We are happy to present you the new courses on-line that the school "Spirito Italiano" has started to offer. The courses are designed for those students that want to keep practicing their Italian language although they have no time for school or for a trip to Italy.

The lessons through web conferencing is so amazing, the way you can talk to the teacher and the students, but also look at them at the same and the fact that they could be miles away, in another country. Also you can write and share documents, all in real time.

The courses mainly are individual, but we can organize also group lessons.Through a simple and powerful Web Conferencing software during the lesson it possible to communicate visually, with the voice, by writing and sharing documents, all in real time. Of course the quality of the communication will depend by the student's computer and his/her internet speed connection.
To start a lesson you just need a web-cam, a microphone and Internet Explorer.

*If you like to try one lesson, we offer free 15 minutes lesson.
Please for more information or for a trial lesson contact us using this form here or

CASE STUDIE: Web Conferencing for Kent College

Kent College has selected the web conferencing solution to use as a teaching tool in lessons, a communication tool for students to contact their parents and a training tool for teachers.

One of the leading independents schools in the country, Kent College strongly believes that there is more to childhood and learning than examinations. With this in mind Director of ICT Bill Burles is continually on the look out for innovative ways to not only improve learning, but the students overall experience at Kent College Preparatory School. "We wanted a solution that could improve the current ways of communicating, both during lessons and during the student's social time," he explains.

Kent College Preparatory School discovered the web-conferencing software. It is designed to enhance relations in both education and business to easily communicate complex topics and eliminate unnecessary travel. So, whether just down the corridor or halfway around the world from each other, it enables  disparate parties to enhance communications and collaboration. Using both voice and video IP, its users can partake in real-time collaboration, sharing information whether it be in the form of a document, application or presentation.

"As well as improving the learning experience for the students by enabling offsite teachers and speakers to be able to lead a lesson without being physically in the classroom we can synchronize classrooms with other schools and colleges both in the UK and the rest of the world," said Burles.

The students were very excited to be using technology in this manner. "I think that web conferencing was so amazing the way you can talk to people, but also look at them at the same and the fact that they could be miles away or even in another country," enthused Charlotte Owen, Year 5 Student at the college.

"The potential advantages of installing e/pop are almost limitless," added Burles. "The inclusion of desktop sharing and PC remote control in the software means that we could even use it to fix any problems that our teachers or parents are having with other applications wherever they may be."

"How Kent College Preparatory School is utilizing the web conferencing solution conis truly fascinating," says Tom Sloan . "Everyone from the head mistress to the first year students are gaining something through the software implementation, whether it be improved learning or better communication to their families, colleagues and peers."

Individual Online courses Prices Dates:  all year round Course duration: minimum of 1 week Lesson duration: from 1 to 4 hours a day Class size: 1 student Offer: 10% discount on the course "OL4" ( December 2006, January and February 2007) The individual lessons are adapted to the students' abilities, motivations, personalities and desires. The teacher will teach the various Italian grammatical points with a communicative and gradual approach, paying more attention to the student's progress than to the studying program.
Prices and duration of the courses "OL e OLX"
Course name	Hours/day	Weeks	Total hours	Total price (euro)
OL4	2	4	40	840
OL3	2	3	30	690
OL2	2	2	20	480
OL1	2	1	10	260
OLX1	1	1	5	135
OLX2	2	1	10	260
OLX3	3	1	15	375
OLX4	4	1	20	480

*Please e-mail us to have a price for a particular course schedule

 User Requirements

School / Teacher (host / Presenter)

Bandwidth Requirements
The amount of bandwidth users require is based on the features selected during the conference. As a guide, the software manufacture has compiled some information to help users determine the amount of bandwidth they need.

Background information about the Web Conferencing software

PowerPoint Sharing
Generally a PowerPoint file is 500 KB to 4 MB per presentation. With the web conferencing software the file is sent to the server by the presenter, and then from the server to all participants. Thereafter, only slide change commands are relayed via the server. PowerPoint sharing can be done on dial-up connections (56kbps or less). For sizing purposes, use 8 kbps for presenters and participants (average PowerPoint presentation size divided into 1 hour). Key note, after initial PPT transmit, traffic is very low.

Application, Browser & Desktop Sharing
Generally same bandwidth as "remote control." For sizing purposes, use up to 300 kbps for presenters and participants, while under load (user activity). Traffic is much less "lumpy" than PowerPoint sharing, but there are long periods of no activity and no traffic.

Video Conferencing
Approximately 256 kbps for 320x240 at 20-30 frames/second (H263+ codec); and approximately 56 kbps for 176x144 (small) at 1-5 fps. For sizing purposes, use 256 kpbs for standard conferencing, 320x240, 6 fps, for presenters and participants (i.e., a good user experience). Traffic is normally sustained during a video conference.

Note: the web conferencing software is easily capable of boardroom quality video conferencing using industry standard web cams. When set at full size, 640x480, 30 fps, allow for approximately 384-512 kbps. IT administrators can limit this capability.

WARNING! DSL and other asymmetric internet services may not offer full 256 kbps on the uplink; presenters that use video (i.e., that encode and transmit video to the web conferencing server) must have full 256 kbps or better for a quality video conferencing experience.

Facts about bandwidth
Bandwidth is measured in two areas. First, the amount of bandwidth available for downloads (a.k.a. downstream), and second the amount of bandwidth available for uploads (a.k.a. upstream). There is a sizable difference between the amount bandwidth available upstream and downstream. This is based on several factors:

Prepare the client (student)

The web conferencing software client is the main application users interact with when
participating in a conference. It is important to ensure user have all the necessary
components and security privileges on their computer before entering a conference
session. These include :
· All the necessary service packs and drivers are installed (applies to presenters and
hosts only),
· Internet Explorer 5.5 and above is installed,
· Internet Explorer security settings are set to default,
· URL, static IP address or a fully qualified domain name of the web conferencing software
server,
· There is sufficient bandwidth to the web conferencing software server,
· If the workstation sits behind a Proxy server, like Microsoft ISA server, the Proxy client
must be installed on the computer.

Install the web conferencing client software

To install the web conferencing software client you must have at least IE 5.5 and the URL
to the web conferencing software server or the conference ID. After your browser connects
to the conferencing server, you must click on the conference URL if it is public or enter
the conference ID on the bottom left side of the web page. The conferencing server will
analyze the computer and determine if the ActiveX client needs to be installed or
updated. If the ActiveX client is not present or outdated, the server will push the most
current version of the conferencing client to the workstation.
Depending on the version of Windows and the service packs installed, Internet Explorer
will prompt you to approve the ActiveX that needs to be pushed to your workstation.
Once the ActiveX client is approved, the browser will initiate the install of the ActiveX
client. If the security setting in Internet Explorer is too high, the browser will display an
alternate link so you can install the ActiveX client manually.