Many have seen the videos of students working together in the classroom locally, within the same region. Videoconferencing for education used to be limited to a school or a region. Now, it allows students to interact with their counterparts and other teachers around the world. This type of educational technology is redefining how students learn and what they learn. Students can learn new languages, better communication skills, and even how to apply for a job. It's a stepping stone to global education and it's just getting started.
Connect with Experts
Kids are naturally curious, and as there are advances in various industries, it's not unusual for teachers to want to help students connect and get firsthand knowledge. One of the ways to do this is to get an expert in front of the students, which can be quite a challenge especially with equipment and availability. With videoconferencing, the experts are in their natural environment, and students can see how they work, what they do, and what new breakthroughs they may have made. It's a way to feed student curiosity in real time with the face-to-face contact they need to understand.
Access to Unavailable Courses
Distance-learning opportunities save students time and money. For college students who may need more hands-on-training but are unable to get it via conventional means, online video sharing is a great way to get access to courses that may have been previously unavailable. This is particularly true when it comes to medicine. Students need to see the human body outside of a gross anatomy class and that means surgical observation. These days many hospitals record surgeries for a variety of reasons, such as to teach young residents. Doctors narrate their actions along with the video in a way that helps students see what they've learned in action. One organization, the Center of Science and Industry, shows live surgeries over videoconferencing. Not only does it help students get access but it also helps other doctors stay up-to-date and learn newer techniques.
Virtual Field Trips
Being able to go on field trips is a fun part of school. Aside from that, it can also be logistically challenging and legally tenuous as kids tend to lag behind and wander off. While video conferencing won't eliminate field trips, virtual field trips provide access to areas of the world that students may not have been able to see otherwise. Being able to see live, active volcanos, or an historical underwater location undersea, students can just sit in the classrooms and enjoy the trip without the hassle of permission slips.
Just in case you thought students were the only ones who benefitted from videoconferencing, the truth is, teachers can too. Education professionals typically need to achieve a certain number of professional hours in order to gain or keep certain certifications. This may be a requirement for certain types of schools or certain districts for a variety of reasons, including funding. With video-conferencing, teachers can meet these requirements for less cost and more convenience.
The author is associated with Blue Jeans which is a cutting-edge provider of online video sharing and rich media sharing solutions across multiple platfroms.
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