May 6, 2010
New Classroom Technologies And Installation Efficiencies Spur Demand In K-12 And Higher Ed
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Alter Hall, the year-old, award-winning center of
Temple’s Fox School of Business, is a showcase
of the latest AV technologies that can be used
in class or for distance learning. AMX controls
direct audio, lighting, and visual signals from
multiple peripherals to multiple screens via
Extron routers. SonicFoundry Mediasite captures
the content for storage and/or future webcasting.
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If you’re an integrator who is thinking
of “dropping out of school,”
think again.
The higher education market has
maintained its momentum as universities
upgrade their classrooms with
immersive AV systems, said John
Glad, product manager, Hitachi
America, Digital Media Division,
Business Solutions Group. “While the
K-12 market faces some challenges
with school closures, AV integrators
are finding opportunity in updating
classroom sound and video systems
to accommodate larger class sizes.”
Short-throw and ultra-shortthrow
projectors are helping to spur
growth in both markets where interactive
whiteboards are widely used.
“As you move the projector close to
the screen you eliminate shadows and
light in the instructor’s eyes,” Glad
said. “If you stand in front of a class
for several hours and are blinded by
a lamp, that hurts. At three feet you
eliminate most of it, but at 14 inches
you eliminate all of it, and these innovations
in health and safety make it
easier for audiences and instructors
to interact in the classrooms.”
Three ultra-short throw models
are offered by Hitachi: CP-A52
at 2,000, CP-A100 at 2,500, and
CP-A200 at 3,000 lumens. “The
2,500-lumen was our first model,
used for networking throughout campuses. But when the ultra-short
throw models were installed there
were problems because of angles,
making it hard to get a straight
image,” he added. The solution was
Hitachi’s Perfect Fit function, allowing
adjustment of the four corners of
an image, one by one, so they fit the
screen perfectly.
Hitachi developed standard and
adjustable mounts with Peerless
Industries for the ultra-short-throw,
wall-mounted models, and also has
a cart mount system. “Because of
the possibilities that ultra-short
throw projectors enable, we want to
make sure that these models can be
installed in virtually any configuration,”
Glad said.
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Hitachi short-throw and ultra-short-throw projectors are helping to spur growth in both K-12
and higher education markets where interactive whiteboards are widely used.
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The advantage in higher education
classrooms, typically with 40 to 50
students, is that there is no obstruction
by fixtures such as sprinkler heads or
fluorescent lights. If a podium is used
at the front of the room, the lecturer
won’t be blinded by light.
“For the short throw products,
with less costly technology, we take
out the mirror system, moving it
back a foot-and-a-half,” Glad said.
“We have the CP-D10, a 2000-
lumen basic version for K-12 use
and the CP-DW10N, a 2,000-lumen
wide XGA model for smaller lecture
halls. It takes up more space and has
a wider aspect. The CP-DW10N is
suited for higher education use; at 88
inches you’re not stretching to reach
the top.”
Short throw projectors, he said,
especially for K-12, eliminate installation
problems because many times
there are electrical outlets at the base
of a wall, and if you mount a standard
projector in the ceiling, you
have to bring the power down. “On
the wall, you just drop cable down
and plug it in. There are some savings
there; it saves time for the installer
and money for the school.”
College Gets Digital
The higher education market is very
competitive with many integrators
competing for the work, said Mike
Bohan, account rep for HB Communications
in North Haven CT. “The
hottest trend today is the presence
of digital media in classrooms. More
and more higher education facilities
are dealing with instructors walking
into classrooms with their laptops
that only output in digital formats
such as HDMI, DVI, or DisplayPort.”
As solution providers, integrators need to properly prepare to deal
with the delivery and management
of these systems, he said. “Constant
education for ourselves as well as for
out customers will be paramount in
understanding this new digital age.”
Budget Rescue
Despite the budget crunch, there is a
huge demand, nationwide, for classroom
upgrades, said Tom Noack,
marketing manager for Premier
Mounts. “Most schools want and
need interactive whiteboards and
other teaching technology tools.”
Many school districts and states
have bonds that are dedicated to
technology use; they have to spend
the money on technology. “There
is E-Rate, a federal fund helping
schools that have a high percentage
of low-income students to develop
their IT infrastructures, as well as
No Child Left Behind and Title II
initiatives,” he elaborated. “And in
the higher education segment there is
still a lot of money flowing through
fundraising efforts and corporate
sponsorships.”
Premier recently introduced two
universal short throw projector wall
mounts with audio components.
“These products both offer a simple and
cost-effective way to not only mount
the projector, but also significantly
enhance the sound in the classroom,”
Noack said. “The UNI-STA+AUDIO
and UNI-EXT+AUDIO both provide
two speakers and a powerful 50-watt
amplifier that attaches directly to the
short-throw projector mount. Together,
they offer flexible options for the latest
short-throw projectors. A patentpending
GearBox is integrated into the
projector base plate and provides a convenient
location to securely house various
small electronic support devices,
including the 50-watt amplifier.”
“These products offer a dramatic
improvement to the audio that comes
out of the projector,” he said. “The
audio goes above the teacher’s head
and fills the room with full, rich
sound. Class sizes are increasing,
so teachers have a harder time competing
with noise. Many bring in
speech reinforcement devices such as
pendant mics. Our energy-efficient
amplifier has a dedicated mic input to
incorporate a wireless microphone as
well as several additional inputs for
other audio sources.”
As short-throw projectors decrease
in price they will continue to replace
traditional classroom projectors,
Noack said. “All equipment will
become smaller and lighter. Security
will continue to be an issue and is on
the priority list for many districts.
Instead of putting equipment in racks,
we offer the ability to have it tucked
neatly away in our GearBox.”
Wall installation is significant
for modernization, he said. “Now,
you don’t have to be concerned
about what type of ceiling is in each
classroom, or even local codes for
plenums and other headaches. Our
attractive wall-installed projector
mount includes cable management
and offers a sturdy mounting strip
integrated into the 54-inch wide
base, giving installers a high degree
of flexibility when installing our wall
mounts. All of this combines to ease
the cost of modernization for schools
and districts.”
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HB Communications is installing Crestron
GLS Occupancy Sensors in 95 smart
classrooms at Bryant University in
Smithfield, RI. Each smart classroom has
either touchpanel or push-button control.
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Classroom IQ
“The trend in the higher education market
is to be able to manage AV systems with
as little additional assistance as possible,”
said Mike Bohan of HB Communications.
“In today’s market that’s what it’s all about. If
these systems did not exist, schools would
have to support AV systems with additional
staff, and that would mean more bodies and
would be more costly.”
HB Communications currently is installing
Crestron GLS Occupancy Sensors into
approximately 95 smart classrooms at Bryant
University in Smithfield, RI. The Bryant
University ethernet system allows Room-
View to manage and monitor the status of
the AV systems such as projector lamp life,
projector on/off status, and AV input. Each
smart classroom has either touchpanel or
push-button control.
“All ethernet-controlled classrooms
are tied back to an enterprise control
server which manages RoomView,” Bohan
explained, “Where occupancy sensors
are used, they look for motion, and can
be adjusted to sense in-room activity for
as short a time as 10 seconds or up to 30
minutes. If there is a class break between
noon and two, for example, the sensor will
tell the projector to turn off if no motion
is detected. Room displays are globally
turned off at 10:30 p.m. to save lamp life,
and RoomView sends out a second command
at 11 p.m. to shut off the entire room’s
AV system to save energy.”
HB started the Bryant project in 2008,
and has covered about half of the targeted
classrooms to date, upgrading as the budget
allows. “Ultimately, the goal is to have
all fully managed rooms that include ceiling
mounted projectors, custom podiums
with integrated electronic equipment, and
motorized projection screens.”
The university operator, media services
specialist Jason Gregg, is the main operator
on the system, teamed with director of
academic computing media services Phil
Lombardi and media services manager Roger
Acosta. “Jason is a Crestron-trained part-time
programmer and helped develop standards
within the school such as a system help desk,”
Bohan said. “If a teacher has a problem, they
press a help button with four options for specific
issues. That sends Jason a ping, and he
can reply with an answer or deploy someone
from his student staff to the room.”
—KM
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SchoolView streamlines control and automation of multiple technologies that previously
were operated independently.
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A New ARRA
On March 17, the U.S. Department of Treasury
and the Department of Education announced
the $11 billion in allocation authority to issue
qualified school construction bonds under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009 (ARRA). Qualified school construction
bonds can be used to finance the construction,
rehabilitation or repair of a public
school facility or for the acquisition of land
where a school will be built. With the key role
technology plays throughout most aspects of
education today, its specification is critical in
the planning and construction phase.
AMX has declared its immediate ability
to play a key role in qualifying education
projects for ARRA stimulus funding
and the 2010 Construction Bond with its
next-generation AMX SchoolView Solution.
SchoolView streamlines control and
automation of multiple technologies that
previously were operated independently—
such as classroom control, distributed
audio, video on demand, digital signage,
PA, bells, security cameras, and emergency
alerts, and unifies them on a single
platform. With it, teachers who may have
been overwhelmed by the process of using
multimedia to augment learning in the
classroom, such as incorporating recorded
lectures, software presentations and shared
resources, only need the technical proficiency
of touching a button.
SchoolView solution is also a boon for
energy savings. It aligns to green-building
initiatives that many school districts are
facing as it automates management of
energy-consuming resources like PCs and
AV equipment, and further increases cost
reductions by simplifying maintenance and
support, which extends technology lifecycles.
“SchoolView has helped Round Rock
ISD modernize traditional classroom
technologies by using a single, networked
platform,” commented Ed Zaiontz, Round
Rock ISD director of information services
and CoSN board of directors chairman. “By
providing our teachers with an easy-to-use
platform, it enabled us to upgrade the educational
experience for our students. Teachers
can now easily access and utilize a wider
array of technology to enhance learning in
the classroom.”
Karen Mitchell is a freelance writer based in Boulder, CO.
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