Discovering New Connections on Campus

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DISCOVERING NEW CONNECTIONS ON CAMPUS

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Technology was a big part of campus life even before the pandemic made remote learning ubiquitous. AV systems made it slightly more manageable when the world shut down and many higher-education institutions were able to transition their distance learning, lecture capture, collaboration tools and digital signage to enable safe learning solutions.

Still, the demand on remote learning infrastructure was massive, and a lot was learned in a very short time about what worked and what didn’t work. Infrastructure challenges were spotted, limitations in certain pieces of AV technology were evaluated, and maybe more importantly, everyone learned a little bit about what it felt like to be a remote participant.

Greater understanding of how it feels to be at the far end of a classroom video stream has prompted more immersive redesigns of AV systems. Now those far-flung classmates will feel like they’re in the middle of the action, and instructors are more free to move around a classroom now that they’ve got a handle on pan-tilt-zoom camera presets and remote controls.

This new, more supported interactive AV experience produces more participation and engagement, which helps answer a need for creating greater equity of experience between in-classroom and remote students.

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And as more federal stimulus funding is dispersed to higher-education to support hybrid and hyflex modalities of sharing educational content, there will be new opportunities to expand the campus experience with technologies that create more immersive engagement in the classroom and online.

Other essential campus safety communications tools, such as digital signage, will also be a part of the next wave of campus tech solutions. Kiosks and wall-mounted displays can help with arrival and wayfinding information, and on an extracurricular note, these and outdoor displays can do double duty and boost school spirit on game day.

The Legrand | AV Solutions Engineering team is here to help explore the list of improvements that can ready campuses for the next level of engagement. With so many possibilities, and so much excitement around certain technology buzzwords, sometimes there can be a tendency to approach the situation from a technology angle first. But ideally, explains Solutions Engineer Brian Retzlaff, “The first step is discovering what exactly an ed-tech manager, digital learning department, IT administrator or instructor is seeking. That’s what we really want to be the starting point.”

Once the challenge or idea is identified, the discovery process continues, Brian says, “We’ll have a conversation about the problems or concerns you have, rather than starting with the technology piece of it. Because we have experience and knowledge to point you toward a lot of different solutions, maybe some of which you never considered as a potential answer to the problem that you are experiencing.”

Like a professor with user-friendly online office hours, reaching out to Legrand | AV Solutions Engineering is easy. There is a “Contact Us” button on the Solutions Diagrams that will connect you directly with Brian (aka Legrand | AV’s “Secret Weapon”), and he’ll be happy to talk about how to add new pieces to help make existing technologies work even better.

“I can help you find those parts and pieces so that you can walk away with a solution,” he explains. From there, he can help provide the materials you need to get funding, and even connect you with one Legrand | AV’s network of professional AV integrators to install the equipment. “You can decide how much of that solution you need to deploy and what kind of help you need to get it done,” he says.