Elluminate Session

Elluminate Session with Scotland


On Thursday, March 29, Farmingdale High School students met in a virtual classroom with students from the Royal High School, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Prior to the actual date, we had been in touch with Ms. Carrie Thomson in Scotland as well as with Elluminate/Blachboard experts.  With a five-hour time difference, the session was scheduled to occur at 9:00 am (New York time) and 2:00 pm (Scotland time), which is the end of their school day.  We also arranged for Ms. Thomson to be a moderator, as well, so she could control the screen on her end.  The idea was to have the Scotland students to be the main screen in Farmingdale, and the FHS students to be the main screen at the Royal High School.

The FHS teams logged in at 8:15 am.  The students arrived with their questions.  At approximately 9:15 am, Scotland appeared in the virtual room, but technical difficulties on their end complicated matters. They were able to hear and see us, but they were having difficulty getting their microphone to work, as well as the image quality.

Fortunately, we were able to adapt. 

We had prepared a PowerPoint of Farmingdale High School, which we were able to share and narrate with the Scotland students.  (They had sent us photos of their school earlier in the week.) 

We then also utilized the chat room feature to fill the void.  While we were unable to have an in-depth discussion re: the short story and documentary, we were able to have a get-to-know-you session that was filled with questions and answers and some laughs.  Students discussed their schools, the structure of the school day, school lunches, and music.  The funniest moment was the Farmingdale students trying to explain a Hot Pocket to the Scotland students., while Scottish students attempted to explain haggis.  A true meeting of cultures.




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