The video conference, one of the most effective educational tools

A survey conducted by Polycom among university and compulsory education teachers in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and the Nordic countries show that only personal interaction surpasses videoconferencing as a communication system for teachers with their students.

Polycom has made public the results obtained in a survey carried out on 500 compulsory education teachers and university professors in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and the Nordic countries. The survey reveals that videoconferencing is the best system for teachers to communicate with parents, students and colleagues, when in-person interaction is not possible.

The research reveals that three quarters of teachers (77%) believes that an increase in investment in videoconferencing would benefit its students and improve their training, In addition, a greater impact and commitment to the subject is mentioned.. In addition, two thirds of those surveyed (67%) believe that videoconferencing improves basic skills that can be put into practice later in daily life and in the work environment.

Another conclusion of the survey is that teachers and university professors conceive the use of videoconferencing systems in teaching differently.. Teachers of school-aged children see great potential in the use of videoconferencing systems as a collaborative work tool (65%) and as virtual field trips (60%), that is to say, as a way to broaden the scope of the learning experience.

While, university professors claim that, from his experience, An even more important advantage is the ability to include more students, like for example, reach students who study remotely (64%) or allow those who have not been able to attend a class to view it later (62%). Approximately half of university professors (54%) They also state that access to subject matter experts is an important function of video conferencing.; and the 56% conceives videoconferencing as a vehicle to expand its educational services, that allows them to teach remotely.

Gary Rider, president of EMEA at Polycom, has commented that “The popularity of videoconferencing as a communication method in the educational field is not new to an overwhelming majority (85%) of the teachers, who expect the use of these technologies to increase in the next five years. The ability to connect students and teachers around the world face-to-face has great benefits to the educational experience.”.

“Video is the only technology that allows for an enriched learning experience without the need to be together in a room. Video also allows for higher quality learning and teamwork. This is important in an educational environment, especially in distance education, where teachers can ensure that students are focused and better absorb new information, while students can benefit from an enriched learning experience”, Rider adds..

The experience of teaching centers
Covadonga Rodrigo, vice-rector of technology at UNED(National University of Distance Education) has pointed out: “UNED educates through a blended learning method based on the principles of distance learning; The implementation of Polycom's next-generation video conferencing system has been essential to effectively meet the university's obligation to achieve the standard of collaborative communications. Our Polycom unified communications solution allows us to connect teachers and students anytime, anywhere, and regardless of the distance, in addition to improving the distance learning experience for our lifelong learning programs”.

For your part, Alan Cameron, education officer for Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, has stated: “Thanks to Polycom solutions we have seen how teachers and teachers share ideas, we have been able to organize continuing training sessions for staff from different schools, and we have also developed some wonderful international links. One of our schools has shared home economics classes with a Polish school and another of our centers has created ties with a school in the Caribbean. We are very satisfied with the result and, looking to the future, It would be great if all centers had video conferencing solutions”.

Polycom Education Study