So this week my schools have been participating in the Holiday Story Exchange, and while I would love to be able to write how those conferences have been going, I can’t. All of the connections have been made point-to-point. And when that is the case, the only monitoring capability I have is a snapshot on the web interface with no audio. This got me thinking, “Is this the best way to do it? Or should I bridge all the calls like this so that I can monitor the conference, instead of just the connection?”
The pros that I see to being able to monitor the conference are these: 1) I can see the quality of the presentations and have a better understanding of what we might need to focus on in future training. 2) Knowing that I’m watching in the background and available for support might make teachers more comfortable in the conference. 3) Plus, it’s just plain fun to watch what the classes have come up with. 
Pros for leaving them point-to-point include: 1) It frees up my time to do other things. 2) It encourages/forces the teachers to become more independent with the equipment.
I would love to hear your opinion. Whether you are a teacher, a bridge operator, or instructional support, do you think all calls should be bridged? Or are point-to-point calls OK?
December 12, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I think it really depends on the situation.
If you have a teacher who needs some support, I would say bridge the call. If it is a teacher that has videoconferenced several times, even if they thought they still needed the support, I would have them go point-to-point.
Also, if there was a new collaboration or content provider that was the source of the connection I would probably bridge it so I could check it out myself. Otherwise I would go with point-to-point so I could be freed up for other things.
December 15, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hi Lori,
My reasons for bridging or not bridging tend to be more practical. If I can bridge it and have time, I do. Sometimes the call works better point to point; other times it works better on the bridge. If it doesn’t work one way, I do it the other way. Sometimes it’s my schedule that dictates. Sometimes I have a class doing a new connection that I really want to see and help them with, but I can’t. So I try to email them afterwards and see how it went or if they had any issues. I’ve found that sometimes the schools that I thought I needed to “hand hold” were actually fine without me. So sad *grins*, but it’s the only way to keep increasing the use of videoconferencing in my area! I can’t do it all!! LOL.