When a presenter and panelist for the Sports in Africa Symposium couldn't travel to Ohio University last quarter, organizers for the event thought of another way that she could attend.
Terri Byers could not make the event because of a timing conflict, but she was still able to take part in the conference through videoconferencing technology, said Christine Potts, an OU graduate student who took part in the symposium.
It would have been a loss to the conference if she had not been there
she said.
Byers' image was taken off the screen so that others could use the computer, but her disembodied voice was heard in the panel discussion following her presentation.
As part of International Week, that same technology will be used this morning at the Yamada House with a videoconference with Albaqir Mukhtar, director of the Al-Khatim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment and Human Development in Sudan. He will speak and lead a discussion about the crisis in Darfur.
Mukhtar will use his laptop that has a built-in video camera and Skype, a free videoconferencing technology that has very good audio to connect with OU, said Ismail Elmahdi, associate director of African Studies for instructional technology.
There's no charge for downloading Skype, and, according to the company's Web site, Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls are free.
Skype is not always stable. We're working on getting more stable links so that our vision of not only someone talking from another country but also co-teaching with us can be a reality
he said.
The technology in Sudan is growing rapidly and the infrastructure is in place for videoconferencing, Elmahdi said.
Sudan started later than the United States with technological upgrades, so they have skipped the improvements that the United States must make and instead are starting with better technology, he said.
I was in the middle of a market in Sudan with a young relative of mine and wanted to check my e-mail. He pulled out a handheld computer and got service to go online with it right then. There's wireless everywhere
Elmahdi said.
The biggest hindrance with this type of technology at OU is the bandwidth capabilities on campus, he said.
The videoconference is not the only way that the African Studies department is incorporating technology. The African Languages Program has used YouTube and Google Earth to create a multi-dimensional language experience.
The online program, known as the African Language tour, allows Internet users to click on a city and country where a particular African language is spoken. A YouTube video then appears with an OU student greeting the user in that language and providing information about their language learning experience at OU.
From Swahili in Nairobi to Akan in Accra, OU students can put their African language skills into a cultural context.
We use the virtual world so that students know where they are with their language. Using Google Earth
they can see other photos of the area
not just the video from a peer
said Elmahdi.
Students who were filmed for the language tour were volunteers, and because there is no fee for uploading a video to YouTube or for downloading Google Earth, the program has cost the university nothing.
Now we are going to upload Africa because they have things that they want to show the world. Instead of Africa getting knowledge from us
we will get the knowledge from them
he said.
