A few years from now SA will move to video and visual conferencing in the classroom, said Dimension Data`s Paul Servant, GM of interactive media.
He was speaking today at a virtual field trip arranged by DiData and Tandberg, a Norwegian-based visual communication company. The live virtual field trip allowed grade three learners from St Peter`s and Diepsloot Primary Schools students to listen and interact with a Viking expert at the Viking Museum in Oslo, Norway.
"We thought video conferencing was a good way for students to learn about Vikings directly from Norwegians without them having to travel to Norway," said Servant.
"Schools need to get their own equipment to ensure easy access to video conferencing in the classroom, so that students can learn about serious issues first hand and also get some entertainment out of it.
"The equipment ranges from R50 000 to R200 000, and on top of that schools need to set up the correct infrastructure for the connection, like an ISDN line or even do it over Internet Protocol," he said.
This technology is "huge overseas", Servant said, and South African schools need to adopt it in order to keep up with global standards. Students who have been exposed to this technique remember the lesson more effectively and they tend to participate more in the lesson, he claimed.
"There are schools, although very few in SA, that have started rolling it out. DiData wants to roll-out this in two schools in the near future, but we will start with our own Saturday school. Roll-outs will be done through our corporate social investment committee," he noted.
The technology has been well received with older children before, but DiData wanted to "test how effective it would be with smaller kids, who generally find it harder to concentrate in class," Servant concluded.
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