Cisco Provides Video Communications to Support Distance Learning for Yuri Gagarin’s Secondary School

Cisco Video Technologies Enable Cooperation Between Legendary School and Leading Russian University

MOSCOW – April 29, 2011 – Cisco today announced that it has delivered a video communication solution to Secondary School No. 1 to enable distance learning for schoolchildren and connect the school with leading professors from Russia’s best technical universities. Secondary School No. 1 is located in the city of Gagarin within the Smolensk Region of Russia.  Yuri Gagarin, whose first flight to space 50 years ago is being commemorated across the globe, was a pupil of the school.

Key Facts / Highlights

• Today, the school participates in lessons delivered via video by professors of the Moscow Aviation Institute and the Russian State Technological University (Tsiolkovsky University) directly from the university premises.
• The lessons are supported by a multimedia classroom with PCs, an interactive whiteboard, and a video conferencing system featuring Cisco TelePresence^TM 990 МХР video codecs with multipoint conferencing and presentation functions.
• Video conferencing at Gagarin Secondary School not only supports interactive classes but will also help attract schoolchildren to participate in various creative competitions. In addition, it enables remote consultations and support for students involved in research projects.
• To help teachers update their professional skills, the school plans to use video sessions and distance learning webinars, in cooperation with the Academy of Skills Upgrade and Professional Retraining, as well as to use video conferencing for remote tours, conferences, seminars, master classes and forms of knowledge transfer.

Supporting Quotes

• Tatiana Ivanova, deputy chairperson, Gagarin District Education Committee

“It is not a mere coincidence that we decided to develop cooperation between our school and leading Russian aviation institutions. One of our students was the pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first man in outer space. Today our school proudly bears his name. Video lessons are quite convenient and effective. Regular communications between the students and the university professors, as well as the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Moscow Aviation Institute’s life and to take part in university competitions, workshops and lectures, help us to attract the students to science and, in particular, to aviation and space research. Remote presentations and demonstrations of charts and diagrams make it possible to bring information to students in a fast and easy-to-understand way. Distance learning helps to involve engineering practitioners who motivate children to choose a profession to excel in.”

• Anatoly Kachalin, CEO, NPO RS-Telecom

“The decision to install a high-end video conferencing solution in School No. 1 was taken after the administration of the Gagarin District assessed and appreciated the quality of Cisco video collaboration solutions at a secondary school in Moscow. After the demonstration, the administrative personnel noted the high quality of data transfer as well as the convenience and usability of the video conferencing solution, which are some of the main merits of Cisco TelePresence. Users do not require serious technical knowledge and training effort. A few consultations are more than enough.”

• Stein Ramsli, head of Cisco TelePresence Technology Group in Russia and CIS

“TelePresence is an efficient solution to involve teachers from other cities because it reduces travel costs. There is growing demand for high-definition solutions in the education sector, which has started to actively implement video technologies. Headmasters get more evidence that video conferencing can become a very efficient education tool and create a collaborative learning environment.”

Tags, Keywords:
Russia, Cisco, Cisco TelePresence, Cisco TelePresence Technology group, video, video conferencing, education

Supporting Resources:

• http://www.cisco.com/go/telepresence
• RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ:CSCO, news, filings), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Russia is supplied through its authorized channel partners by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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