InfoComm Connections 2015: 10 Collaboration and Presentation Solutions for Education

Tailored specifically for education, Kramer’s new VIA Campus wireless presentation solution simplifies collaboration by allowing users to connect and present to a main display via laptop, computer or mobile device, and offers Mac, PC, iOS, Android mirroring and third-party apps for remote learning and collaboration. VIA Campus also allows teachers and students to edit documents, use the display as a digital whiteboard, share any size file and stream full-frame HD video. VIA Campus also helps teachers instantly receive feedback regarding students’ work and progress by offering “e-polling” for instant surveys and “e-xam” features for multimedia tests with immediate results. Teachers can also evaluate their own teaching and lessons by polling students with VIA Campus to receive feedback on how they feel about exams, lesson plans, homework and other classroom activities.

With numerous students in attendance for school presentations, there is always the potential for noise interruptions from side-conversations and hallway noise. For larger classrooms or even small auditoriums, ClearOne’s Beamforming Microphone Array is an audio solution that can help keep students’ attention on the presenter or instructor during a presentation by blocking out background noise. Twenty-four microphone elements within the beamforming array steer the sound pickup pattern towards participants in the room and rejects unwanted noise. The beamforming array is also easy to mount on the wall, table or ceiling as its sleek design does not take up much space.

Da-Lite's IDEA Screen

Many school presentations and lessons involve the instructor or speaker moving around the classroom or presentation space and interacting with different media content. In order for students to hear the speaker’s voice, voice amplification systems are often implemented to ensure clear sound and audio. Wearable microphones are often a presenter’s best bet in ensuring their voice will be heard whether they are standing still or moving around the presentation space. The wearable, lapel microphone from Revolabs pictured above captures high quality voice audio and allows presenters to be mobile at all times. Furthermore, its sleek and compact design along with a clip for fastening to a lapel, shirt or blouse helps speakers stay comfortable throughout their presentation.

wePresent Wireless Presentation System

Crestron’s RL2 is a group collaboration system that combines Crestron hardware with Microsoft Lync 2013 software, a unified communications platform that integrates common channels of communication including instant messaging, voice over IP, file transfer, web conferencing, voice mail and email. Crestron RL 2 enables real-time group collaboration on classroom or conference room displays rather than on personal laptops. It incorporates video, voice, interactive content sharing and chat from one touch screen interface. This collaboration system is great solution for schools who support distance and remote learning, as students outside of the classroom can video conference and share content with teachers and students from anywhere.

Pearl is Epihpan’s portable production video switcher with live streaming and recording capability. This technology is a lecture capture solution that has built-in support for SDI, HDMI or DVI and VGA, and can capture video from classroom cameras, document cameras, slide projectors, tablets, microscopes and more. Audio can be captured through embedded HDMI and SDI or from the classroom’s audio mixing board, and Pearl also integrates easily with your existing content management system (CMS) or learning management system (LMS), allowing for easy implementation and use.

Montage is a wireless collaboration system that allows users to share content from their computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet onto a screen. If your school uses multiple devices, Montage is a great collaborative solution for both classrooms, auditoriums and meeting rooms. With Montage, every student, teacher, guest speaker or presenter can share their digital media to a large screen for everyone to see. Furthermore, remote students or presenters can connect to students in the classroom with Montage, no matter where they are located. Montage is also touch-enabled, where presenters can drag and re-size participants’ windows, swipe files, control a PC from the main display, deploy annotation and whiteboard tools, allowing for an interactive and engaging experience.

The Cisco DX80 collaboration solution allows for a seamless video conferencing experience. This technology is a single integrated device and does not require additional hardware, allowing for easy installation. With Cisco’s DX80, teachers and students can share multimedia and presentations at the touch of a button: Furthermore, while on a call the DX80 allows users to see the laptop screen and share it instantly in full HD with the on-screen control bar.The DX80 also comes with a Cisco Collaboration application installed for instant messaging and web conferencing, allowing users to communicate and collaborate through video, text, voice and more. The DX80 can be beneficial to distance and remote learners, as it allows them to easily communicate, collaborate and share their work with other students through a single device.

Document cameras have become a common presentation tool in today’s classrooms due to their ability to display intricate details of 3D objects. Lumens, a provider of various types of document cameras, showcased its portable DC170 Ladibug document camera which includes numerous features such as full HD 1080p output resolution, a built in microphone and SD card slot, HDMI and VGA output, professional 2x sensor zoom, and one-touch synchronous audio/video recording. DC170 Ladibug is compatible with all major brands of whiteboards and has a flexible goose neck which allows users to easily manipulate the lighting and angle of which an object is being displayed. These flexible, enhanced features of the DC170 Ladibug can to help to improve your instruction and presentations in the classroom through one simple-to-use technology.