IVC: Interactive Video Conference

Being in the IT-Web Designer/Developer program, I have become very familiar with IVC - Interactive Video Conference - system. Many of our classes are taught this way.

IVC allows students from different campuses to have class together using video and microphones. I can be at the West Bend campus with classmates while the instructor and other classmates can be at the Fond du Lac campus. We can see and talk to each other through the cameras and microphones. We can also see what the instructor is doing on the computer on a separate projection screen.

The first time I saw a IVC microphone was a few years ago. I thought, what an odd looking mouse? It’s about the same size as one, sits on the table and has a long cord. There are several of them in each room that is IVC capable. If you’re in an IVC class, make sure you turn your microphone on when you want to talk otherwise the students at the other campuses can’t hear you. Similarly, turn it off when you’re done speaking; otherwise people can still hear you! Everybody does one or the other at least once.

I’ve also used IVC for meetings with people on other campuses. It’s really a great way to connect the campuses in real-time. Recently, we had a meeting about our student blogs and I got to meet Kirsten, the student blogger from the Beaver Dam campus (Note: Check out her blog by visiting the Links tab on my blog page). I was able to meet with people from Fond du Lac and Beaver Dam while staying in West Bend. I didn’t have to drive all the way to another campus. That’s a good thing with gas prices being so high.

Even though I understand what IVC is I sometimes forget, along with other abbreviations, what it stands for. Here’s a link to an MPTC page that shows some common abbreviations you may need to know when looking at class schedules:

http://www.morainepark.edu/programs-and-courses/class-schedule/abbreviations-class-schedule/