With the ability to adapt to individual student’s environments and circumstances, video conferencing helps to ...
LEARN MOREThe Flexibility Afforded by Certified Products in Video Conferencing
Education
Teachers provide students with knowledge that will last a lifetime. In order to keep fulfilling this key objective in modern times, educational institutions must be able to adapt to and harness the power of advancements such as video conferencing solutions.
By remaining loyal to tried and true learning techniques, significant barriers emerge. All of which hinders the ability of students to engage with the lesson, their fellow classmates and their teacher. However, with the help of certified video conferencing solutions, a certain level of flexibility is infused into everyday operations. This means that the once foreign but now omnipresent concept of remote learning can be facilitated.
Video conferencing also positively impacts in-class learning and importantly, can provide elements of efficiency and effectiveness to the business side of running an educational institution. The flexibility afforded by certified products in video conferencing means that educational institutions are always prepared with the tools needed to face new challenges. Whether those challenges are teaching remote students or holding inter-departmental video meetings.
The significance of certified products
Certification offers an array of different benefits. That’s because certified products actively work to make operations seamless, no matter the operating environment. This essentially means that tasks big or small can be completed efficiently and effectively.
Benefit #1: Efficient meeting room solutions
One of the main benefits of certified products is the ability to provide efficient meeting room solutions. No matter the number, size or layout of meeting rooms, certified products can be installed. With the ability to be fully compatible with the platform being used, certification in this sense ensures that there is a high level of confidence that meetings will run efficiently.
By ensuring ease of setup, meetings can and will start on time. As such, calls to IT for troubleshooting and scrambling to have a presentation fixed because of display difficulties become things of the past.
Benefit #2: Lower meeting room minutes
More efficient meetings means that meeting room minutes can be lowered. This means that staff can regain valuable working hours, in turn, resulting in more productive and efficient work output.
Certified products lower meeting room minutes by ensuring that there is a level of consistency to each meeting room within the organisation. Consistency breeds familiarity and as such, using certified equipment quickly becomes second nature.
Meeting room minutes are also lowered thanks to certified products’ ability to easily share content. By seamlessly providing meeting attendees with the relevant data, key messages can be discerned quickly, which ultimately results in reduced meeting minutes.
Benefit #3: Providing continuity
While versatile enough to offer solutions to meeting rooms of different shapes and sizes, there is a level of continuity to certified products in video conferencing. While this continuity helps in-office workers utilise the technology in each workspace, there are broader implications.
In the age of remote work, businesses are managing employees who are working in the office and employees that are working from home. Without proper solutions that bridge the gap between office and remote workers, productivity and efficiency suffers.
While certified video conferencing products provide continuity for office workers moving between meeting rooms, they also provide continuity for remote staff. By using the same video conferencing tools, everyone within the organisation is on the same page.
What flexible video conferencing means for education
In an educational environment where, for one reason or another, teachers or students may be operating remotely, breaking down the barriers to collaboration ensures that teachers can always reach their students.
That’s exactly what certified products for video conferencing can do, break down barriers. By providing students and teachers alike with the tools needed to teach, learn and work, across multiple operating environments, education has no limits.
The education sector is dominated by legacy systems, an aversion to change and a lack of trust in the ability of video conferencing to provide truly flexible solutions. Certified products for video conferencing are the solution to these pain points that many have been waiting for.
Transitioning away from legacy systems
It seems like only recently that schools underwent drastic changes by installing two or three desktops into the corner of each classroom. However, in the current age, these desktops are viewed as legacy systems.
Unable to act as a learning platform for every member of the classroom at once and incapable of connecting remote students to the classroom on its own, these desktops are holding the classroom back.
With no real ability to be updated in order to facilitate the now basic needs of the modern classroom, these legacy systems serve no real purpose. Meanwhile, video conferencing products can facilitate these functions and much more.
With certification, video conferencing products offer something that legacy systems cannot- security. In this instance, security refers to the fact that certified products can be updated with new software and used well into the future. The same cannot be said for legacy systems.
Making a case for a switch to newer systems
Initiating change in the workplace can be hard. However, with certified products in video conferencing, the benefits speak for themselves. Providing consistency and flexibility, the user experience is increased. A key factor that plays a large role in increasing productivity.
Importantly, certified solutions help to bring a level of flexibility to an educational institution. By being able to facilitate productive in-classroom and remote learning, there are no barriers to fulfilling the key objective of education institutions – teaching students.
When it comes to certified video conferencing solutions, there is also a level of modularity to consider. Put simply, this means that certain modules can be upgraded or removed from the device without impacting the overall purpose of the video conferencing tool. This helps ensure that the devices needed in order to complete business critical work are always working.
Providing flexibility
Any solutions introduced into classrooms need to be flexible. This is because students learning from home will use different devices in order to connect to a lesson than their teachers and fellow students will.
If video conferencing solutions aren’t flexible, the use of different devices become logistically difficult and this has the potential to derail lessons. That’s why Logitech has actively created products that will succeed in this space.
Take the Logitech Brio for example, on the surface, the Brio is a ultra HD pro webcam that helps deliver crystal clear video and audio. On the other hand, the plug and play aspect of this device ensures that it is flexible enough to connect students and teachers, whether the preferred platform is Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams.
While video conferencing needs to cater for students and teachers using different devices at any given time, these products also need to facilitate communication between educational staff members.
Logitech MeetUp, an all-in-one conferencecam, helps workers meet easily. Designed for huddle rooms and small spaces, MeetUp is simple to set up and use, ensuring that meetings are efficient. Additionally, by offering RightSound and RightSight technology that improves audio and video, remote and in-office workers can meet and converse, seamlessly.
Opting for modernity in video conferencing
Educational institutions and teachers are responsible for shaping young minds through lessons. However, while the basic principles of education have stayed the same over the course of many decades, modes of delivery have changed.
These changes to learning revolve around the introduction of technology to the classroom. While, in the beginning, a desktop in the corner of the classroom was enough, these types of legacy systems are today holding back schools.
By embracing elements of video conferencing, schools are essentially opting for modernity. As such, this modernity allows schools to offer effective lessons while also laying the foundation for students to learn remotely.
While these changes might seem all consuming and costly, there is undoubtedly value added. By providing education staff and students alike with certified products for video conferencing, meetings and lessons become flexible enough to counter challenges to productivity.
Stephen works with Logitech clients to provide unrivalled technical knowledge and support beyond just functionality. He empowers you to become a video collaboration expert in your own right. Working with Stephen ensures you can confidently use your Logitech solution to its full potential and create a consistent, user-friendly experience.
With an audio engineering background and 15 years of experience in the AV and unified communications industries, Stephen advocates for education and technology to allow increased access and equity - not just within workplaces, but for communities. He is a self-confessed nerd when it comes to camera quality and sound design - there's no project too complex for him.
Steve Harding
Pre sales technical engineer - NSW | ACT