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The Tech Manager’s guide To The connecTed caMpus

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Ed NotE ................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

FEAtURESNEw StUdENtS, NEw SENSibilitiES: MEEtiNg thE EvolviNg tEch ExpEctAtioNS oF digitAl NAtivES......................... 4collAboRAtivE pRogRESS: tEAM-bASEd lEARNiNg AdvANcES At UMASS AMhERSt ...................................................... 8 collAboRAtiNg UNtEthEREd: wiRElESS vidEo cAN RAdicAlly tRANSFoRM how A lEARNiNg SpAcE opERAtES, bUt thE dESigN MUSt bE Solid ............................................................................... 115 pitFAllS oF NEtwoRkEd digitAl SigNAgE oN A collEgE cAMpUS & how to Avoid thEM ......................................... 12EdtEch FoREcASt: whAt will yoUR lEARNiNg SpAcE look likE iN 2018?..................................................................... 14EdtEch tRENdS to wAtch: iF UNivERSitiES doN’t StEp Up to MEEt USER ExpEctAtioNS, thEy will RiSk obSolEScENcE ............................................................................................. 15collAboRAtioN cURRicUlUM: tEch MANAgERS iN highER EdUcAtioN ShoUld plAN to SUppoRt MoRE ActivE lEARNiNg ENviRoNMENtS................................................................................ 18hdbASEt iN EdUcAtioN…ARE wE thERE yEt? thE chAllENgES & oppoRtUNitiES oF hdbASEt iN EdUcAtioNAl vERticAlS ................................................................................................. 20

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3The Technology Manager’s guide To connecTed caMpus | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 | avnetwork.com

[Margot douaihy, editorial director, AV Technology]

Changing the gameThe Greek etymology of “technology” is tekhnologia—”systematic treatment of an art, craft, or technique.” We have come to understand (and use) the word technology to mean “tool.” My iPhone is technology, but so is language itself. Some technological discoveries change the world (the Internet), while others become obsolete (Smell-O-Vision). As your veritable technological table of contents, AV Technology reports on new product debuts or upgrades that are noteworthy for the end-user community. From time to time, a new development warrants a much closer look.

Such is the case with the dynamic category of education technology. This perennial “game changer,” broadly understood to be technology in learning spaces, influences the way teachers teach and students learn. The classroom is a crucible: new technologies are tested every semester of every school year. Some edtech products are wasteful and superfluous, some are distracting, while others can be positively revolutionary. In this special guide, we explore new interactive solutions and connected classroom best practices. Our writers take a deep dive into the systems that support col-laborative learning, recording and streaming, and wireless connectivity. A few of these articles appeared in our editions in 2014, so think of this eBook as the “best of the best” in edtech coverage.

Which technologies have changed the game in your university or college? How many of you are still wrangling VHS devices? Email me at [email protected] to share your education technology story.

Table of Contents

4 J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 | avnetwork.com | The Technology Manager’s guide To connecTed caMpus

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The steady rise of online education’s popularity and perception is a double-edge sword for colleges and universities that are mostly or exclusively brick-and-mortar operations. For example, online-only

schools’ lower overhead costs often mean they can price their tuition lower than traditional colleges. But when those traditional colleges are public, it’s tough for them to keep tuition low if they’re in states with

flat or declining higher ed funding. It is no surprise that many traditional colleges

are increasingly going online, which enables them to tap a bigger pool of potential students but without

new Students, new Sensibilities Meeting the evolving tech expectations of digital natives.By Tim Kridel

Online higher ed is slowly shedding its inferiority rap. In a notable Gallup and Lumina Foundation survey, 37 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that online schools provide a high-quality education. That’s a staggering increase, up from 30 percent in 2011.

Faculty & student expectations about what’s possible in the classroom are influenced by home technology & personal media habits.

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the additional capital cost of more buildings. As perceptions about online quality increase, so does the addressable market.

“The big trend right now for most universities is they’re trying to expand their footprint because they’re trying to expand their student base,” said Rob Sheele, Vaddio president and CEO and a North Hennepin Community College board member. “That all comes down to revenue, simply because the amount of gov-ernment support that a lot of state colleges get now versus what they got 10 years ago is shrinking.”

Hence the trend toward not just more lecture

capture, but also higher quality productions. Faculty and students increasingly expect more than just, say, a single camera that spends the entire lecture locked onto the podium or the PowerPoint deck on the drop-down screen.

“It’s extremely advantageous to have a video pro-duction or film background,” said Robert Rasberry, Drexel University assistant director of facility services. “If an instructor says, ‘I want my lectures recorded in a studio background,’ my people can accommodate

that. Those post-production editing skills are a big plus.”

Projectors evolve, but so do disPlaysCampuses won’t go the way of the slide rule anytime soon, and more lecture capture gear is just one of the ways they’re evolving technologically. Another example is changes in how projectors are used.

“We see continuing use of projection screens with a traditional projector, but with some new twists,” said Jim Hoodlebrink, Draper information display

systems product manager. “There is better interactiv-ity, with integration of touch pads and electronic participation.

“We also see write-on screens used with ultra-short-throw projectors. These may be used more as a whiteboard than as a projection screen. We still see traditional large screens because many of the rooms are large and need the larger image so everyone can see the information being presented.”

But in classrooms, exactly the opposite trends is

playing out; some schools are replacing projectors with displays.

“I’m seeing the trend toward displays,” Rasberry said. “We put together a new collaboration space that’s based on groups rather than traditional class-room seating. Whereas we used to have smart pro-jectors and short-throw projectors, we decided to go with the new smart displays because of the advances they’ve made in quality with the LEDs.

“You don’t have to change a bulb. In a lot of cases, it’s better able to handle the different resolutions thrown at it as opposed to some of the projectors we have. In larger classrooms and auditoriums, obviously projectors will have their foothold for many years to come.”

it’s trendy, but collaboration creates wild cardsThe learning environment in many classrooms and even auditoriums is evolving away from nonstop lectures and toward more give and take. That trend is driving purchases of collaboration technology.

“Collaborative learning has actually become a punch list item for most higher ed institutions,” said Gina Sansivero, director of educational sales at FSR, whose HuddleVu product is designed for small-group collaboration. “From breakout tables in larger class-rooms and labs to huddle spaces in libraries and even student unions, the idea is that working together and sharing information enhances a student’s learning, problem solving and communications skills while potentially enabling a more practical or real approach to theoretical concepts.”

Collaboration often includes student- and faculty-owned tablets, smartphones, and laptops, as well as devices such as Apple TV, Google Glass and Chromecast. That creates challenges for AV/IT staff when it comes to ensuring that a room’s systems have, for example, the right physical interfaces. Faculty and student expectations about what’s possible and prefer-able in the classroom often are set by the experiences at home.

“Apple TVs and Chromecasts are easy to use at home, [and] users would like to be able to simply pop up the same devices in classrooms,” said Lee Bandman, Syracuse University wireless network archi-tect and network engineer. “The ignorance factor is in having no idea what a terribly poor job the device

Draper’s Scribe Interactive Screen is a rigid front-projection screen for use with ultra-short throw projectors. The protective coating allows students and professors to write directly onto the screen with a dry erase marker.

“It’s extremely advantageous to have a video production or film background. If an instructor says, ‘I want my lectures recorded in a studio background,’ my people can accommodate that. Those post-production editing skills are a big plus.”


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makers do in building in any suitability for use on business-class networks.

“Most big network environments take one of two approaches. They either break their own rules and best practices to try to make the consumer-grade devices work in the classroom – and then live with all of the support fallout that comes with it. Or like us, they say no to creating more problems than get solved by trying to accommodate living-room quality, capability-limited devices on business networks.”

The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend—and all of the challenges it creates—isn’t limited to content sources, either.

“Simplified control, including control from BYOD devices, will be replacing traditional sophisticated control,” said Clint Hoffman, Kramer Electronics vice

president of marketing. “Additionally, classroom sys-tems require a scaler/switcher at their heart more than ever to effectively handle this BYOD trend.”

what’s next in higher ed?BYOD highlights another challenge for higher ed tech managers: keeping their systems as future-proof as possible. One way is by choosing products whose features are determined more by software and firm-

ware than hardware, as well as cloud-based solutions. For example, Mersive’s Solstice collaboration platform is designed to work with off-the-shelf compute and network hardware.

“Because Solstice is a software prod-uct, we are agile and able to adapt it quickly to evolv-ing market requirements and new use cases through the continuous release of new and updated versions,” said Rob Balgley, Mersive CEO. “Because our competi-tors based their solutions on proprietary hardware, they are either in conflict with existing IT policies and/or duplicating hardware cost because the end user also already has computer and network technology in place. Solutions that are based on proprietary hard-ware always have higher upfront costs and increased

TCO because they will have to be replaced as stan-dards and requirements evolve.”

Lecture capture is an example of how products that are software-centric, use commodity hardware or both enable savings that enable wider deployments.

“We used to have four or five classrooms that had lecture capture,” Vaddio’s Sheele said about the college where he’s a board member. “We now have 30. Had we stayed with an appliance-base system, we

probably couldn’t have done it. Because we can now use software-based applications, the cost is almost insignificant.”

In some cases, old technology is getting new life. For example, many dorms and classroom buildings got category cable as computers became common. Then Wi-Fi came along and idled a lot of that cable. Some vendors see category as an opportunity to cre-ate subnets to offload certain types of video so it’s not clogging up the main network.

“You might want to take that throwaway video, which might be news, sports, entertainment, and put that on a spare category cable,” said Dick Snyder, Z-Band vice president of marketing and sales. “Then you don’t have to encode and put that into your server, where you’ll need software and middleware to manage it.”

That reuse also could enable distance learn-ing in dorms and Greek houses.

“Classrooms are very expensive,” Snyder said. “Kids can be in sorority or dorm rooms or common areas and be receiving live video.”

Reusing old infrastructure is one way to stretch the budget. Another trick is to look for products that can sup-port disparate applications, possibly to the point that it creates opportu-

nities to dip into non-AV funding, such as the security budgets that many schools fattened following tragedies including the Virginia Tech shoot-ings. For example, Kramer’s latest scaler-switchers include emergency-alert features.

“Any display connected to a Kramer scaler-switch-er which is in turn connected to the network, can instantly display an emergency message processed through the scaler-switcher,” Hoffman said. “The effect can be campuswide, and if set up appropriately, the scaler-switchers can even turn on displays they are connected to which are not on and display the mes-sage. This can allow schools with AV budgets that are limited to use money from a security budget.”

Whether it’s by finding new ways to reuse old infrastructure, getting creative with budgets or using new online technologies to serve more students, every penny makes a difference.

“If we can add 30 percent more students to a col-lege and not overburden the college, the next result is we can reduce the cost of education to students by 30 percent,” Sheele said. “We’re going to need to start leveraging technology to be able to make education affordable. The more we can virtualize it, the greater the access.”

Tim Kridel is a regular writer for AV Technology.

Smart cameras—for lecture capture and distance learning, & collaboration systems—such as Vaddio’s GroupSTATION, are becoming more popular features of the contemporary college classroom.

“Classrooms are very expensive. Kids can be in sorority or dorm rooms or common areas and be receiving live video.”


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Robert Davis, manager, UMass Information Technology Computer Classrooms department, shared his perspective on the history and future of TBL at the university.

Garen S. Sahagian: Whose idea was it to imple-ment Team-Based Learning at UMass?Robert Davis: A little over three years ago, the pro-vost [James Staros] asked that two pilot rooms be built. We went through three years of testing and trying—looking at what worked and what didn’t work, and coming up with a series of improve-ments on the room that would influence this space.

Did you speak with students and teachers about their wants and needs?

Robert Davis: One of the things we did—in response to both faculty and student needs—is [to make sure] that the tables here are completely flat. We’ve taken away the center console. Faculty and students both said that it sometimes limited the ability to talk across the table, and to really feel like you’re part of a team. And so we’ve replaced all those controls with the controls you see here in the pop-ups. [Also] you can see you can have a clear discussion table. If you happen to be a physics professor and want to load the table up with gear, you can push all of the laptops into the center, which allows space for other devices. We’ve also had a class that involves gaming. And this system allowed them to bring in Xbox or PS3 [devices], and use them with the video/audio system.

As a tech manager at UMass, what are your biggest challenges? How do you overcome them?Robert Davis: The challenges are making sure that things are ready for each class. And, often times, it’s a failing of the previous class to clean up after themselves. I know that it sounds pretty basic, but if it’s not done, it takes time out of the next class coming in. These whiteboards are more than just whiteboards. It’s not like a typical sce-nario, because they are also used to project things around the room. You really need a fresh start. The more freedom and options you give for using the technology, the more chance that the system is not all uniform when the next class comes in. [Something] you have to consider is that there are three possible mute buttons. Those are the kinds of things that can get to be an irritant at first. Once you get the students used to the system, that’s something that they can monitor themselves.

Were there any particularly notable lessons that you learned from the test period?Robert Davis: The only real failure that we had happened like this: I saw a group of students grip-ing outside of one of the pilot rooms, and I asked them, ‘Hey, how do you like using that room?’ And they said, ‘Ugh, it’s the worst room ever.’ And that perked up my ear. What the instructor was

Collaborative Progress Team-based learning advances at UMass Amherst.By Garen S. Sahagian • Photos by Emma J. Hyde

The University of Massachusetts Amherst unofficially opened the doors to its Integrative Learning Center (ILC) in September 2014. The new building features classrooms that expand on traditional teaching methods by creating spaces designed around the team-based learning (TBL) paradigm. In use for most of the fall semester, the university’s IT department has now had ample opportu-nity to tweak, fine-tune, and target key areas for improvement. I spoke with staff and faculty members involved with the project to learn more about this cutting-edge technology.

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doing was lecturing at one of the whiteboards, and when one was full, they just walked to the next one, and so was not using the room at all as a TBL room as it was designed. So that was what made it so unpleasant for the students because they had to look [all around the room]. The individual wanted to teach a standard lecture course. But that was about the only issue—when they tried to use it for straight lecture. There are ways you could do a straight lecture if you used the equipment properly. That particular teaching style just wasn’t suited for that environment.

How much training is necessary to use one of these rooms? Robert Davis: The Center for Teaching and Faculty development runs a boot-camp. They get together for a few hours and really go through the technol-ogy. They don’t have summer long programs like they used to.

One of the things that really helps, is they offer one-on-one [training]. That’s what really works. Everyone should participate in a group, but you just get the basic orientation. After that, you come in with your own computer, hook it up, try things out, see how the room fits [your style], and get your comfort-level.

Fresh techAs a student who attends classes in the older TBL rooms, I’m in a unique position to observe the improvements brought to the new spaces. The most immediately noticeable change is the addition of stadium-style displays mounted above the instructor’s station, which in turn draws the eye to the significant changes in the instructor’s station itself.

Matthew Misiaszek, a classroom technology manager attached to the ILC, ran me through the flashier bits of hardware debuting in the room. The various devices are deftly tucked into corners, cabinets, and cable-cubbies to save space for teach-ers’ equipment. The station features an iClicker base, lavaliere charging mount, WolfVision doc-cam, and portable touchscreen, all perched neatly on the edge of the desk. Meanwhile, the region/code-free Oppo Blu-ray player sits in the cabinet below, joined by the wireless presentation system and Mac mini unit. It all seems pretty snazzy, but in the end, I had to ask:

Is there any particular piece of hardware that stands out as exciting in the new TBL rooms?Matthew Misiaszek: The new touchscreen. It’s got an intuitive GUI…In the test rooms it was kind of like a TV switcher, with clumped up rows. This is a lot more polished and intuitive. Everything’s easy to see.

Misiaszek proceeded to demonstrate the exhaus-tive yet refreshingly intuitive functionality that the Crestron TSD-2020, a 20-inch HD V-Panel touch-screen display, had to offer. Controlling everything from the light levels to the tilt, pitch, and zoom of the Echo 360-enabled Vaddio cameras, the device provides an impressive array of options that can be adapted to a variety of teaching styles.

Another new feature is the annotation func-tion. Any source can be annotated via a stylus pen on the touchscreen, and anything that you write on the touchscreen can be added to any destina-tion display you choose. You can also select the kind of input the touchscreen recognizes; you can have it respond to the stylus, finger, or both. Since the arm of the touchscreen is so articulated, you can lay it flat and write on it like a piece of paper.

This bracingly fresh tech seems to have come at just the right time for the ILC integrators. HB

Communications won the bid for the contract to integrate AV in the ILC, and passed over several choices for the control panel, including models by HP and 3M, before finding the perfect fit.

Please tell us more about the control panel.Matthew Misiaszek: It’s so new, this is actu-ally the first use of these touchscreens by this company—with this annotation feature—on the planet. I believe it was shown at InfoComm, and it hadn’t been implemented anywhere. We were in dire need of something at the time. HB [Communications] works closely with Crestron, who told them that they were releasing a larger version of their touchscreens with more features. And so the whole building got outfitted with these. Technology changes so fast. How can you ensure that the tech you install this year won’t become obsolete in a few years? Matthew Misiaszek: We kind of kept analog in mind and a legacy system running. We needed a way to interface VGA and HDMI. HDMI is going to protect us for a long time. Every table has an HDMI, because students’ laptops are coming in increas-ingly without VGA. Each student can bring in their own laptop. A lot of the faculty bring in older machines, and that’s what the VGA is there for.

case-study room A slight variant on the TBL paradigm, the case study room uses much of the same tech, but employs a more traditional lecture layout. Originally designed for videoconferencing classes, the room is outfitted with additional equipment, and has been used for distance learning with the UMass Center at Springfield. A combination of student microphones, swivel chairs, and cameras help close the distance between upwards of 150 students, allowing a professor to create an engag-

ing environment for both home and away students.

an instructor’s PersPectiveFor an in-depth understanding of what it’s like to work within a TBL room, I spoke with TreaAndrea Russworm, PhD, a professor at UMass with three years of experience teaching in TBL rooms. She finds that the dynamic set-ting vastly improves the students’ experiences because it makes them less adverse to col-laboration and engagement, simply by virtue of exposure.

(continued on page 22)


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As a professor teaching in this type of space, the lectern is home base, the amalgam of technologies that amplifies one’s voice and channels are all necessary visuals. Similarly, imagine a typical office conference room or group study space, with its large rectangular table, projec-tor, and video cables sprouting from the center. In each case, there is a preferred station for the presenter located at the locus of said technology (the lectern or wherever the cables reach) that suggests a dynamic where an individual is pre-senting to an audience. When there is a need to change presenters, the awkward shuffling of wires and devices can be disruptive. Now imagine a classroom or meeting room with all the same capa-bilities, but with no fixed focal point. The dynamics are closer to an organic conversation, our focus shifting naturally to whoever wishes to speak, and that speaker able to share pertinent resources from where they are with a gesture. This “conversational dynamic” is the most aspirational aspect of modern active learning classrooms and highly productive workspaces.

Wireless video—or more specifically, the hard-ware and software that enables devices such as laptops and tablets to share their display wirelessly to a television or projector—has been possible for many years. However, it is becoming more widely used in classrooms and office spaces due to new standards and improvements in network band-width and security. From a technical perspective,

it’s important to understand that almost all wireless video solutions use Wi-Fi to transmit the video signal. Some utilize Wi-F Direct to connect peer-to-peer and bypass the local wireless access point. Next, your device needs to discover near-by wireless displays. Discovery is often achieved through Bluetooth or near-field communication (NFC), but can also be accomplished via Wi-Fi-based broadcast-ing such as Apple’s Bonjour protocols. Each of these approaches come with lim-itations, and may be regarded as undesir-able to some network administrators. For example, Bonjour is often blocked on enterprise networks. Regardless, most discovery methods aim to achieve mini-mal or “zero configuration,” so setup for

the user is quick.The wireless video market includes a few stand-

out products, each with their unique strengths and limitations. Apple’s Airplay protocol and AppleTV product allow laptops and mobile devices to very easily mirror their displays, but require MacOSX or iOS.

Collaborating Untethered Wireless video can radically transform how a learning space operates, but the design must be solid.by Chris Millet

Like Wi-Fi, wireless video holds the promise of freeing our laptops and mobile devices from cumbersome cables. This is more than a simple convenience in many situations. Imagine a standard, technology-enhanced college classroom. While there is some variation from institution to institution, one element you’ll most commonly see is a lectern packed full of computers and AV components: DVD player, switcher, control panel, even the occasional aging VHS player. The lectern is also likely the only physical conduit to the room’s projector(s).

There are a bevy of products & strategies for wireless video. Which approach will meet your facility’s budget & needs?



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avoiding siloed budgets“One of the challenges with colleges and universi-ties is that digital signage is a capital expenditure, because they have the budget at that moment,” said Sean Matthews, president and CEO of Visix, Inc. “Justifying operational expenses over time is difficult unless it is tied into alert notification,” which can be a potential catalyst for unification and help spread the cost across several budgets.

On the other hand, there can be benefits to letting one School lead the way.

In 2013, the School of Business at the College of Charleston (CofC) in South Carolina, secured the funding for a digital signage sys-tem. Erin Simmons, assistant director, student engagement at the College, helped shape the mission: “Inspire an innovative business cul-ture; Alleviate traffic confusion on the business campus with wayfinding; Invite connections between School of Business students, visitors and friends; and Develop an efficient and intui-tive user experience.”

avoid unclear goals & include all stakeholders “It is important to balance the end-user goals and adhere to established institutional policies,” stated Shonn Diess, RCDD, cabling/AV manager and IT architect in the Information Technology department at CofC. From the first meetings

5 Pitfalls of networked Digital Signage on a College Campus & how to avoid them

by Cindy Davis

Higher education technology managers know all too well the challenges of uni-fying systems that run on the IT network across different schools of discipline, which often have separate and sometimes wildly varying budgets, some with dedicated IT staff, and siloed mindsets. Deployment of a campus-wide, net-worked digital signage system can be particularly vulnerable to this disparate reality.

the beatty center lobby at the college of charleston’s school

of business has the look and feel of a Fortune 500 company

atrium. this short-list of technology is enough to make any

business envious: stock quotes scroll on a rise display led

ticker; dynamic messaging is displayed on three sharp led

monitors over the glass wall; and a standalone Peerless kiosk

houses an interactive Planar touch display for wayfinding

and campus information. a wall-mounted, 80-inch interac-

tive sharp display (inset photo) allows users to take a deep

dive into campus programs. the Planar 32-inch touchscreen

lcd monitors are located outside the elevators for interactive

wayfinding. Visix digital signage AxisTV channel players are

mounted behind the touch displays, and content is managed

through Visix, AxisTV enterprise content manager software.

Visix 15-inch LCD MeetingMinder displays are located outside

the main auditorium. audio is distributed to surface-mounted,

jbl speakers. crestron digitalmedia provides the switching

and signal transmission.

“It is important to balance the end-user goals and adhere to established institutional policies.”


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in 2011, all stakeholders were involved: IT (network engineering, AV engineering system administrators, help-desk and support services), marketing and end-users. Some of the key items dis-cussed were, common alert-ing protocol (CAP) compli-ance, a browser-based inter-face, interactive wayfinding capabilities, and the need for an excellent support and training package.

“Having representation from all the departments provided a system of checks and balances that ensured the end result was a good fit,” Diess said. In February 2014, a Visix digital signage plat-form was fully installed in five buildings with approxi-mately 31 displays. As the project manager, Diess is now leading the campus wide deployment.

don’t underestimate the networkWith solutions provider, Visix having already implemented digital signage systems in more than 700 colleges and universities, Matthews has seen some common mis-takes. “It’s important to not underestimate the negative impact of domain policies on media players. Auto-updating content like weather and RSS feeds may require Internet access, but IT policies may prevent devices from getting to the source,” he said. “In certain settings, the cloud may be a viable solution, but media players may require public IP addresses to deliver complete functionality. If public IP addresses are not allowed, then you could be forced into tun-neling if IT will even allow it.”

Alert notification implementation can be tricky, according to Matthews, especially “if you are integrating external CAP triggers along with internal actuators like fire alarm systems.”

Another issue can be passing credentials through automaton media players to access

dashboard Web pages. This is something most IT departments frown upon. “Android solu-tions may be less expensive, but a number of IT departments will not allow devices running this OS to reside on the network,” Matthews explained.

avoid too many screens, but not enough content“While the project scope is coming together,” Simmons suggested, “start building your library of content that can be mixed in with more specific mes-saging about events, news, dead-

lines, etc.” Developing a content

schedule, matched to a fre-quency of updates will help ensure content doesn’t run out quicker than expected. There are two ways content can be added: “Users have the option to submit content via a form, or to upload con-tent directly to AxisTV, which is part of the Visix content platform,” noted Simmons.

avoid lack oF training & documentation“To immediately engage technology-adverse users and to gather content quick-ly, we developed an easy online submission form for all digital signage,” said Alex Pappas, CofC, student engagement and develop-ment assistant. To encourage participation from staff, fac-ulty and students, an email campaign was deployed introducing the platform and its goals. The School of Business, digital signage user manual can be accessed on a website with specific instruc-tions on how to use the Visix platform.

look to the FutureSeeing the success of the digital signage deploy-ment at the School of Business, CofC is moving towards unification with the School of Math and Sciences, School of Humanities and Social

Sciences, the marketing and communi-cations department, already under-

way. Other schools have also shown interest. “We are currently working on two interactive wayfinding projects,” Diess said. “Next, we are looking at incorporat-ing emergency notification,

and possibly deploying menu boards in our dining halls.”

An example of dynamic digital sigange at the College of Charleston (CofC).

C OF C: cofc.eduCRESTRON: crestron.com VISIX: visix.comRISE DISPLAY risedisplay.comSHARP siica.sharpusa.com/Professional-DisplaysPEERLESS-AVpeerless-av.com/en-us/professional

info

Keeping students connected with the campus and the outside world


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By Steve Thorburn

The building blocks for the future of learning space design are already around us. Exploring five key areas will highlight the challenges our industry must overcome to make that future a reality. But first, one must understand the overarching educa-tional trend that is driving the process: the collaborative classroom.

The pedagogical push into collaborative learn-ing seems new to some but in practice it has been around for a very long time—it is just being rebranded and marketed. This teaching style is an expanded application of what has been used in engineering, design and business schools for years. In short, the class is a collaborative self-guided process, which is typically based on a short lecture at the start of the session or the review of a homework assignment. After the initial discussion, the class is run like any other laboratory class. Instead of the instructor lecturing for 80 percent of the time and interacting with the students the other 20 percent of the time, student teams spend 80 percent of the time in group learning while the instructor moves between the teams providing guid-ance and responding to questions. This “flip” in the process required a “flip” in design. This collaborative environment can be a great source of revenue for the Audio Visual industry, but also presents some design challenges.

collaborative designIdeally, the collaborative classroom centers around six to nine students grouped at a table in sets of three. At their table is a group display where they can share what they are working on with the rest of the table. Next comes the challenge of the instruc-tor location. While the objective is to free the instructor from a fixed presentation location, there still should be a node to connect their technology

into the room system. Two locations that seem to work well are the stage right front of the room, and the center of the room. The center of the room seems the most logical location, but many instruc-tors still prefer to be near the front. While a front of room focus is clearly not important when students are working in groups, it is still important for the 20-percent lecture. Having students twist their bod-ies to turn to see the instructor resembles a game of twister in the classroom. Our experience shows that U-shaped tables all facing a central point are a very functional solution for collaborative group work seating that aligns with a unidirectional view to the front or center of the room.

What about the technology? This is where it can get real expensive…really quickly. Our studies have shown that a projection system is not always the best solution for this type of room. Projecting

images for six to eight tables of students plus a main room display can be very costly. We feel that the displayed image should be a flat panel display no larger than 50 inches and no smaller than 40 inches. The display should be mounted at the end of the table but down low so students can see it but also view the instructor when they are in the front. The room display should still be a projected image but it can be smaller and off the “center line” of the room, because the same information for critical viewing would be at the student tables. We still keep the primary image up in the front to support the 20 percent lecture component. To make sure that everybody is seeing the same thing,

the resolution of the projected image should match that of the displays at the student tables.

bring your own anything (byod/byox) In four short years, sales of iPads and other tablet devices sales have outpaced laptops, with some researchers showing that mobile devices will exceed all computer sales next year. All the portability, flex-ibility and accessibility they offer is good if you are on the public network at Starbucks or with your wireless provider, however as soon as you step foot on the campus or the office BYOD becomes a net-work access and security issue. Five years ago when students came to school they might have had one computer to register on the network. Now it is a computer, a tablet, a smart phone, a wireless printer and more. All of these require security controls and

all require bandwidth. In our experience, some IT staff are more

forward thinking than others in planning for the challenges the onslaught of mobile devices brings. BYOD is a trend that does not appear to be slowing down, and as stu-dents and instructors come to rely on their own devices, they will demand that they work effectively in the classroom as well. Once network access and security issues are resolved, the main challenge in BYOD leads into the next area of development: sharing content wirelessly.

wireless videoTo share information from a mobile device in a classroom, we still need to connect the device to the display. Currently, connecting devices to a display wirelessly is still a challenge as there are at least five competing factions for this wireless “standard.”

1) WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) 2) Intel’s WIDI—Wi-Fi Direct3) Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi Certified Miracast4) Apple AirPlay5) DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)There are many more options (Ed. Note—see

our related feature by Chris Millet); each offers a

edtech ForecastWhat Will Your Learning Space Look Like in 2018?



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Technology has become increas-ingly important in all aspects of our lives, including education. Children are accustomed to interactive white-boards and the use of iPads for lessons from a very young age. It is, there-fore, no surprise that college students are demanding innovative, engag-ing ways of learning and teaching. Universities have started to use tech-nology to meet those demands, but if they do not keep up with the changing environment and meet the challenges of the digital age, they risk becoming irrelevant.

Having a teacher impart knowledge while standing at the front of students sitting at rows of desks is simply no longer enough. It is just too one-dimensional. This is why universities should actively embrace change and introduce some or all of the following technologies:

video PlatFormsWe all learn at different paces, and video can pro-vide a flexible approach to learning to a generation of students that expects an abundance of technol-ogy in the classroom. Those who cannot always be at lectures in person now have the ability to access lessons and other teaching activities live or on-demand. Video footage can be used for revision

5 edtech trends to Watch in 2015

If universities don’t step up to meet user expectations, they will risk obsolescence. By Martin Nurser

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purposes or to return to and review previous lectures that may have been on a particularly complicated topic. A managed, secure video platform could potentially open up a whole new world of teaching techniques, including innovative approaches such as pre-recording lectures that can be shared with students ahead of their lesson so that time in class is only used for discussion and there-

fore more productive. Video could also potentially open up the doors of higher education to those who can-not afford to pay for life on campus.

wearable technologyWearables are making headways in all sectors, and education should be no exception. While it is still early days, wearables, like Google Glass, can potentially change life at univer-sity for the better, and its uses could be countless: incorporation into university sport or drama activities; real-time, interactive experiences to difficult-to-reach locations; remote lecture participation and teacher training (when a teacher wears Google Glass in class); open days for remote prospective students; first-person experience of graduation for

Game-Changing University Appsuniversity oF wisconsin mobile aPP

new features of the uw app include a modernized

interface with iconic campus imagery and a scrolling

list of menu options, and access to learn@uw, the

uw’s centralized educational tool. users can view

material from classes that use either the desire-

2Learn or Moodle software. Also expect integration

of the new UW Campus Map, which offers a more

detailed, up-to-date view of campus buildings com-

pared to google and apple maps. visit http://www.

news.wisc.edu/23357.

dartmouth aPP Focuses on mental wellness

according to dartmouth college representatives, much

of the stress of student life remains hidden. in reality

faculty, student deans, and clinicians know little about

their students outside of the classroom. to shine a light

on student life, dartmouth has introduced a studentlife

smartphone app and sensing system to automatically

infer human behavior. the app addresses: why do some

students do better than others? why do students burnout,

drop classes, even drop out of college? what is the impact

of stress, mood, workload, sociability, sleep and mental

health on academic performance (i.e., gPa)? the study

used an Android app the school developed for smartphones carried by 48 students during a 10-week term. Courtesy of

Dartmouth. visit http://studentlife.cs.dartmouth.edu.

vanderbuilt building access aPP

With the Vanderbilt iPhone and Android apps, students can check Campus News and the Events calendar to find out

what’s happening. Other features include the Campus Map with wayfinding help. Visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/apps/.

university oF georgia camPus aPP

this app features campus transit bus tracker; Food services

meal planner: athletic association scores and news; campus

map and building search; and much more. visit http://eits.uga.

edu/web_and_applications/mobileapps.

notre dame aPPs without code

ND Mobile is a great way for students, staff, and faculty

to get information about campus directly on their mobile

device including maps, dining menus, news, video and sports

highlights. native apps are available for ios and android

smartphones. any device, including tablets and desktops, can

access the site at http://m.nd.edu.

“Drones can be used to boost teaching and learning. They can also support research like 3D archeological mapping, the gathering of geological and environmental data, and wildlife studies. Unique footage of special events can also be captured.”


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those who cannot attend. The list could go on.

digital badgesDigital badges, which are currently also being used in the workplace to improve and monitor employee engagement, can be valid indicators of a student’s specific skills, experience and achieve-ments like for instance the accomplishment of a particular task. To teachers, they can signal a school life of active learning, engagement and ongoing development. Badges might end up replacing diplomas and other certificates entirely or at least be used in combination with them as additional, backup information.

dronesThe commercial and private use of drones is ris-ing, more so in the US, but in the UK and Europe too. Some students in the US are already bringing drones on campus, bringing the BYOD concept to the next level. Drones can be used to boost teaching and learning, and to carry out surveys and research, like 3D archeological mapping, the gathering of geological and environmental data, and wildlife study. Unique footage of university’s everyday life or special events can also be captured.

3d Printing Thanks to ongoing technology breakthroughs, we can do today what only a few years ago was unimaginable. While 3D printers are particularly popular in specific departments like engineering, art and design and technology, more and more schools are purchasing these printers for use across all areas. With prices of 3D printers likely to go down, this trend is only set to continue to increase.

Technology is dramatically and rapidly chang-ing the way we teach and learn. Traditional

one-to-one teacher-student interaction remains incredibly important, but students simply cannot be expected to accept this conventional teach-ing model as the only possible one. Innovative approaches to teaching might well become one of the deciding factors for students when it comes to choosing a university.

Martin Nurser is vice president of Qumu EMEA. He brings more than 25 years of enterprise and technology industry experience with empha-sis on engineered systems and cloud technologies.

An example of a collaborative learning set-up and digital signage at Albany Senior High School. The monitor scrolls notices for staff and students, and runs a slideshow of images.

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unique feature set. Once a standard is uniformly adopted, the limitations of using a tablet as the primary teaching resource will disappear.

lecture caPturePresident Obama seeks five million more gradu-ates from community colleges by 2020. For this to happen, Obama stated that he intends to invest a total of $12 billion over the next 10 years. Known as the American Graduation Initiative, the plan puts aside $9 billion to devise new grants for schools to develop new programs and to expand job training/counseling. His hope is that these programs will boost learning for col-lege students and lead to higher completion rates for the schools. The plan also puts aside $2.5

billion to renovate facilities at college campuses. One way to quickly accomplish this is to

utilize a virtual college. This form is a challenge to the bricks and mortar educational institu-tional. In the future, you will be able to select the courses that meet your educational goals and shop for your credits from any combination of colleges you would like. The term Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) has been coined to help discuss this. Most MOOC are free but right now the completion rate is very low. What is missing is the overall agency that approves the content, credits and cubby-hole that it fits into. Once we have that, there would be no limit to the num-ber of students that could take a class, the cost per credit hour would be leveled from provider to provider, providing a way to get an educa-tion while reducing student debt. For the AV Industry, this will require technical spaces, new

and simple lecture capture rooms for the subject matter experts to present from and, naturally, the connectivity to broadcast the content.

These are the building blocks for the class-room of the future, already available, but still needing development. Within these challenges lie opportunity, and its up to our industry to help turn hopes for the future into reality.

Steve(n) Thorburn, PE, LEED AP, CTS-D, CTS-I is the design principal of Thorburn Associates, an acoustical consulting, technology system engi-neering and lighting design firm, with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orlando, Charlotte, and the Raleigh Durham areas. He is active in leading design and development of projects around the world. Steve can be reached by email at [email protected]. An earlier version of this article ran in a 2014 AV Technology edition. Visit www.avnetwork.com for more information.

EdTech Forecast(continued from page 14)

5 EdTech Trends to Watch in 2015(continued from page 16)


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“It’s not only that folks are coming to campus with BYOD; now it’s Bring You Own Everything, really,” said Malcolm Brown, director of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, a community of institutions working to advance higher education through technology. “The challenge is herding all of these cats, because now you have a prolifera-tion of platforms and capabilities, and also: how do you take advantage of this in the teaching and learning space?” He urges colleges and universities to focus less on the negative effects of BYOD—students checking their email during lectures, for example—and more on the benefits it has to offer. “You can’t keep the network out of the classroom and you can’t keep these devices off campus. What

you can do, obviously, is you can say, ‘for certain critical things we can support these sorts of devices and not those,’ and things like that. It is a bit of a challenge, but there are opportunities there, too, in terms of these devices as enablers and not just impediments.”

This is an especially important point for col-leges and universities that are exploring active learning, which the University of Minnesota’s Center for Teaching and Learning defines as stu-dents engaging in their studies “through reading, writing, talking, listening, and reflecting,” rather than more traditional forms of instruction, where the prof is the one who does most of the talk-ing. In 2014, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative

launched a beta version of its Learning Space Rating System, which is made up of close to 50 criteria upon which classroom design can be assessed for its readiness for active learning. The system is comparable to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED model, which is used to rate the level of sustainability and environmental friendli-ness in the construction process.

“The recognition that active learning is better for learning than a more passive learning mode—we’ve seen that begin to inform classroom design and classroom outfitting,” Brown said. “We’re seeing designs that are trying to anticipate, or build into them, active learning engagements.”

Collaboration CurriculumTech managers in higher education should plan to support more active learning environments.

By Carolyn Heinze

A recent study conducted by EDUCAUSE found that a majority of undergradu-ates own two to three Internet-enabled devices, and the more of these devices they own, the more they’re inclined to see the advantages of applying technol-ogy to their education. For those tech managers that are still gunning against BYOD, this suggests—strongly—that they’re fighting a losing battle.

East Meets Westa fully equipped teaching and production facil-

ity for both students and the community at

120,000-square-foot Emerson College Los

angeles features a screening room, an audio/

video mixing suite, classrooms, faculty offices,

and a residence hall. waveguide consulting’s los

Angeles office lead the design for the audiovisu-

al and structured cabling systems. david gales,

principal and director of california operations

at the firm, explained that the concept of the

“connected classroom” was relatively new to

emerson, which previously only had to contend

with communications between the buildings on

its main campus in boston, massachusetts. “now

that they’ve moved in and are operating here,

they have their videoconferencing and distance

learning classroom, and they use that to link to

boston,” he said. “they also do a lot of video-

conferencing between boston and l.a. on an

administrative and operational level––because

their administrative and operational activities

have been elevated to a much bigger scale, they

use the connection for that.” —ch

A collaboration & huddle room style system from Video Furniture International


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He points to the increasing interest in mobile projection, which enables anyone with a capable device to project content to the entire class, as an example. “[It makes] the class more participatory—in a sense, more democratic—and is something, I think, that is rep-resentative of the direction in which things are going.”

Along the same lines, Gina Sansivero, direc-tor of FSR, a manufacturer of collaboration tools, switchers, and control products, headquartered in Woodland Park, New Jersey, has noticed a definite shift away from interactive learning through the use of interactive whiteboards, toward collabora-tive learning, which allows for increased partici-pation. “Where you have some sort of interactiv-ity with an interactive whiteboard, you generally, more often than not, have one or two users up at

that screen,” she said. “With collaboration, you have four, five, 10 users at a time able to work on a single project and then sharing that work with the other students, either within a classroom or on different parts of the continent, or the world in some cases, depending on how their distance learning is set up. Collaborative learning has really become a punch list item for those higher ed.

institutions; it’s something that they know they need if they don’t have it already.”

While David Gales, principal and director of California Operations at Waveguide Consulting, an audiovisual and communication technolo-gy consulting group headquartered in Decatur, Georgia, concedes that students expect technol-ogy to be part of the instruction and learning process—and that technologically advancved facilities will have a competitive advantage—he also believes that there will still be room for more traditional models. “There are some who say the physical campus is going to go away, or it will become greatly diminished. I really don’t see

that happening,” he said. “I think these technologies that can educate people online without the physical campus or the physi-cal presence of an instructor are valuable for a certain segment of the market, but not for every-body.” He cited a recent visioning project that he and his team conducted for a community college, which included interviews with students: “Quite a few students said, ‘Look, I don’t want all of this online, remote, flipped classroom stuff. I want to come to a class and I want a structured environ-ment with a teacher teaching me.’ So there is a stu-dent population out there that needs the structure, that needs the social connections, that needs the resources of a physical campus, and I don’t think that’s going to go away.”

Carolyn Heinze is a freelance writer/editor.

Capital ConundrumWhile technology generally needs to be upgraded every three to five years, the budgeting models that many col-

leges and universities apply don’t always accommodate this––especially when funding for these systems come

from capital improvement projects, which are sometimes as long as 25 years apart.

“what happens is the technology gets old and starts to fail, and it becomes challenging to keep it up to date,”

said david gales, principal and director of california operations at waveguide consulting what’s more, there is

often a big difference between how advanced the technology is in one building on campus, versus the building

next door. “And now you have this huge disparity between what was done five years ago and never updated, and

what’s new in the latest building. the funding systems and the legacy organizations have not really evolved in a

lot of institutions to keep up with what the new model needs to be.” —ch

educausewww.educause.eduFsr inc.www.fsrinc.comvaddiowww.vaddio.comwaveguide consulting inc.www.waveguide.com

info

FSR’s HuddleVu collaboration system (above) allows multiple users to see and share the content on their laptops and mobile devices on a main screen. No software or programming is required, and setups with four inputs or less can be controlled by an external system. For wireless connectivity on campus, Gefen lets you extend HDMI video at 1080p full-HD, with multichannel digital audio up to 80 feet. Pictured (below, right) is Gefen’s GTV-WHD-1080P-SR product.

“You can’t keep the network out of the classroom and you can’t keep these devices off campus.”


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By Gina Sansivero

There have been some interest-ing talks about the adoption of HDBaseT, especially in higher ed. I understand why—it’s quite amaz-ing that you can send video, audio, control, Ethernet, and power over a single (inexpensive) CAT cable. Interestingly enough, during my discussions with technology man-agers, it seems many are holding off just a little bit longer before taking the plunge. However, a few have already adopted the technol-ogy and are standardizing on it in their classrooms campus wide. Why is HDBaseT being adopted so slowly in higher ed when it seems like an edtech panacea? Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but we can agree that it is a cost effective solution to many challenges.

I speak with AV techs every day; I get to learn about their headaches and problems. From an out-side perspective, certainly HDBaseT should be able to help. Curiosity—which so many say killed the

cat—is arguably one of my best attributes. And this time, as is usually the case, it got the better of me. I really needed to know why. So I reached out to some of my friends, readers, and contacts in higher ed AV and IT departments and asked them these three questions: Are you using HDBaseT currently and/or are they being spec’d into room upgrades now? Or, are you waiting a little longer before buying into HDBaseT?

not Quite where we need to beNot surprisingly, many AV techs are still hold-ing off on adopting HDBaseT. They site the

unreliability for some manufacturers’ products to “talk” to other’s and are waiting for more consis-tent “5-play” availability. AV/multimedia man-ager Thomas Garrity mentioned that “although this technology looks promising and will help reduce costs for future installations, I, person-ally, would like to wait until it is tested in the wider marketplace and becomes standard practice amongst AV vendors, integrators, and manufactur-ers. As we focus on future facility projects, consid-eration of HDBaseT will play a considerable role.”

Thomas Hayes, multimedia integration design developer at the University of Ottawa, has simi-

The HDBaseT Alliance explains HDBaseT Spec 2.0 details in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY6mPLZTjkc

hDBaset in education…are We there Yet?The challenges & opportunities of HDBaseT in educational verticals.

“We upgraded a lectern-based system this summer, and reduced the number of connections in the floor from five to a single EtherCon and power. I no longer have to worry about my control cable being connected to the video jack if someone moves the lectern.”


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lar concerns: “The main reason [for not specifying HDBaseT] is I want to ensure this will be a standard that will be around for a few years and not be like the HDMI/DP issue that we have seen. Universities have much lower operational budgets now, so we can no longer take chances when it comes to technology that may or may not pan out.” Hayes also provided a wish list for manufacturers which he claims, once main-stream, will motivate him to specify HDBaseT into his designs. At the top of the list “a direct link into the device rather than the now costly encoder/decoder boxes that are required.”

ready For PrimetimeAlternately, there were quite a few more than I had anticipated who are already using HDBaseT technology on their campuses and actively incorporating it into their standard AV room designs. The reasons were clear; inexpensive, easy to run, reliable cable equals less cost, less work, and more options. Tim Cichos, senior AV engineer at the University of Notre Dame, put it succinctly: “Easy cable (CAT6) to install, terminate and maintain. Also with everything going digital, it was time to upgrade our analog systems anyway.”

Jesse Anderson from College of the Holy Cross has been using HDBaseT in his classroom upgrades for about two years now (practically since inception) and agrees with Cichos. Anderson explained, “One thing I’d note to people consider-

ing adoption—we’ve designated a standard wire and

jack color for HDBaseT that is different from all of our existing standard colors—while it means that our integrators have some materials that are specific to our site, it makes things much easier for our end-users. The other reason [for using HDBaseT technology] is 5-Play. We upgraded a lectern-based system this summer, and reduced the number of connections in the floor from 5 to a single EtherCon and power. I no longer have to worry about my control cable being connected to the video jack if someone moves the lectern.”

this town is big enough For all oF usClearly, HDBaseT technology has qualified ben-efits for higher ed classroom installations. It

seems that manufac-turers will continue to see an

increase in the demand for products incorpo-rating HDBaseT as long as those products work seamlessly in their room and system designs. Unfortunately, one of the speed bumps that often slows progress is the lack of interest from manu-facturers to develop products that “play well” with others. As interest becomes intent our AV professionals in higher ed will move forward with HDBaseT enabled products that cooperate and offer the full array of 5-play capabilities. This ensures they can design a room that works best for their staff, students and faculty rather than a room designed using products which limit them to a small choice of compatible equipment and crossed fingers.

Gina Sansivero is director of Educational Sales at FSR in Woodland Park, New Jersey. You can reach her via [email protected] or @GinaSans on Twitter.

FSR’s HDBaseT transmitters and receivers

Inside Indiana University’s Advanced Visualization Lab the indiana university’s advanced visualization lab (avl) supports visualization-related activities in re-

search, education and community-related outreach. it provides access to progressive systems that assist teams

in computing, designing, visualizing, simulating and modeling 3d cyber systems. two key areas in the avl con-

cerned with high-definition content are the Science on a Sphere (SOS) and the IQ-Wall. The SOS is a 360-de-

gree, six-foot spherical display that hangs suspended in the atrium. It shows visualizations delivered from four

high-definition projectors to create a seamless, circular image.

“we had a bit of a challenge here because even though the projectors are in the same building as the sos,

they are 150-feet apart,” explained Chris Eller, a team lead for the UITS AVL. “We installed four Gefen Extend-

ers for hdmi over cat5 with ethernet to deliver signals from the projectors to our sos with great results. we

were able to use network cabling, which is easier to maintain and service, and more economical than fiber. The

long range of this extender saved the day, and it’s great because it handles equalizations. It just works perfectly.

we’re familiar with gefen solutions and this one worked out really well.”

Gefen lets you wirelessly extend HDMI video at 1080p full-HD, with multichannel digital audio up to 80 feet

(25 meters). )

This video explains the HDbaseT Spec 2.0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY6mPLZTjkc&featur

e=youtube_gdata

moreonline


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You were one of the “early adopters” at UMass. Could you describe the initial experience?TreaAndrea Russworm: We started out with the summer-long program; we were the first crop. And because I was in the first crop, I got to make sure they had independent HDMIs at the table so the game consoles could actually work there. It was good to be able to have input when they were designing the classes so they could meet my needs. For me, it was important because you can’t hook up game consoles in the standard classrooms.

What can you share regarding technology and pedagogy in your classes? TreaAndrea Russworm: What I’ve learned, espe-cially with my students that are juniors and seniors, is that they can handle the content. Talking about it and working with it, they learn

more than if I just lecture on it.The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the ILC was

in December 2014. From the positive feedback, it’s unlikely that anything will stay static for long

inside this hub of innovative education.Garen S. Sahagian is a writer, UMass

student, and editorial intern with NewBay Media’s AV Technology magazine.

Google’s Chromecast dongle is small, inexpen-sive, easy to use, but currently only allows video from supported apps such as Netflix (true mirroring is a beta feature).

Miracast is a standard based on Wi-Fi Direct and is used in a variety of products, including most run-ning Android 4.2+, but suffers from latency (the lag between the video signal being sent and displayed) and other issues.

The Kickstarter-funded AIRTAME (https://air-tame.com) is a newcomer generating plenty of buzz. It promises to combine the best features of the aforementioned devices (zero-configuration, 1080p video, multi-platform support), but this remains to be seen.

For now, you’ll have to assess your needs before investing in a particular product, but you have some quality options from which to choose.

Whatever approach you take, wireless video takes us one step closer to a completely untethered technology experience and transforms our ability to

collaborate in a variety of spaces.Chris Millet, M.Ed., is assistant director, Education

Technology Services at The Pennsylvania State University. This story reflects the opinions of Chris Millet and does not represent the official position of The Pennsylvania State University.

Collaborating Untethered(continued from page 11)

Collaborative Progress (continued from page 10)

Penn State offers a free product called mirror to enable bonjour and AppleTV on enterprise networks:

http://mirror.psu.edu

moreonline

(Above) An example of technology used in a college classroom. How many of your AV & control devices can be operated wirelessly? What products can help you go wireless?

A slight variant on the TBL (team-based learning) paradigm, the UMass Amherst case study room uses much of the same tech, but employs a more traditional lecture layout. The room is outfitted with additional equipment and has been used for distance learning classes with the UMass Center at Springfield.

AVT 01 15 Con Class Final

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Transcript of AVT 01 15 Con Class Final