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As more organizations are learning about the benefits that telepresence offers, those very services are stretching far beyond the corporate environment. The technology is increasingly finding a home within the educational system.

For example, the Pittsburgh Public School system has launched a distance learning program powered by visual communication solutions from Polycom, Inc., a Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of telepresence, video and HD voice communication solutions.

 

The district, which serves about 28,000 students, uses video and voice communications to extend resources and enhance the learning experience at more than 50 schools. Video communication is also helping improve staff training and accelerate problem solving, school officials said.

 

Through the program, students can sharpen their foreign language skills by playing Spanish Jeopardy with their counterparts in other schools.  Other students can participate in debates with teams across town or in another state, and math students can test their knowledge in video-based contests.

 

"We want to provide our students with the resources and functionality to expand their educational opportunities above and beyond being tethered to a book or confined to classroom" Steve Mandarino, coordinator of telecommunications infrastructure and operations at Pittsburgh Public Schools, said in a statement.

 

To enhance its education experience in 2008 the district built on its district-wide distance learning footprint with Polycom (News - Alert) ClassStation HDX telepresence solutions and Polycom video infrastructure conferencing platforms. The units have been so popular that the district plans to replace its legacy video conferencing systems with Polycom equipment as the new distance learning standard, according to Polycom officials.

 

The Polycom systems are a big improvement over the district’s previous systems, Mandarino said.

 

"The previous systems were too sensitive and did not hold up well,” he said. “This resulted in more field support time to address issues, which taxed our limited staff resources and made the systems unavailable for the students and staff."

 

But with Polycom’s equipment, the district's experience has been positive.

 

"Our staff is excited about the hardiness of the Polycom systems," Mandarino said. "They're easier to use and aren't as sensitive as the previous systems."

 

As a result, Pittsburgh officials decided last year to standardize on Polycom telepresence solutions using federal e-Rate funding set aside for technology upgrades. About 55 endpoints are now running of which 20 percent are Polycom, Mandarino said. The district will need another 12 or 13 to equip its facilities and offer everyone distance learning programs, he said.

 

In one program, an arts-focused school in Pittsburgh offers monthly video conferences with a similarly oriented school in Ireland. The district also offers virtual field trips to museums and on-demand programs available to any class whose building is equipped for video.

 

Likewise, Beechwood Elementary's Marie Mrvos recently used the network as part of a 12-week math and science program. Students took part in a NASA-sponsored project to "rescue" a malfunctioning spacecraft gone off-course. The program ended with a video conference with NASA's "mission control."

 

"Video conferencing puts the world at our fingertips," Mrvos said in a statement. "As they were walking out of the distance learning lab for the first time, the kids wanted to know when the next video conference was going to be."

 

Pittsburgh’s future plans include using video to bring classes like AP physics to schools that lack instructors certified to teach them, according to Peggy Shields, Pittsburgh's coordinator of instructional technology.

 

Staff members and faculty are also benefiting from Polycom’s services. The district's visual communication network lets staff members hold quarterly in-person meetings via video.  Now problems can be resolved more quickly and efficiently, school officials said.

 

With 12 Polycom ClassStation HDX systems, including three mobile cart-based units and nine stationary systems deployed across the school system, the district is maintaining its focus to outfit every facility with Polycom solutions, officials said. With Polycom ClassStation HDX systems, the district can transform the educational experience by letting students and teachers interact naturally with other classes and outside content providers across distances.

 

"We are just tapping the surface with distance learning applications," Shields said. "With Polycom telepresence we are limited only by our imagination."