Russian Schools Benefit from Video-Enabled Classrooms

Since 2007, the Gymnasium Union of Russia (GUR) program has provided more than 1,400 high schools, colleges and military schools with video technology. The goal of this program has been to utilize videoconferencing as a way to connect students and teachers through gymnasiums and lyceums throughout the country.

Russia has implemented videoconferencing technology to improve several aspects of its educational system. Through this application of technology, students and teachers now have access to lectures, seminars and training that would otherwise be unavailable in most regions of the country. It has also helped Russian schools to develop international relationships with educational institutions in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Moldova and Australia.

This alternative approach to learning provides students with access to both guest speakers and specialized teachers who are located at a distance. Teachers similarly benefit from this technology by gaining access to a wide array of training and collaboration opportunities that help them maximize their teaching skills and resources so that they can deliver a higher quality of education to their students than would otherwise be available.

Developed by the non-profit organization Russian Foundation for Education Support, this program initially began with just seven schools in the St. Peterburg area. Now it has spread to become the largest national educational project in the country with video technology being provided to 350 regional education centers that reach more than 35,000 students, teachers and educational leaders. To achieve this, the program has provided each of these educational centers with video-enabled classrooms where students and teachers can interact with one another at a distance in real time.

To put this program into action, the Russian Foundation for Education Support partnered with the technology company Polycom RealPresence. This company has provided the GUR with the equipment and software needed to facilitate this extensive video collaboration project.

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Written by Amanda Lubit