How the Norwegian Red Cross built a video tutoring solution with WebRTC

Svein Y. Willassen, ph.dCTO, appear.in

Norwegian Red CrossTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Norwegian wing of Red Cross

● Head office in Oslo

● 133k members

● Largely based on volunteers

LeksehjelpTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Tutoring service established in Oslo in 1992

● Aimed at children of immigrants

● Base in Red Cross offices in central Oslo.

LeksehjelpTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

Why a digital version?Telenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Can only reach local area with physical service

● Same needs exist elsewhere

● Digitalization has come far in Norway, should be possible to reach intended target audience

● “First movers advantage” desirable

Previous digital tutoring service attemptTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Based on MSN Messenger

● Staffed with the same staff as the offline service

● Web based solution established contact between the tutor and the pupil.

● Lack of real connection between the web based service and MSN createdchallenges

Opportunity: WebRTCTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● WebRTC support in Chrome and Firefox

● Possible to realize entirely web based

● Avoids weaknesses with MSN based solution

● Q: Is the technology mature enough?

User testingTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

Learnings from user testingTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Some issues with video conferencing vs physical presence, however not seen as blockers

● WebRTC provides for easier setup, seen as a large pre compared to previous attempt with proprietary video conferencing setup

● No issues with the underlying tech uncovered in the test.

ImplementationTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Special purpose queueing system connects tutors and pupils

● When tutor and pupil is connected, forwards them to special purpose appear.in room, using WebRTC to realise conferencing directly between pupil and tutor.

How it worksTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● The opening hours of the service is displayed on the front page

● During opening hours, pupils can register themselves for tutoring in one or several subjects. They do not have to register accounts on the service.

● Tutors must register / login and select which subjects they would like to tutor in.

Experiences with the current serviceTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Lack of support on IE / Safari is an issue

● Very few additional technical issues

● Many pupils write a lot of chat messages. Tutors (a different generation) is not used to this communication form. Tutors will need experience to get this to work smoothly.

● Pupils accessing the online service do not come from the same demographic as the physical service

Future directionTelenor Blue

Telenor White

Olive green

Lime green

Grey 01

Violet

Light beige

Grey 02

Orange

Warm beige

Grey 03

Yellow

Deep beige

Black

● Red Cross would like to see development towards national tutoring service.

● Possible development towards general pupil-tutor service

● Using WebRTC for tutoring in online education seems like an obvious opportunity