Zoom Video Communications : 5 Things Paris University Sciences Po Loves About Zoom

Customer Stories, Education, Meeting & Chat, Video Webinars

5 Things Paris University Sciences Po Loves About Zoom

John Montgomery

January 19, 20213 min read

A well-rounded education is critical to understanding the world and making it a better place, and Paris-based Sciences Po University has based its entire curriculum and student experience on this very principle. With almost half of its students from outside of France and a pandemic putting a stop to most global travel, Sciences Po needed a communications system that could support an international student body and allow the university to continue delivering its exceptional curriculum.

In our latest case study, Jean-Pierre Berthet, Chief Digital Officer at Sciences Po, explains how the university used Zoom to quickly transition to a remote learning model and support its international student body, all while leveraging its existing investment in its technology stack.

1. The hardware integration

'When we realized this change to remote learning was coming, we went to the ISE exhibition in Europe in February, which many audio-visual equipment manufacturers attended. Many of the large manufacturers like Logitech, Bose, Kramer, and Sony were presenting their new equipment, and all of it was compatible with Zoom. That's when we said, 'OK, I think our search is over.'

2. The value

'The pricing between video conferencing solutions was huge. We could outfit 10 classrooms with Zoom for the price of one with our old video conferencing solution.'

3. The performance

'The audio is very clear with Zoom, even in low-bandwidth environments. Teachers can also record their meetings with Zoom, which is important for our student body because if they live in Australia or some other location, they can't stay up all night to attend a lecture at noon in Paris.'

4. The ease of deployment

'We had about 4,000 teachers and staff to train, and with some intensive training courses, we were able to train most of them in about a week. We brought the students on two days later, and with the Zoom management portal, it's very easy to manage all of their accounts.'

5. The webinar platform

'We are using the platform for online learning and courses, but we're also using it to maintain our connection with the community. Every year we host over 600 debates that are open to the public on campus. Before the pandemic, we were hosting between one and three debates a day. With Zoom Video Webinars, we can continue to host these debates online and keep them open to the public.'

Read the full case study to learn how Sciences Po used Zoom to rapidly transition to remote learning at the start of the pandemic and support its global student body.

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