Video Conferencing in Schools - Guest Post

 

This was a guest post by Susanna cha, currently writing on behalf of LifeSize, videoconferencing software.
Video conferencing technology has a strong foothold in the business world, but it is still relatively new in the world of education. Just five years ago, video conferencing and tele-education in schools was rare, but it is now safe to say that the technology has successfully passed its testing phase in the educational market. As of 2009, it was estimated that nearly 30,000 video conferencing systems were in use in U.S. schools. However, the number of systems in use varies dramatically by state. States and school districts that have yet to adopt the technology either refuse to study the issue or fail to see how the benefits are outweighed by the cost.

Video Conferencing for Tele-Education
The primary benefit of video conferencing in schools is the same as the primary benefit of using the technology for business: it allows participants to interact with people and places without having to travel. In education, video conferencing has the additional benefit of opening up a variety of learning and tele-education possibilities. Tele-education comes in several forms, and a single video conferencing system can be used for all of them. A few examples of how tele-education can be used are as follows:

• Students can attend classes not available at their schools.
• Students who are unable to attend traditional classes may attend virtual classes.
• Remote teachers can collaborate with local teachers on special projects.
• Students can meet with remote tutors for private sessions.

Although tele-education is an important benefit of video conferencing in schools, other uses of the technology are also possible. Following are some of the creative ways schools have found for the use of video conferencing:

Virtual Field Trips
Field trips can eat away at a school district’s budget very quickly. Through video conferencing technology, educational or exotic locations can be brought directly into the classroom at very little expense. Many museums, wildlife sanctuaries and other educational organizations are already equipped with video conferencing tools, so it becomes merely a matter of scheduling a date and time for a live, interactive presentation.

Multi-School Collaborations
Video conferencing offers a unique opportunity for schools to collaborate with one another both inside and outside the district. Multi-school collaborations are not limited by distance, so they can even be carried out internationally. This use of video conferencing technology opens students to new cultures and new ideas that are not represented or explored in their own school. It can also allow schools to take part in competitive programs or contests, such as debates, spelling bees and academic quizzes.

Student Services
A final way video conferencing can be used in schools is to offer students special services. Vocational information can be provided by specialists to help students choose a direction for their life after school. Communication may also take place with college advisors for admissions counseling. In addition, library and research skills may be examined, or help may be obtained from distant libraries.

Video conferencing is a technology that has made a great impact on the business world, and it is set to make an equal impact in the world of education. By making the world just a little smaller, students are exposed to new opportunities and educational possibilities.

Guest Post - Can Video Conferencing Improve Education?

Advances in communication technology have helped to shape and mould the way sectors such as health and education conduct their practises in the modern age. Video Conferencing, Telepresence and Telehealth have made it possible for people to not only talk over large distances but to see each other too. This has contributed to exciting new times in an abundance of professional fields.

Due to its versatility, there are many uses for Video Conferencing. The technology has been utilized for personal communication, business meetings and more recently has been tested in the educational field. Telecommunication has become increasingly important in the education sector for a number of reasons and has become particularly crucial in developing nations where resources such as qualified teachers may not be particularly widespread. Due to the poor living conditions of third world countries, many teachers are hesitant about physically relocating themselves to areas where they are needed and as such, education levels are in danger. However, Video Conferencing may be able to provide an answer.

Telecommunications now allow for teachers to give lessons to multiple classrooms of children at once; no longer does an educator have to physically be in the same room as the people they are educating. Video Conferencing allows for teachers to transmit their lessons simultaneously to children all over the globe in a historically unparalleled measure. It is now possible for a teacher to transmit a stream of the lesson they are giving in Colorado not just to other parts of the country but to opposite hemispheres.  

Amongst the increasing number benefits of Video Conferencing are that, as the streaming quality becomes clearer and of a higher quality, the price for the equipment necessary for telecommunications is experiencing a decline as the technology is becoming much more widespread. Video Conference technology has improved so much that new compression techniques have made it so that images can be seen in crisp HD detail over a small amount of bandwidth, eliminating the need to sacrifice quality over bandwidth or bandwidth over quality.

Yet, despite this, Video Conferencing in education is not necessarily the best solution. Telecommunications does not allow for the intimacy which a classroom setting creates. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for a teacher to tailor their lessons to each individual they teach whilst being some distance away. This is particularly true if the teacher were to teach two or more classrooms at once; children would be deprived of the individual interactions that are necessary for learning. Also, another possibility is that the technology could be open to abuse. If profits were to take precedent over education then it is not impossible to imagine telecommunication, due to its cost efficiency, being utilized by default instead of the more expensive option of employing more teachers.

So whilst telecommunications may not be the perfect method of improving education levels in developed countries, Video Conferencing can certainly play its part in helping. In countries where qualified teachers are in low supply and it is certainly more cost efficient and easier to use telecommunication than the alternative. Whilst one on one education is the ideal choice in certain areas, it is not always achievable and Video Conferencing may be the best alternative to a physical teacher presence.

Guest Post by Rashed Kahn

Free Videoconferencing software:

www.oovoo.com/

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/allfeatures/video-call/

Fee based:

http://www.lifesize.com/


http://www.sightspeed.com/

http://www.webex.com/overview/video-conferencing.html

Related Articles:

Real Challenges, Virtual Solutions in Alaska Classrooms


5 Ways Classrooms Can Use Video Conferencing


Video Conferencing In Education


Applications of Videoconferencing Technology in Education


How Video Conferencing is Useful for Rural Educators 

How have you used videoconferencing in education? How do you think it can help education?