Imagine this: At your next training session, you are projected as a life-size hologram, leading learners thousands of miles away. The idea of telepresence is being talked about more and more in educational circles, and the next level of learning now may be closer than you think.

Juan Carlos Alfonzo León, a professor at the Tecnológico de Monterrey campus in Chiapas, Mexico, discusses the concept in the article "Telepresence: A Form of Digital Learning." He writes, "Telepresence refers to the technology that allows an individual to ‘transport' from one physical space to another through a telecommunications network, managing to access and be in all places as if he were physically there but experiencing it through a virtual presence."

León points out that telepresence technologies can help create interactive and immersive learning experiences. Moreover, use of such technology will be instrumental in transforming the teaching-learning process "into a technological educational experience that transcends distance," he explains.

For those who remember when videoconferencing and other technology that we now take for granted seemed futuristic and like a far-off idea, signs point to telepresence as one way we will continue to evolve in the way we communicateand learn.