SCHOOLS throughout the region will be video-linked following a six-figure contract with Internet service provider Easynet.
Easynet, the Internet operation of budget airline group easyJet, has won a tender to provide broadband video conferencing facilities in schools throughout Tyneside, Gates-head, Darlington and Tees-side.
The deal, brokered by broadband agency Adit North-East, is between the Northern Grid for Learning and Easynet, in partnership with Videonations.
Northern Grid for Learning is a consortium of local education authorities in the North-East, set up to provide applications and connectivity to schools across the region.
It is hoped that about a tenth of the primary and secondary schools in Northern Grid's areas will be taking up video conferencing broadband by the end of the year.
Video conferencing helps students learn foreign languages, allowing them to communicate with overseas schools. It also allows specialist teachers to give lessons to pupils in a number of schools simultaneously.
It will also allow for links to other organisations, such as museums.
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