How to bring the Virtual International Day of the Midwife to your hospital or facility

I have had a few midwives ask how they can hook up to the Virtual International Day of the Midwife on 5th May in the hospital and facility where they work, so that midwives can dip in and out of sessions when it suits them. Here's a few thoughts and tips if you are planning to do exactly that.

Computer
The vast amount of sessions are being offered in Elluminate, which is a web conference program - the meeting room has been kindly donated by the Education Development Centre, Otago Polytechnic. Elluminate doesn't take much to run, but you will need Java on your computer before you can open up the Elluminate meeting room - click here for more information about how to check you have Java on your computer.

The other thing that could stop you running Elluminate is your hospital or facility's firewall (security settings). My advice is to talk to your IT support and ask them to check that Java is on your computer and the firewall will let you get into the Elluminate meeting room.

Internet access
Elluminate even runs on dial up internet connection, although it can take longer load up. Here are some instructions on how to use Elluminate on a dial-up connection.

Speakers
If there is only one or two of you sitting around a computer, you should be able to hear adequately. But if there is going to be a few people, I would recommend that you plug speakers into your computer so you all can hear the presentations.

Projector
If you work in a bigger hospital and have a conference room with a computer linked to the internet, you will be able to get more people to see what's going on if you project the sessions onto the wall or a screen.

Microphone
If you do not have a microphone, you will be able to hear what's going on, and you will be able to communicate with other participants using the 'chat' text box. However, if you wish to speak and join in with audio, you will need a microphone.

You can buy very cheap headsets with microphones. If you are sharing a computer with a number of people, all you need to do is plug the mic into the computer and share it around when someone wants to speak.

Setting up the audio and microphone
Once you are in the meeting room, you will need to check that you can hear and that your microphone works - click here for information on how to use the audio wizard that will walk you though how to set up your audio and mic.

Having a play
My advice is that you have a 'play' and try out Elluminate before the 5th May, so you can make sure everything is working beforehand. The meeting room is always open for you to try it out - click here to go to the meeting room.

Detailed instructions of how to download Elluminate can be found on the Virtual Day of the Midwife website. Instructions on how to use Elluminate when you get into the room can be found here.

If you have any further queries about how to use Elluminate, or would like to meet someone in the meeting room to test things out, please let me know.