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Technology has become a foundational part of the education sector over the last few years, both for teachers and students. At the front of classrooms, traditional whiteboards are increasingly replaced by interactive display panels, projectors and other audio visual (AV) equipment, while students now expect to be able to learn from laptops and other mobile devices, rather than textbooks and exercise books.
If implemented effectively, AV equipment is therefore a powerful tool in improving the quality of the learning experience. But there are still many challenges to be overcome when undertaking a deployment that installers need to consider. So what are the key AV issues affecting the education sector in 2019?
Rethinking traditional ideas
A common issue for schools and universities when dealing with AV equipment needs to be ensuring that screens are clearly visible from anywhere in the classroom or lecture hall. Yet this is often something that's overlooked, as research from Epson revealed.
It found that the most common AV solutions, which typically consist of a single 70-inch flat panel display, could be letting down students, Education Executive magazine reports. Almost four out of five teachers surveyed by the firm (79 per cent) use this setup, but more than half of students (58 per cent) say they are unable to read all the content on such screens.
This can have a direct impact on the quality of education. Two-thirds of teachers (66 per cent) think restricted viewing hampers the learning experience and 64 per cent believe this can lead to poorer scores for pupils. Indeed, four out of ten respondents reported a direct correlation between pupils who sit in seats with restricted visibility and poorer overall performance, both in terms of test scores and classroom engagement.
Therefore, it's clear that schools should rethink this approach towards AV equipment. Epson highlighted the importance of following the '4/6/8' rule when engaged in an AVC installation. This states that the ideal viewing distance for a screen, taking into account the size of the room, should be four, six or eight times the height of the screen for passive viewing, basic viewing and analytical viewing, respectively.
However, in some scenarios, this simply isn't possible, and as 42 per cent of teachers surveyed by Epson have never heard of this rule, it's clear there is a lot of work to do to improve the effectiveness of AV equipment in the classroom.
The right solution for the situation
Another factor is that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to deploying AV equipment in the classroom. Key considerations that need to be taken into account include the age of the students and the subject being taught in the space.
For example, Ross McGill, founder and chief executive of TeacherToolKit, told Education Executive: "Maths teachers might have an interactive whiteboard because they’re always scribbling equations, whereas a design technology teacher might have a projector as well as a whiteboard so that they can both doodle and display a presentation."
However, this is not always being put into practice, and one of the biggest barriers to the most effective AV deployments is cost. Mr McGill noted: "Even in some of the brand new schools I’ve worked at, we just had to go with a standard 70-inch interactive screen, that was put into all classrooms, because buying in bulk saves a bit of money."
Putting in place effective supporting tools
Even if schools are adhering to best practices, such as the 4/6/8 rule, and rotating their seating plans so students aren't disadvantaged by having restricted views for an entire year, they still need to back up their primary AV displays with effective networking tools to get the most out of the technology.
Julien Bussell, international sales manager at WolfVision, told Education Technology, for example, there is now growing demand for flexible AV over IP technology to equip learning spaces with better technology, particularly in universities.
He said: "These learning spaces comprise multiple workstations and screens where students sit together in small groups, working together and moving content freely between the different screens in the room."
These workstations will require strong networking solutions, while at the same time, strong wireless connectivity is also a must, as many students are embracing the 'bring your own device' trends and using personally-owned laptops and tablets in the classroom, which will again depend on solid connectivity to be effective.
