Interactive Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is a live, two-way, interactive electronic means of communication. Two or more people in different geographic locations can engage in face-to-face audio and visual exchanges using cameras, monitors, computers and other media. The Mississippi State University Extension Service videoconferencing network is made up of point-to-point dedicated T1 lines from our sites across the state back to the University and then onto the public Internet.
Classroom
Most of our distance education classrooms are set up with an interactive video system, a computer, electronic white board, VCR/DVD, an overhead document camera, a touch control panel, monitors for viewing incoming and outgoing video and student and speaker microphones.
Non-Classroom Wired
Some of the videoconferences that we conduct are not in a classroom but are in a facility that has Internet connectivity. These facilities have included childcare centers, agricultural arenas, a meats lab and a kitchen. We use a portable unit and multiple cameras to transform these facilities into reality classrooms. Our portable unit is a rolling cart containing a videoconferencing unit, two monitors, microphone, speakers and ports for connecting to a computer, VCR, or other device.
Satellite
There are times when the best place to conduct a videoconference is from a location that does not have nor is near an Internet connection. This may be from a field, garden or a facility with no connectivity. During those instances, we use a trailer mounted satellite system with our portable videoconferencing unit to create a learning environment almost anywhere.