Polycom, Inc. the global leader in open standards based unified communications, has collaborated with the Education Commission of Beijing Xicheng District for the establishment of the first remote and international exchange education system in Beijing using Polycom RealPresence video solutions.

The first stage of the remote education system will involve construction of video classrooms in 10 middle schools, 50 standard schools and 200 cooperative schools to be completed by September 2012.

Through the use of high definition video collaboration in classrooms, students in Xicheng District Education Commission allied schools will have access to a richer and more stimulating face to face learning experience, more access to information and knowledge, and dialogue with students in other school regions in China as well as other countries.

“In the past, the education institutions under the Xicheng District Education Commission consisting of elementary and secondary schools, private schools, supplementary education providers and private education institutions  functioned relatively independently of one another,” said Liu Zhong, Deputy Director of the Education Commission of Beijing Xicheng District.

“There was also the obvious distance barrier when attempting to implement exchange programmes with education providers overseas. The implementation of Polycom video collaboration solutions is enabling us to not only provide an advanced remote video teaching system covering all major schools in Xicheng District, but also to support interaction with schools abroad.”

“Polycom video collaboration solutions for education have brought teachers and classrooms together from all over the world, enhancing collaboration between education providers and creating greater trust and understanding through visual connections,” said Steven Li, Vice President and General Manager, Polycom China. “We are focused on providing customised video solutions for our customers. Our innovative remote education solutions are a perfect fit for the Education Commission’s requirements, which we believe will further accelerate the development of digital education in Xicheng District.”

Digital education is a priority initiative for the Xicheng District Education Commission, and the Commission plans to extend the use of the new remote education system to include seminars that build professional competencies and bilingual education.