SDN Petemon 13 Surabaya Video Conference With Ormstown Elementary School In Canada By Curtis Deschambault

Global warming is not only a local issue, it is also a global issue. For the students of Petemon 13 were able to experience first hand what students in Canada are doing to prevent it. On Wednesday (3/6) night, about 20 students along with the interns at Tunas Hijau tried to hold a video conference call with Ormstown Elementary school (OES) in Canada. The time difference between Surabaya and Ormstown is -11 hours. Which meant we had to have the video call at night, we choose to have it at 20:00 Surabaya time which meant in it was 9 am in Canada.

The students of Petemone 13 were going to show OES some of the items they made with recycled material and discuss the green projects they are currently doing. The students in Canada prepared to present their science projects they did on alternative energy. Unfortunately, the internet connection was not strong enough to maintain a video conference. We tried having a phone conversation but that also proved to be non-functional. We decided that it would be best to record videos and send them via email. It took us about 20 minutes to record the first set of videos. However, the microphone was turned off so we had to redo the videos. The second time was more successful and we able to get all the videos we wanted to send.

The principal in Canada, David Brisebois, said that it was unfortunate that the first attempt at a video conference did not work. However, he was hopeful that both schools could try it again with a better internet connection. Hopefully the schools will be able to reconnect and have a functioning video conference because it would a wonderful experience for the children from each country. Summer vacation, a 2 month vacation, is fast approaching in Canada, which likely means that the next attempt would have to come in the fall when school restarts in Canada. I hope that perhaps this relationship can be maintained and hopefully become a yearly event to have the video conference call.