The Technology Challenge

The College was looking for the best possible displays capable of addressing a wide range of applications. To address the challenge, the integration firm responsible for the project deployed four MAXHUB LM150A07 Raptor series displays. Tim Philpot, an account executive at the Orlando-based integration firm, Systems Innovation, assumed an active role in system design in addition to sales.

He discussed the MAXHUB deployment at Seminole State College in Orlando. “During our discussions with college management, there was considerable emphasis placed on the desire to have large, vivid displays that could easily be moved from one location to another,” Philpot explained. “This includes not only moving the displays about campus, but also the need to move them off campus to nearby hotel ballrooms for larger events. After careful consideration, we decided the MAXHUB Raptor series displays—outfitted with their accompanying mobile stand mounting solution—made an ideal choice for addressing these requirements.”

MAXHUB Raptor Series Display Benefits

When queried about those attributes that made the MAXHUB Raptor displays a good choice for the wide range of applications they would be used for, Philpot emphasized the systems’ wireless content sharing ability.

“Depending upon the nature of the event and the venue where it’s taking place, these displays end up showing everything from spreadsheets to video, to artwork and more. The ability to wirelessly place content on the display from one’s laptop or a variety of other source devices is a huge plus, as it greatly simplifies the setup process. Similarly, the LAN screen-sharing capability for up to four windows further helps presenters convey information quickly and easily. The MAXConfig software delivers exceptional control and intuitive access to all features of the LED wall through one’s personal device.”

Streamlined 3-in-1 Design

An important factor in making the MAXHUB Raptor series displays so versatile stems from the 3-in-1 design that provides a unified, easy-to-manage package. This includes the Control Unit, which encompasses the sending card, the Android OS card, plus the video processor. The Receiving Unit houses the power supply, the receiving card, plus the hub board while the Power Unit contains the power supply, the audio amplifier, and the relay. This streamlined design makes it easy to create the perfect presentation or communication experience with minimal setup time.

While assembly and setup of the MAXHUB Raptor series displays is quite intuitive compared to other competing systems, it is not uncommon for questions to arise. Hence, responsive and capable support services are crucial. In this regard, Philpot was very complimentary of his experience with MAXHUB. “During the initial setup,” he explained, “we encountered a few challenges that we weren’t certain how to address. MAXHUB provided onsite technical support and did a great job of helping us address our questions. We were very pleased.”

A tremendous visual experience

The four MAXHUB Raptor series displays were deployed at Seminole State College of Florida in November 2022. Since that time, Philpot reports the displays are not only meeting, but exceeding expectations, “I am pleased to tell you that all four displays are being used a great deal and that our client is very pleased. Imagery is stunning and this, in turn, goes a long way toward keeping everyone engaged. The MAXHUB displays deliver a tremendous visual experience for everyone who encounters them—and you can’t ask for more than that!”

Check out MAXHUB’s latest all-in-one collaboration displays and large-format LED displays on My TechDecisions’ sister-site AV-iQ.

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In pushing forward to capitalize on a target niche, GCNYC tapped Anthology for its data-driven expertise to get in front of the right prospective students, with the right channel, at the right time to meet their aggressive enrollment growth goals. They needed to attract more interest from qualified students, enable better data transparency to inform a baseline, determine ways to stand out among the competition, support their small marketing staff, and expand resources in other high-converting student success areas for the institution.

Anthology’s Online Program Experience team members worked closely with GCNYC’s admissions team to appeal to this student profile. Through this work, they determined how they could grow and differentiate themselves in the graduate space while also ensuring that they’re meeting the modern student’s needs.

Through data-driven insights and a holistic view of each student’s journey, Anthology helped GCNYC identify and understand learners’ unmet needs by focusing on both the students outside their core demographic as well as their mainstream, traditional students to determine where the opportunities were.

Leveraging Data

The process started by interpreting enrollment data from current students to understand the school’s users, including where the students were located and what motivated them to join the institution. They could then leverage all available data to understand their learning experience at a granular level. GCNYC also utilized aggregated insights from Anthology to identify what course content resonates and what study habits can be identified to help attract new students.

Anthology provided the institution with critical market insights to gain a 360-degree view of demographic changes for MBA students. These insights helped GCNYC understand which student needs required the most attention to grow its online graduate programs.

From there, Anthology deployed a highly trackable, performance-focused paid media services and management system that enabled GCNYC to grow enrollment with measurable ROI. After a 12-week implementation period with the integration of brand and institutional stakeholders, GCNYC launched a strategically owned and earned marketing support that promotes optimal user experience while laying a solid foundation for paid media.

The results of interrogating data on the institution’s mainstream and unconventional users uncovered a clear unmet need: many graduate students are motivated by aspirations beyond their careers. They want to drive sustainability, equity and fairness within their chosen industry. Knowing this helped GCNYC meet graduate student needs and interests that went far beyond the four walls of a classroom. As a result, they could now recruit and retain students interested in DEI jobs and positions within sustainability.

As a relatively new institution, GCNYC’s campaigns with Anthology are positively impacting brand recognition and program awareness. For example, in only three months, its marketing efforts have generated 516 leads and 45 applications.

Empowering the next-generation of leaders

In addition, GCNYC kept the positive momentum by recently creating the “For the Common Good” graduate program, which allows students to focus on making a change in the world, becoming a disruptor, and powering the next generation of leaders and change-makers. They offer verticals within the program, including a Master of Science in Business in Social Impact and Sustainability, a Master of Science in Sustainable Fashion, and a Master of Science in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership. GCNYC also allows a fully flexible study schedule to accommodate students from different backgrounds and a dynamic curriculum to which the students contribute. The institution also extends scholarships to every student to demonstrate their commitment to equitable learning.

GCNYC’s commitment to exceeding the expectations of graduate students and utilizing Anthology’s robust data insights enabled them to identify a genuine unmet need for students and set learners up for success, even amid the most challenging of times.

“Our campus was found intentionally as the Graduate School for the Common Good, to offer master’s programs in which students can skill up and learn how business and NGOs can redefine success, delivering measurable positive impact in accordance with ESG principles and aligned with global principles such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Our growth strategy is targeted to reach those prospective students who desire career advancement with purpose,” said John F. Albanese, dean of enrollment at GCNYC.

The post Glasgow Caledonian New York College Bolsters Graduate Recruitment with EdTech Provider Anthology appeared first on My TechDecisions.

That has included a standardized design from Marshall Furniture’s custom product line in 2010, which included native PC touchscreen capabilities, a built-in tech rack and university branding. That product line was the standard at the Columbia, S.C. university of about 27,000 undergraduate students for about 12 years.  

In addition to the standardized teaching stations utilized across campus, several specialized designs have been developed for spaces with varying equipment requirements over the years.  These include rollouts of teaching lecterns for the university’s Darla Moore School of Business in 2014 and one for the Law School in 2016, both consisted of about 20 rooms.  

The college has come back to Marshall Furniture several times, since then, asking for other solutions that are more cost-effective but still implemented the same components as the more technology-heavy custom design it has been building for the university.  

A long, nimble relationship was made stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic 

Marshall Furniture has a long and consistent history of supplying the university with furniture to meet project and technology requirements, but it was the COVID-19 pandemic and new hybrid learning strategies that really exemplified the relationship and Marshall Furniture’s ability to improvise and meet a wide variety of requirements.  

The university and Marshall Furniture in 2017 began discussions for a lower-cost solution that featured similar accommodations to the 33-inch Prairie Style teaching station that had been the campus standard for the duration of the partnership between the two entities.  

“The school trusted us first to develop an answer for this need,” says Ariel Blaha, sales manager at Marshall Furniture.  

The new design, a variation of the company’s quick-ship line, met the school’s functionality, equipment and price point requirements.  

According to Gregory Weathers, one of three audiovisual system designers at the University of South Carolina’s audiovisual project manager, the university had been trying to adhere to a self-imposed five-year technology refresh. Convincing an academic staff of more than 1,600 to do so is easier said than done, but the pandemic helped accelerate those changes.  

“Because of COVID, now everything needs a camera, everything needs a microphone and all of that stuff is necessary in every learning space on campus,” Weathers says.  

Weathers and the university rolled a much larger technology refresh into one and upgraded cameras and microphones in every learning space as well as refreshing audio systems in every room.  

To accommodate those changes, the university came up with the LITE Initiative, an acronym that stands for Learn, Innovate, Teach and Enhance. The school defines it as a comprehensive initiative for the advancement of university teaching and learning environments designed to improve technology found in classrooms across campus.  

Read More: How Marshall Furniture Works to Understand Your Tech Furniture Needs  

A new product to meet hybrid learning demands 

Weathers and the university’s AV staff realized that to get the same experience in each learning space, cost effectiveness would become critical. However, the teaching lecterns developed in partnership with Marshall over the course of their relationship didn’t quite serve the university’s new unique COVID-era needs.  

To accommodate the university’s new demands, Marshall Furniture in November 2020 developed a new lectern that includes cameras, microphones, speakers, video switching, projection control, display and more at a price that is about half of the cost of a previous lectern being used. This new product, the ELCO Flex style lectern, was essentially born out of the previous iteration designed to meet all requirements while remaining cost effective. 

“It holds all of the equipment that we need for our standard normal classroom we’re going to roll out all over campus,” Weathers says.  

The lectern includes 14 rack units and an additional side shelf that can be quickly installed on either side based on specific classroom needs.  

According to Michelle Wille, managing partner of Marshall Furniture, furniture deployments at other universities follow a similar model where one SKU is shipped with customizable features that can be installed on site based on room configuration and needs.  

“It makes it very simple from a procurement standpoint,” Wille says. “You don’t have to do that advanced thinking. You order it, it comes and then worry about that implementation once it’s on campus and in a classroom.” 

Uniformity on a 700-classroom campus  

For Weathers, the real benefit of the Marshall Furniture lecterns is not only their customizability, but also their uniformity. Professors need to have the same experience whether they’re walking into a classroom in the science building or across campus in the math building.  

“They’ll know how to use it without being trained multiple times on multiple pieces of equipment,” Weathers says.  

In addition, it helps Weathers and the rest of the university’s tech staff troubleshoot issues around campus. If they’re all dealing with the same style of lectern, they should all be wired the same and racked the same.  

It also allows for the very quick and efficient provisioning of new rooms. As new buildings and classrooms are being built, Weathers can have lecterns assembled, racked, wired and ready to go as soon as the building is open.  

“All of those things we’re doing right before a building opens should be pretty run of the mill for us,” Weathers says. “It’s sort of seamless how we can just go from room to room, and nobody has to search for anything or figure out what they’re doing.” 

There is nothing Marshall cannot do 

Through the 17-year relationship, Marshall Furniture has been able to quickly and efficiently provide the University of South Carolina with exactly the kind of lectern it needs at every step of the way. Even the company’s quick-ship line of products, designed to quickly accommodate customers at a cost-effective price, can easily feature the university’s branding. 

This working relationship has become a longstanding partnership between Marshall Furniture and the University of South Carolina, and it gives Weathers the ability to trust that the company will always deliver exactly what the university needs.  

The company’s ability to adapt and build onto its existing solutions, create innovative lecterns and teaching stations, and a never-say-no business model gives Weathers the peace of mind needed when rolling out large technology refresh projects.  

Not to mention, Marshall Furniture simply builds quality, long-lasting furniture that is designed to accommodate any technology need.  

“We know that they can do that,” Weathers says. “They’ve done that for us for years.” 

The post Marshall Furniture’s Mission to Create Long, Trusted Partnerships With Customers Exemplified During COVID-19 Pandemic  appeared first on My TechDecisions.

According to David Chard, the school’s director of media technology services, the workspaces that utilize ClearOne technologies promote socialization and engagement with instruction materials while teaching proficiency with modern communications tools and providing major benefits for distance learners.

“Digital connectivity and communications is central to virtually every discipline we teach at MTU today, and our students both expect and deserve class-leading tools that optimize efficiency and improve educational experiences,” Chard explained. “The ClearOne BMA 360 ceiling tile microphones now being used in the DOW 642 lecture hall and the library’s East Reading Room immediately transformed how each space could be used by enabling clear, crisp audio pickup of any voice in any seat through the units’ intelligent Voice Lift capabilities.”

ClearOne’s BMA 360 ceiling tile microphone

Each room is used for a variety of purposes from instruction to meetings to remote collaborations. For instance, the university often invites virtual guest speakers and educators to participate in classroom and student life activities, and in the past they were mostly one-way presentations because there was no easy, effective way to give voice to individuals across a large crowd of attendees. With the innovative Voice Lift capability of the BMA 360, both rooms now offer every attendee the chance to be heard distinctly without the need to pass a microphone around or reposition themselves within the room.

This even extends to people inside the room, allowing the microphone pickup to be played back in real-time, so students or participants on the other side of the room can clearly hear every word. The fact that it can be hard to hear what someone is saying 50 feet away is an underappreciated issue that the BMA 360 solves without requiring any behavior changes from participants.

The new microphones have also made using the spaces much simpler, so most meetings no longer require having a student tech associate assist with setup or operations. This is a critical improvement, as one of the university’s goals is to encourage technological proficiency, and that can only be achieved when technology is easy to use and functions consistently and reliably. Even at a tech-focused learning institution, bad experiences with devices or components can turn people off and reduce the long-term effectiveness of the technology.

“We only install technologies that provide reliable experiences for users, and after years of success with various ClearOne products, we know these solutions are both easy to use and deliver industry-leading capabilities and performance,” Chard added. “During semesters impacted by Covid-19 restrictions, we implemented a host of ClearOne’s Chat 170 speakerphones in various smaller rooms, so both our students and faculty are aware of the brand’s status and usability.”

The impact of Covid-19 on remote learners

In fact, Chard noted that the university community recorded and viewed more than 225,000 hours of instruction during Covid-impacted years, which is used by remote learners and in cases of classroom closures. There are major remote learning advantages when using high-quality microphones and camera systems, including greater ability to actively engage remote students in classroom conversations and lessons. For post-grads and students involved in internships or off-campus responsibilities, they improvements are significant and immediate.

After seeing the dramatic success of the DOW 642 lecture hall installation, the library’s tech manager David Holden saw how the BMA 360 could transform the East Reading Room into an easy-to-use multi-purpose space.

“The East Reading Room is one of the campus’s largest reserved spaces, offering up to 5,000 square feet for meetings, events, social activities and presentations or collaborations with remote participants,” Holden said. “As staff and student expectations have evolved, the technologies in the East Reading Room had fallen behind and were failing to provide the flexibility and standards found in other spaces. After seeing the results of the three BMA 360s in the lecture hall, we saw how we could empower students in this multi-purpose space to capture, record and present as dynamically as possible.” 

MTU’s Reaction

Whether it’s a campus life event inviting speakers to talk about local athletes who’ve joined opposing teams or an in-class remote presentation from a field expert, the upgraded technology offers major benefits for every type of collaborative opportunity. The university is already considering subsequent BMA 360 installations in other classrooms and campus spaces with a focus on ensuring experiential learning whereby students directly benefit from hands-on access to technologies they are likely to also use in their professional careers.

“Michigan Technological University’s installations present a true case study of what can be accomplished when institutions leverage ClearOne’s class-leading technologies and devices to support collaboration and communication in any size space,” said ClearOne Chair and CEO Zee Hakimoglu. “It’s our hope that colleges, universities, corporations and businesses of all needs recognize the importance and value of reliable, helpful technologies that improve outcomes and support better utilization of space.”

The post ClearOne Beamforming Microphones Help Transform MTU’s Lecture Hall, Library appeared first on My TechDecisions.

“It was what I like to call the Swiss Army Knife of classrooms because it’s a typical classroom, but we added lecture capture and web conferencing into the rooms,” says Frank Alaimo, a the university’s Senior AV/IT systems specialist. “Now the room has synchronous and asynchronous capabilities, recording capabilities, live ‘in-the-room’ capabilities — it has everything.”

A standard hybrid classroom

The university created a standard room technology model that was implemented via a pilot program in rooms of different sizes and function, giving professors and students the same experience regardless of classroom.

UNLV’s new hybrid classroom model made extensive use of the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2) microphones, which were deployed across 58 multi-purpose classroom across the campus.

According to Alaimo, the university already deployed Sennheiser’s SpeechLine Digital Wireless and Sennheiser Control Cockpit, so the TCC2 microphones completed the web conferencing features for the hybrid classroom model.

Watch: How One University Made Their Hybrid Learning Vision a Reality with Sennheiser

“Now, the instructor has a mic at the lectern, and the TCC2 is able to capture both the students or the instructor, should he or she choose to lecture while moving around the room,” Alaimo says.

The TCC2’s beamforming microphone technology came in handy for larger classrooms with a lot of students, as the devices are able to quickly move to wherever a student is talking, says Michael Theil, the university’s classroom control systems specialist.

“This also simplifies our lives in IT so we don’t have to make microphone adjustments,” Theil says. “That is a huge time saver.”

UNLV’s first hybrid classroom deployments

The first of the hybrid learning rooms, dubbed RebelFlex after the school’s mascot, were deployed in the UNLV faculty center, and the IT team provided guidance on how to migrate new and existing classrooms to the flexible learning model.

“The concept was little bit overwhelming for instructors at first, so as part of the RebelFlex pilot program, we included a RebelFlex assistant in each room to provide support, so instructors could remain focused on their agenda during the initial rollout,” says Alaimo.

The primary rollout consisted of 58 classrooms, including eight that already had a  recording device that were converted into the RebelFlex rooms. Another 50 classrooms were completely remodeled with new equipment, including the TCC2 microphones.

The rooms vary in size from 25 seats to 179 seats, with larger rooms utilizing a pair of TCC2 units.

Other rooms are currently being planned, but the university’s team is looking at converting a larger campus auditorium that is already being renovated. According to Alaimo, it already has recording features in place, so deploying the TCC2 would be seamless.

Education equity and ease of use

We’ve heard a lot about meeting equity in corporate environments, which essentially means providing the same meeting experience for both remote and in-person users. The UNLV team took that same approach to the classroom, with the microphones helping students feel like they are a part of the experience.

“We wanted to be able to offer a similar experience for the student, whether they were in-person or remote,” Theil says. “If you are at home and you’re getting a subpar lecture or feel that you can’t hear the other students, you won’t get the same degree of value. Our system was designed so that people at home have the same opportunities that students have on campus.”

The network compatibility of the TCC2 made installation easy for the university’s in-house tech team, with Dante audio networking technology helping to simplify device routing and merging the conferencing capabilities of two or more rooms.

With the Sennheiser Control Cockpit, the IT team can monitor battery levels, muting functionality and other features, helping to reduce system downtime, Theil says.

The university also made use of the TCC2’s exclusion zone feature, which allows staff to eliminate unwanted noise coming from an HVAC register or a door that is often used.

“I don’t have time to make a custom DSP program for each room, and that’s what makes it really nice, it works wonderfully out of the box,” Theil says.

Now, the university’s technical staff expects every classroom to eventually become a RebelFlex room, Alaimo says.

“We have projects of all types and sizes, but we feel like every classroom will be RebelFlex by default going forward,” he says.

The post UNLV Pilots New Hybrid Classroom Model appeared first on My TechDecisions.

So, the university turned to collaboration technology provider Konftel and deployed over 100 videoconferencing kits  to support hybrid learning and to connect professors and students at the university.

La Salle Laguna University, located in the northwest Mexican state of Durango and serving 1,450 higher education students, said that it wanted to be a leader in using technology to deliver high-quality education in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which eventually led them to utilizing Konftel’s conferencing solutions.

Addressing the Hybrid Experience at La Salle Laguna

Although the university initially supplied professors with laptop computers and web cameras at the start of the pandemic, they soon realized that laptop conferencing wouldn’t be enough as some students returned to campus while others remained at home.

“The laptop computers and cameras worked fine when everyone was at home, but when we decided to bring back half the students at a time, we needed technology that would create a better experience,” explained Luis Arturo Dávila de León, dean of La Salle Laguna. “We wanted something that was easy to use and that allowed remote students to see professors and students in the classroom and interact as if they were in the same place.”

The university revealed that for effective hybrid learning, the solution needed to fit seamlessly with the university’s commitment to exceptional education. According to the university, the conferencing technology had to not only make hybrid learning possible under the circumstances, but also match the learning experience expected by professors, students, and their families before the pandemic.

Determining the Needs of La Salle Laguna

“We needed a service that everyone would be happy with so that all our classes would retain their same high quality,” said Dávila. The university leadership said they turned to local technology integrator Orange Tech AVA and Konftel distribution partner Neocenter SA de CV to identify the best hybrid learning solution.

Orange Tech AVA began testing the Konftel C20Ego to see if it would meet the university’s needs, and determined that it could support the seamless, integrated, easy-to-use classroom experience required by the administration.

According to Kontfel, the C20Ego is an all-in-one solution featuring a Konftel Cam20 4K conference camera, Konftel Ego speakerphone with OmniSound® audio quality, and Konftel OCC Hub for connecting everything to a laptop with a single USB cable.

“Along with La Salle Laguna, we found that having a camera with a remote control, digital zoom, and presets is very useful in classrooms,” said Isaac Sedano, commercial director for Orange Tech AVA. “The speakerphone that comes with the Konftel C20Ego kit has the perfect reach for the classroom size, and teachers really appreciate the unique hub that allows them to easily connect everything to their laptop.”

Installing the Conferencing Solutions

According to the company, the Konftel solution also supported easy, flexible installation, an important factor considering Orange Tech AVA had two months to integrate more than 100 systems. The company stated that they closely mimicked an in-class experience at La Salle Laguna where the Orange Tech AVA technicians hung ceiling mounts in the center of classrooms and installed the C20Ego components, as well as a flat-screen display. This allowed professors to address remote students onscreen who could also see everything taking place in the classroom.

“We took measurements so that the Konftel cameras and speakerphones are at the right height for professors and ran cables up through the mounts, so they aren’t visible,” explained Sedano. Additionally, Orange Tech AVA said they ran acoustic and visual tests to maximize the high-quality sound and video from the Konftel solution for all participants.

According to the company, La Salle Laguna installed 107 Konftel C20Ego videoconferencing kits throughout the campus, controlled and monitored from a central location, and after a week of faculty training, the university was ready for hybrid learning.

“Using the conferencing technology is very comfortable,” remarked Samuel S. Ramírez Cortéz, a professor at the university. “It allows faculty a perfect combination of a virtual space with a physical classroom. It is easy to speak to remote and in-person students at the same time and use the blackboard or in-class computer very naturally.”

Furthermore, the university uses Google Classroom and Google Workspace as its primary online learning and collaboration platform, but Cortéz added that the staff occasionally used Zoom and other services. Konftel stated that their technology is agnostic, thus allowing education institutions to use collaboration platforms of their choice for high-resolution conferences with ultra-clear sound quality.

“Feedback has been very positive,” mentioned Cortéz. “The students at home don’t feel alone; teachers are still able to teach the way they know best; and parents trust the university because the technology proves our commitment to high-level teaching.”

As professors and students began using the Konftel solution, university officials acknowledged that the technology had an even greater impact by helping unite the surrounding community.

Connecting to the Community

The university revealed the solution’s success where they said that not only did enrollment increase, but local associations, business groups, and others also became more engaged with the university due to the collaborative features of the technology. According to the university, some even asked to use the university’s Konftel-enabled spaces for their own virtual meetings.

“We don’t just focus on academics. We play a role in fostering the broader society,” said Ivonne Escalera Leyva, who oversees external relations.

La Salle Laguna added that it has now opened its physical and virtual doors for meetings, exhibitions, workshops, trainings, work meetings, and more. It also has an innovation park to connect students with local companies and collaborate on projects that benefit the region.

“The technology helps keep activities going and maintains connections with the community,” says Leyva. “We want to be in touch with other sectors that need to optimize their resources and adapt to the new reality.”

Dean Dávila credited the university’s adaptability for its success in navigating the pandemic.

“The university continues to reinvent itself and does not remain static,” he said. “If we are going to use new technology, we are going to use it well. That’s why we incorporate technology not only in the educational process, but also in academic monitoring processes, teaching performance, and above all, the time scheduled for the teaching of classes,” concluded Dávila.

This article originally appeared on our sister site Commercial Integrator. 

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