August 2005

Swiss Education Institute Moves to Cyberspace

Teachers and professional education experts in Switzerland are being trained in cyberspace using Marratech virtual classrooms accessed form their laptops and PCs.

Web-based video conferencing software enables remote individuals and groups to meet in real-time for short meetings between people working in different parts of Switzerland, teleworking from the home and the office, and for distance communication with students.

Said Giorgio Comi of ISPFP, the Swiss Institute of Pedagogical Professional Training: "Our Marratech solution enables distance tutoring and training projects. It gives us the ability to discuss and draft documents at distance, without having to spend time and cost travelling."

The ISPFP national  technology team analysed several web conferencing products before choosing Marratech. Explained Giorgio Comi: "We have several years experience of tools like this. The national nature of our responsibilities demands a distance communication channel to communicate with local sites throughout Switzerland and our activities and the services we provide need a tool that is simple to use and intuitive.”

"The quality of document transmission, application sharing and the interactive whiteboard were key factors along with the public and private chat functions. The free client software means schools, students and other users can join the programme without initial investment.”

Marratech is being used for distance learning and professional training between home locations across Switzerland and from bases in Lugano, Lausanne and Zollikofen, and plans are already in hand to extend the programme to other European countries.

The system servers are both Windows and Mac while clients are able to use a variety of platforms. Added Giorgio Comi: "The assurance that Marratech would continue to be developed and evolved in the future was an important factor as we expect institutional uses for e-communication and e-learning to increase. We will discuss our feedback with the Marratech developers to ensure that these future developments are optimised for the needs of training and trainers of adults and the other clients of professional training."

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