The advanced learning internet technologies indicated a need for methodologies, tools and pedagogues that support the introduction of synchronous e-learning applications and especially Interactive Videoconferencing (IVC) into the whole learning environment. This book presents the theoretical background and the methodology that have been developed, to implement a pedagogical model for IVC instruction. The proposed pedagogical model constitutes the results experienced from an IVC project in the University of Crete during the last seven years, under the title 'ODUSSEAS', which took place between eight hundred students and thirty teachers in eighteen elementary schools in Greece and Cyprus.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) under pedagogical conditions can play a vital role in the structure of modern school. Interactive Videoconferencing (IVC) is a significant tool at the disposal of teachers and students, so that they can design and implement collaborative Learning activities at a distance. The application of videoconferencing in schools is significantly increasing but there is an obvious lack in the pedagogical design of educational videoconferencing programs. Technology alone is not efficient enough and there is a demand for a holistic pedagogical framework and a practical guide for the development and implementation of collaborative learning environments at a distance via videoconferencing. This book covers this need and supports schools, teachers and content providers to develop a variety of interactive educational programs through videoconferencing, aiming at the opening up of school to new learning, social and cultural environments. The pedagogical utilisation of VC broadens the horizons in communication and collaboration in school classrooms world-wide, thus contributing greatly to the active participation of students in authentic environments of exploration and collaborative structure of knowledge and to the development of vital social skills