What is the history of the use of videoconferencing in education? Is there background information I should know?
A New Old Technology Videoconferencing technology has been around for decades. But videoconferencing technology that is user friendly, reliable, relatively inexpensive, and suitable for meeting a variety of educational needs is only now coming into use. Mention videoconferencing to someone who remembers it from the ’60s, ’70s, or ’80s and you’ll hear about hiring professional camera operators, renting videoconferencing rooms (studios, really), and bouncing signals off satellites. You’ll also hear about garbled sound, jerky pictures, frequent interruptions, and limits on what kind of information could be shared. Now, however, advances in digital technology are putting low-cost, computer-based videoconferencing systems within reach of schools and individuals. Students living in remote areas can participate in classes hundreds of miles away, work on projects with students in other states, and send files back and forth in real time. Teachers can take college classes without traveling to di
