EDUCATION
58
F our years ago, education and classes shifting to entirely online. This era, while short-lived, changed our education systems – arguably for the better. Now, many institutions offer blended learning models relying on digital technologies to enhance both in-person and remote instruction, making modern education more convenient, effective and immersive. Pandemics aside, education has always been evolving, incorporating various tools and technologies to better prepare students for work and life. The advent of computers brought a plethora of opportunities – from browsing the internet for scholarly articles or writing looked a whole lot different. The pandemic forced us into isolation, with schools and universities closing their doors essays more efficiently, to enabling students to email their instructors or learning programming languages. Similarly, audio-visual (AV) systems introduced school-wide announcements over intercom, student-led TV and radio, plus other AV-based extracurriculars. In short, technology-enhanced learning (TEL) is not a new phenomenon, though in today’s digital era, there’s a wider range of devices than ever before. Educational environments are seeing traditional tools like pencils, rulers and written exams replaced by tablets, Smart Boards and e-textbooks, all intended to enhance the academic experience in one way or another. The tools used largely depend on the learning format. AT-HOME ACADEMICS Though online courses have existed for some time, it wasn’t until the pandemic that remote learning truly took off. Likely here to stay, institutions have adopted a hybrid approach to education, blending the appeal of a live seminar with the flexibility of attending class from any convenient location. Video conferencing tools have been essential in delivering remote courses and evolving to meet the needs of both students and teachers alike. Zoom is a prime example of this, offering video calls with its screen-sharing capabilities, breakout rooms for group discussions, chat functionality and much more. While it revolutionised remote education, Zoom also enables a hybrid model, allowing teachers to address attendees both in-person and online – for example, to assist a student who has an illness or to deliver a course to two cohorts based in separate locations. The video platform also allows lecturers to record their sessions, so students can revisit a particular lesson when revising for an exam. Other platforms, such as Google Classroom and Intelligent Video Solutions, offer similar products supporting a blended educational approach. With Google Classroom, students can access, collaborate on and submit assignments in one place. They can also organise documents in Google Drive, view their schedules on Google
VR headsets in classrooms offer an immersive learning experience across various subjects for students
Calendar and communicate via Gmail and Google Meet. They can do almost everything within Google’s toolkit. Intelligent Video Solutions’ Video Audio Learning Tool (VALT) can both livestream and record AV content with cameras of up to 4K resolution at the same time, including PTZs. VALT also supports camera grouping and screen capturing as well as pre-scheduling recordings, making it suited to courses with multiple sessions. Its Beam solution integrates with VALT, allowing presenters to capture and upload content from any location using an iOS device. HEADSETS-ON LEARNING While not as commonly adopted (yet), VR headsets are making their way into education, providing students with an immersive learning experience – also accessible from anywhere with a stable connection. VR can fully transform an isolated educational environment into a social one, bringing literal meaning to
With Google Classroom, students can easily manage their assignments thanks to seamless integration with various other Google platforms
Powered by FlippingBook