How AV solutions provide the most natural remote learning experience

Active Classrooms Make Better Learning Environments: But how is that possible in remote learning?

The Harvard Gazette ran an article titled Lessons in Learning, and highlighted a study that showed students in ‘active learning’ classrooms learn more than they think. Here’s an excerpt from the article: The study, published Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that, though students felt as if they learned more through traditional lectures, they actually learned more when taking part in classrooms that employed so-called active-learning strategies.

The study was done in 2019 — before the world changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — is so applicable in our ‘new normal’ of distance learning. In nearly an instant, the education system changed. Students and teachers were learning from a laptop. As schools and universities across the country pivoted and figured out how to provide computers and capable internet connection to their students, they also had to address the teachers’ needs for improved audiovisual technology.

Audiovisual Technology Advances Classroom Learning

The right solutions ensure that teachers and instructors in classrooms from first grade to fifth, from freshman-level science to law school lecture halls, and everything in between, would continue to put the focus on learning, not worrying about technology issues. In keeping with the idea that an active classroom is the best environment for learning, one could say the the AV world “met the moment” with its wide range of advanced capabilities that allow for a dynamic classroom experience — achieved through audiovisual technology and done via distance learning.

Solutions include ‘No-Touch’ camera angle changes that let users present from different areas, such as a whiteboard, and provide optimal viewing for participants, allowing for natural movement throughout a classroom. This means teachers are not limited to sitting behind a desk and a computer screen, and students of all ages and grade levels are provided a more engaging educational experience. For example, the Vaddio EasyIP 10 Camera (pictured above) features a HD PTZ camera with 10x zoom, 67-degree horizontal field of view and the camera is controlled via intuitive browser-based user interface from EasyIP Decoder.

Together, Trinity Dynamics and Legrand AV can bring the right solutions to classrooms large and small. Here are some tips from Legrand AV on solutions for a variety of classrooms sizes and types:

Small Classroom Solution

Many classrooms will need to remain flexible with the way they instruct — and not every classroom will be able to implement the capabilities of a large space. Using key AV tools help ensure that despite a smaller classroom, the learning experience remains top of the class.

• A repeatable setup to utilize in multiple locations
• Maximize the use of small spaces
• Use this same system to convert small offices and meeting spaces
• Hybrid learning solution
• For distance learning, lecture capture, streaming and video conferencing

Medium Classroom Solution

Give professors the ability to see content AND the faces of their virtual participants, encouraging back-and-forth and group learning like in a normal, in-person classroom.

• Multiple cameras provide ability to set presets in several locations
• Creates automation for student engagement with video overlays and triggers
• Plays well with third-party equipment for ease of use
• Synchronous Learning Solution
• For distance learning and lecture capture

Large Classroom Solution

‘No-Touch’ camera angle changes allow professors focus on the lecture not the tech with solutions like a step mat and sensor kit that automatically change the camera angle — no teacher is going to want to have to worry about managing a camera while managing a large classroom full of (socially distanced) students.

• All video and power runs through a single switch
• IP enabled system (PoE powered)
• Flexible to be used for multiple spaces including divisible classrooms
• Hybrid learning solution
• For distance learning, lecture capture, streaming, and video conferencing