We often talk about the benefits of video conferencing and how it reduces the cost of travel, increases productivity, improves communication and compliments a modern workforce with flexible working arrangements.
Now let’s talk about video conferencing solutions and education.
Video conferencing can play a significant role in training and education. The same benefits of video in business also apply to education and has benefits for students. These include:
- Reducing travel time for students to access training and education
- Reducing transportation cost to access training and education
- Trainers can train more students at one time
- Remote and rural students are no longer disadvantaged – let’s not get into the issue of access to the internet.
- Maintaining professional qualifications is easier and more accessible between your busy work schedule.
- Video conferencing enables students to participate in courses irrespective of geography. Students can access education across the world and see their teacher and students face-to-face.
- No classroom is the modern classroom
- With video conferencing education creates a new space for classrooms. Your classroom can be anywhere and you can access your classroom from anywhere. With today’s technology, classes, seminars, tutorial lessons are open and can be offered across the world.
Bridging the educational divide with video conferencing products and services
Video conferencing enhances educational opportunities by bridging the geographic/metropolitan divide by providing students wherever they are with innovative and cost-effective ways to connect.
Video conferencing will provide support to remote areas with exposure to teaching approaches and techniques.
The technology enables teachers to provide alternate learning methods and link classes together (from within and outside their community).
As technology evolves, we need our students to be early adopters. As such, this starts with education and experience from within the classroom. Video conferencing enables collaboration across schools, states and services – the classroom becomes a virtual meeting place to foster new relationships, social integration and social inclusion.
Through the provision of new technology, teachers can create an innovative learning environment to motivate students. This will result in positive engagement and student retention.
Video conferencing addresses historical issues such as:
- Time taken to get to school
- Access to services and technology
- Reduces costs of getting students to school
- Assist with cultural appropriateness of schooling and brings services to the students’ hometown
- Support costs involved in teaching in rural and remote areas
Communities for the future
As technology and society changes, so does the way we need to connect our students and provide access to education. Improving accessibility to education will be one step towards growing and building an educated generation. There is great potential in improving equal access to education and ensuring there is not a disparity between generations in relation to their digital literacy and participation.
Professional supervision via video conferencing
Many professionals have a responsibility to maintain and develop their skills which includes regular supervision. Approved supervisors must undertake the supervision and are generally required to travel to meet the person being supervised. Video conferencing enables professionals to participate in professional supervision without the need to travel long distances and this reduces costs.
Improved education retention, literacy & numeracy
Over 44% of all Australian adults have less than functional literacy levels. Video conferencing for education is a mechanism to provide the community with improved digital solutions to positively influence education outcomes by providing a means for students to interact and participate with various educational institutions.
A recent article in SBS Explainer highlighted that “around 44 per cent of Australian adults lack the literacy skills required for everyday life, making daily tasks difficult”.
Social inclusion – how does video conferencing solutions apply?
We can provide local communities with safe, reliable services that enable greater choices and access to services. Video conferencing is a conduit to equalise access to services that previously may not have been available in rural and remote areas.
Aligning the future of education with student preferences
Video conferencing is one of the many methods that delivers education that can align with the future as well as student preferences.
“Learner preferences appear to be changing and there is some evidence that students are seeking a different kind of learning experience than currently commonly available. This paper provides a brief discussion of changing student learning preferences and suggests that these are being driven by the accessibility and characteristics of available and emerging technologies, rather than by technological determinism” http://www.ascilite.org/conferences/hobart11/downloads/papers/Andrews-full.pdf.
Learning technologies play an increasingly important part in education. Students are experts with technology and online tools which influence their preferred methods. The use of video conferencing has grown and is regularly used in business. Now it’s time to move business to education. The technology is versatile, easy for you to use and is coming to a classroom near you.