13 Best Higher Education Products of 2014

Draco KVM matrix switcher, manufactured by iHse, nominated by Judy Elliot-Brown, the client project manager and integrator forBerklee College of Music‘s 160 Massachusetts Avenue building.

“It’s not so easy to come up with a reliable system,” says Elliot-Brown. “A lot of the solutions out there are individual (such as computer to computer). The actual matrix switch will allow you to control a bunch of computers on one side and a bunch of controllers on the other side.”

Avid Artist controllers, manufactured by Avid, nominated by Judy Elliot-Brown, the client project manager and integrator forBerklee College of Music‘s 160 Massachusetts Avenue building.

“They’re a small, pro-tool controller,” says Elliot-Brown. “Berklee [College of Music] uses it in a lot of its classrooms and they use them in all their programs. They really are a fantastic solution to give kids a way to manipulate audio without using a mouse or a keyboard.”

Connected Casebook by Wolters Kluwer, nominated by Alfred Brophy, Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina

“I think this is a very, very exciting product that makes it a whole lot easier for students to put their knowledge of a course together and also to get access to self-assessments, to extra help, and to expand their understanding of the context of individual cases,” Brophy says. ” It’s a huge advance over the printed casebook that’s been around now for, what, 130 or so years?  Property law has never been so accessible - and this will make it easier for students to put together a course and get a strong grasp on legal doctrine and basic principles of legal practice.”

Mondopads, manufactured by InFocus, nominated by Eric Boyd, Systems Integration Manager of Compview.

“It has a built-in processor and is great in the classroom,” says Boyd. “I thought it was an interesting application that is used by both students and professors.”

Projectors & MS-1 Switches by Hitachi, nominated by Tim Bowers, Multimedia Services at Multnomah University

“We’re using Hitachi projectors and Hitachi MS-1 switches to control classrooms,” says Bowers. “Because the switches and projectors are IP controlled, we are using one CP3N to control up to 10 classrooms. This has been a very economical solution for our tight budget.”

DMPS-300-C by Crestron, nominated by Stan Coleman, Media Services Tech at Central Community College and Greg Brehm, DMC-E, IT/AV Technical Assistant at Niagra County Community College

“Even though it’s been out for a while, it’s a great work horse that’s easy to setup and even easier to use,” says Coleman. “The unit just doesn’t know what quit is. We have purchased so many of these it’s hard to even count how many we have. We combine it with the MP-B20 for an easy-to-use installation. The button layout makes it so simple to use a room that we no longer have to have training sessions on how to use the basics.”

“They automate all of our high-end rooms at the college,” says Brehm. “They do all the control for the rooms, provide confidence monitoring and network tracking using Crestron’s ToolBox. Combined, the tools are the best, plain and simple.”

Crestron Fusion, nominated by Stan Coleman,  Media Services Tech at Central Community College

“Although we don’t have it fully implemented yet, we are looking forward to using it,” says Coleman. “With the vast number of Crestron control classrooms we presently have, it’s important to be able to control them all from a central location… Between the rock solid reliability of the Crestron equipment and Crestron Fusion, we are prepared to take on the challenge of adding more Smart Classrooms into the foreseeable future.”

Streaming Input Card for DM Switchers (DMC-STR) by Crestron, nominated by Michael Dannenberg, CTS, DMC-E, Associate Principal for Vantage Technology Consulting Group

“We are seeing the use of streaming become more prevalent on higher education projects,” says Dannenberg. ”Having the option for integrating both stream inputs and stream outputs into a system’s card frame, or even as a stand-alone is a less costly option and is very helpful in making this a staple in every classroom.”

Air Media by Crestron, nominated by Jeremy Winn, CTS Technical Operations Manager for Whitlock.

“It’s easy to set up and easy for anyone to use from any device on the same network,” says Winn. “Advanced programming features allow for automation once a user connects.  Sharing your screen remotely is also very easy to do across the same network or even over VPN.”

Crestron Capture HD Recorder, nominated by Derrick Ramirez, Coordinator, Educational Media Communications at Florida International University

“Here in the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University, our favorite educational solution is the Crestron Capture HD Recorder,” says Ramirez. “We have begun implementing these units in several of our course capturing classrooms throughout the University. We think it’s the future of course capturing because it’s a simple and cost-effective solution that does not have any recurring costs.”

ForeScout CounterACT, nominated by Matt Santill, Chief Information Security Officer at Broward College.

“Implementing the ForeScout next-generation network access control (NAC) solution has provided us with visibility, control and overall reduction of risk,” says Santill. “CounterACT allows Broward to provide its students and faculty with a solid BYOD experience that automatically limits network resource access for personal devices that don’t adhere to the college’s security policies and notifies users to promote acceptable behavior.”

ForeScout ControlFabric, nominated by Matt Santill, Chief Information Security Officer at Broward College

“To further boost Broward’s network security, ForeScout’s ControlFabric technology has also allowed us to integrate CounterACT with our existing security software,” Santill says. “Right now, we integrate it with our QRadar security information and event management (SIEM) system, enabling our teams to correlate CounterACT information with all logs sent in from campus-wide servers.”

SchoolDude CrisisManager, nominated by Lieutenant Mike Ceperley, Emergency Management Coordinator with the Northwest Missouri State University Police

“I’d like to nominate SchoolDude CrisisManager, in cooperation with In Case of Crisis, for helping to make critical emergency information available via mobile devices campus-wide here at Northwest Missouri State University,” Ceperley says. “The mobile emergency app gives us the flexibility needed to customize and publish the crisis response policies and procedures in the format we prefer and clearly shares easy-to-read instructional diagrams. A huge part of the mobile app’s benefit to our community is that it is accessible even when communications and power are lost. There is a tremendous amount of great emergency information right at our community’s fingertips, and helping our students and employees know what to do when a crisis situation occurs is a top priority at Northwest. This technology gives us another tool to further enhance the safety of our community.”