Distance Learning—Available Anywhere, Anytime

Working around the high price and technical kinks of distance learning.

Bill McIntosh, president, Synergy Media Group notes, “For the K12 vertical, we need to embrace low-cost, high availability technology solutions. For videoconferencing the solutions can be as simple as Skype and Google Hangouts. While it would be great to have a Cisco, Polycom, or Lifesize videoconferencing unit in the k12 classroom, the upfront costs and limited connectivity options are difficult to justify.”

While the videoconferencing lacks the flexibility and fluidity offered with Kubi, technology is forever evolving and changing. As new products and platforms become mainstream, developers will likely modify their applications to meet supply and demand needs. Telepresence robots is a growing market, and schools can expect to see more options and more features in already existing applications.

McIntosh says, “Since these solutions were designed as 1v1 videoconferences as opposed to group conferencing systems such as Polycom, we need to design Skype or Hangouts to work as a group system. This modification could be as simple as adding a PTZ HD USB camera that’s able to capture all students in the classroom and a high-quality room microphone for capturing the teacher’s voice.”

Videoconferencing technologies do serve the needs of allowing students to virtually attend class, but do they provide the same life-like experience as telepresence robots? McIntosh says, “By implementing low-cost technology solutions, the experience will not be more life-like from a quality perspective. Low cost solutions are “good enough” solutions but only with high-cost solutions will you see an increase in quality.”

Where do they go from here?

SMART Technologies has long been a provider of technology in the K-12 sector, and they have developed far beyond their interactive whiteboards. Warren Barkley, CTO, SMART Technologies says, “We’ve come a long way. Students are able to engage in self learning, allowing them to learn how they wish, when they wish. As with adults, work is what you do, not where you are.”

SMART amp, which is browser based so that it lives on a google cloud, allows teachers to put a median into the work space. The SMART amp allows teachers and students to collaborate and create on a digital canvas. With messaging features and quick assessments, amp is more than an organization space. It is a virtual classroom so that kids who can’t get to class can participate in group learning.