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1. Purpose and Acceptable Use
New River Community and Technical College's interactive video conferencing network (IVN) resources are intended to support the College's curriculum by connecting, via IP only (we do not support ISDN), with other institutions, speakers, and other persons or groups related to the College and its community. The majority of IVN connections are made to bridge our four campuses and multiple off-campus locations together for shared classroom experiences.
2. IVN Classroom Equipment and Phones
New River currently has 18 IVN classrooms as well as several more rooms that we frequently use in collaboration with others (WVU, Bluefield State College, Pocahontas County High School, and the One Room University in Marlinton, WV). Each of the New River IVN rooms has a phone installed to provide direct access to the IVN support staff and to serve as an audio backup among sites in the event of any technical issues with the IVN audio (see list of rooms with phone numbers). The speed dial buttons on each of the model 7931 phones is now configured for one-button access to any of the IVN classrooms (see photo).
3. Support for IVN
Technical support for the IVN system is available only during classroom instructional meeting times. Our online Help Desk Schedule shows our current support hours. The IVN equipment is designed so that users can be mostly self-sufficient.
David Ayersman provides user training information and assistance for instructors while Gary Davis and Brian Hatcher provide equipment maintenance, scheduling, and troubleshooting.
Each of the on-campus IVN classrooms has a Cisco phone with two buttons pre-configured with AM Support and PM Support quick-dial buttons. The AM Support button rings Gary Davis (304-883-2427) and the PM Support button rings Brian Hatcher (304-929-5466).
IVN Support Staff
| IVN Support (8AM-2PM)
(304-883-2427)
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IVN Support (2PM-8PM)
(304-929-5466) |
Gary P. Davis |
Brian J. Hatcher
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IVN Training and Support (7:30AM-3:30PM)
(304-256-0281) |
David J. Ayersman |
4. Scheduling and Recording
The New River schedule of courses includes the IVN schedule of courses and they are denoted by an Instructional Method (IM) of IVN or IVNWE (IVN Web-Enhanced). Campus deans schedule courses, so any IVN course scheduling issue should be directed to them. But for administrative meetings please contact the IVN support staff or the Help Desk with scheduling requests (304-929-6725). At least 3 days advanced notice is required and a test call is recommended as early as possible. The service is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Scheduling priority will be given to those events that most directly support the mission and curriculum of the College. The facilities are available to employees and to student groups for co-curricular events.
IVN classes are scheduled to begin recording to the IPVCR (video.newriver.edu) 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the class and they end at the scheduled end time. Instructors should see a 5 minute warning message 5 minutes before classes are scheduled to end.
5. Training and Information for IVN Instructors and Students
Teaching in the IVN environment poses new challenges to instructors who are faced with (1) using the IVN equipment while also (2) communicating effectively with students both on-site and at the distant locations. The following information links are hoped to be useful to instructors and students new to the IVN environment:
- Overview of New River CTC Distance Education and Instructional Methods
- Videoconferencing Presentation Tips (for Instructors)
- Videoconferencing Classroom Recommendations (for Students)
- Using the Cisco Phones to Contact IVN Rooms (Students and Instructors)
6. Fee Structure
Occasionally, when scheduling allows it, the IVN facilities are reserved for agencies outside New River. For these events an hourly fee is charged to cover the use of the equipment as well as required technician fees.
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