the home campus.

We connected with Professor Fu at Tsinghua University by utilizing a Cisco teleconference system. As we worked to establish the video link, the WeChat app (on our phones) proved helpful in coordinating.

The first go-around with teleconferencing always seems to take longer, and as we had scheduled back-to-back tests with the two institutions, the calls ended up overlapping. At one point we had both connections up and running: Deland conferred with Professor Fu on one screen, while I spoke to Professor Song, using my own laptop and headphones, on another. During the evening, the executive director of SCPKU also called my cell phone, adding to the mix of media.

We have full-fledged teleconferences with both partners again next week, and next time we'll have a roomful of students with us, so I'm glad we tested out the technology first. We owe special thanks to Wallenberg Hall's technology guru Bob Smith, who demoed the Learning Theater's range of capabilities and gave us access to a range of equipment. The adventure continues!

Lessons Learned
  • Build in additional buffer time between teleconference sessions instead of holding them back-to-back.
  • WeChat or other phone-based messaging apps can help you coordinate when first establishing the video connection.
  • Make sure both parties know in advance which teleconference system will be used.

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