Colleges and universities continually innovate to address the changing demands on them -increased demand by millenials for virtual offerings, pressure to keep costs down, and the changing needs of the community for a skilled workforce. These demands combined with ongoing resource constraints -limited budgets, classroom space and faculty resources -consistently drive the need for new delivery methods. We have seen many universities expand offerings and reach with distance learning, online learning and most recently MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). The most successful programs have proven to be hybrid offerings, where students receive face-to-face instruction or guidance in addition to their independent study.

How One University is Changing the Rules

Recently, I read how Florida A&M University implemented a distance learning program for their pharmaceutical college using Interactive Video Conferencing (IVC), or telepresence.  As described in a recent article, the school needed to expand to meet the community's need for pharmacists. They needed to extend offerings to a satellite campus without hiring additional teaching faculty.  Using Cisco TelePresence, they are breaking down the distance barrier as faculty at the main campus interacts, shares documents and participates in real-time with students in multiple locations, just as if all were in the same room.

Learn More at ISTE 2013

ISTE 2013 (June 23-26) brings educators together to discover how to create better learning through technology.  In addition to sessions on emerging tech solutions for BYOD and Cisco Meraki cloud solutions, the conference will also feature several sessions dedicated to IVC:

• IVC Showcase: Sessions highlighting how IVC brings inspirational speakers, collaborative projects, and virtual fieldtrips to the classroom.
• IVC Playground: Hands-on playground for trying out the equipment.
• SIGVC Forum: What's New in IVC: Informative session on advancements in IVC with the Idaho Education Network's Brady Kraft.

If you haven't registered for ISTE 2013 yet, there's still time! Register now to learn more about IVC and what it can bring to your classroom. Follow @CiscoEdu for updates from the show floor, and use#ISTE13 to join the conversation.