Online education platform Showbie partners with videoconferencing provider Whereby to make distance learning safer and easier

@whereby (www.whereby.com) the secure video conferencing tool developed in Norway, and @Showbie (www.showbie.com), a Canadian education platform used by teachers and students across the world, are today announcing a partnership that will see virtual classroom video chat and real-time lesson delivery added to Showbie, powered by Whereby’s video conferencing technology.

Leveraging Whereby’s API, Showbie will allow teachers, students, and parents to easily and safely communicate via video from within the Showbie application, complimenting the powerful array of digital schoolwork tools already included. With the ability to distribute tasks and assignments, monitor student progress, provide personalized feedback, conduct assessment, and now to host video discussions and deliver real-time instruction, Showbie is the complete digital classroom solution for both remote learning and for technology-enabled schools.

Showbie’s video chat feature will allow teachers to hold ‘face-to-face’ discussions and scheduled meetings. This will reduce teacher workload and allow for more transparent communication, amplifying teachers’ ability to manage complex relationships in schools and to safeguard the needs of young people. Video chat participants will be invited based on the class, group, and assignment setup teachers are already familiar with in Showbie, so they can start chats instantly and confidently, knowing that the correct group of participants will be present.

How it works:

• Teachers can start a video chat with their entire class from the Showbie Class Discussion area. No additional downloads or configuration is required – the video chat interface is presented within Showbie at the press of a button.
• Teachers can also choose to start a one-on-one meeting with an individual student, or with a selected group of students, parents, and/or teachers, within the Showbie Groups area.
• When a chat is started, all participants receive a push notification inviting them to attend and see an invitation presented in the Showbie interface.
• Whereby’s intuitive meeting interface makes it easy for younger children to interact safely and securely with teachers, without needing to download additional third-party software.

We are thrilled that Showbie has chosen Whereby as its video conferencing tool to integrate within the platform”, says Øyvind Reed, CEO of Whereby. “Over these past few tough months, parents have had to become part-time teachers, and platforms such as Showbie are crucial because they enable continuity. Having easy-to-use tools is paramount to learning and we can make this experience safe and easy for Showbie’s customers to use; not only during a time when it is needed most but beyond quarantine too.”

“A few weeks ago, we witnessed the education landscape shift suddenly and drastically due to COVID-19. Our partnership with Whereby has enabled us to react quickly to support teachers as they strive to deliver quality education in very challenging circumstances.”, comments Colin Bramm, CEO & Founder of Showbie. “As long as schools around the world remain closed, facilitating effective, seamless, and transparent learning is a top priority for Showbie, and this is something that Whereby is allowing us to take to the next level. We are witnessing the beginning of a shift in the EdTech sector, partly due to COVID-19, and envision a future in which not all lessons will be taught in school, meaning safe and secure video tools for learning will be critical.”

“The integration of a multi-user video chat facility within Showbie is a game-changing feature that allows for synchronous and asynchronous learning in both distance learning and on-site scenarios”, adds Abdul Chohan, Director of ThinkSimple, a thought-leadership company that consults with schools, governments and learning instructions to improve their learning strategies. “Integrating a video chat facility within an assessment and feedback focussed tool makes much more sense and teachers will now be able to directly communicate within an already simple and reliable platform, without the need for additional training. Video chat will amplify the teacher’s ability to manage the complex relationships in schools between teachers and students, as well as the safeguarding needs of young people.”

Virtual remote lessons are an essential part of online learning and can help young people feel engaged and included during school time. The e-learning sector, according to a recent report by ReacearchAndMarkets, is predicted to reach a market size worth $138 billion in 2025, up from $58 billion in 2019.