Our customer houses over 6,500 students and 500+ faculty members. The university contains several institutes and a central library with more than 6000 registered users annually.
Unsatisfactory learning environment led to student absenteeism
Technology has now strongly established itself as a key driver in modem education. Classrooms are now being transformed by technology solutions that help modern educational institutions deal with the challenges of traditional education. Our customer was facing two primary challenges that led them to consider leveraging technology to improve their service quality.
An unsatisfactory classroom learning environment
Our customer was relying on traditional chalk and blackboard-based classrooms which were incapable of providing an immersive learning experience to their students. Some of the key issues being faced in these classrooms were:
Student absenteeism- To complete the vast curriculum with sufficient time in hand has always been a challenge for the faculty. And this challenge is aggravated due to student absenteeism. Facilitators would often have to repeat lessons or risk students missing out on key subjects throwing curriculums and schedules out of gear. It would also force the faculty to often hasten through the study material to complete the course on time which would impact the learning process.
Large classroom size- Each classroom had approximately 50 students. While traditionally this is a standard classroom size, our customer was looking at enhancing the interaction level between the facilitator and students, which was difficult with such a large classroom size. Additionally, the facilitators faced challenges in being audible to all the students and effectively administer lessons.
A burgeoning physical library
The campus library has over 6,500 dedicated members while it handles around 300 readers and over 350 library exchanges daily. And these numbers were only increasing. The customer was facing challenges in accommodating the ever-increasing number of students and external readers.
The age and natural wear and tear of the books too was another concern as some of the texts in the library’s collection were extremely rare and of national importance. The customer wanted to ensure the security of these texts and make them easily accessible.
Embee Implemented Smart Classrooms and Video Solutions for Active Learning Environment
Embee conducted discovery sessions with the customer’s various teams to better understand the requirements and come up with customized hardware and software architectures that would help the customer meet their needs of building an active learning environment and a digitized, easy to maintain and accessible library experience.
Embee designed two comprehensive solutions for the customer:
Digital E-Classroom
After discussions with the customer, Embee realized that their key requirements included recording of lessons, elimination of chalk and blackboard, and improved collaboration and communication. To meet these requirements, Embee architected a digital studio solution powered by Sony’s audio-visual equipment. The key components of the solution include:
Broadcast Cameras with recording
Embee installed broadcast cameras which can record the entire lesson on an internal SD-card based memory. Post the recording, the footage is stored on systems or the cloud which can be accessed by students and facilitators from anywhere, anytime.
Interactive projectors
In order to remove the dependence upon chalk and board, Embee integrated interactive projectors using which facilitators could show better supporting audio-visual content and students could review the facilitator’s notes on the laptops that were provided them in class.
Microphones & speaker systems
To tackle the problem of inaudible communication in classrooms, microphones and speaker systems were installed both for the facilitators and students. Each student was provided with a cordless microphone for them to ask questions, and speaker systems were used to amplify the facilitator’s voice.
As their first step towards overall transformation, Embee implemented this solution for 2 classrooms, capable of handling 120 student simultaneously.
Digital Library Solution
The customer’s primary reason to digitize the library was to minimize the cost and space required for accommodating the students and 6,500+ external members of the library for their reading requirements. Secondly, they were concerned about the maintenance of the text. Embee’s Digital Library solution helped them address their concerns through:
Centralized document storage
Embee installed server and storage powered by HPE to implement the core of the Digital Library Solution. The server related to a storage where the entire database was maintained, and key documents were also later made available through a cloud-based setup.
Dedicated access-portal
Embee also designed a dedicated portal through which members of the library could access the books with their credentials. This was made available on endpoints within the library space and could also be accessed online through a web-based gateway.
Embee designed and implemented the entire hardware and software infrastructure required by the customer to digitize and store their books in the digital library’s storage backbone. Detailed training was also conducted for the customer’s support team to add books, catalogue them, and maintain the system.
Our Customer Improved User Satisfaction and ROI with Audio-Video Solutions by Embee
The implementation of Embee’s solution helped the customer fulfil their long-standing requirement of strongly metric and number-driven processes where performance could be tracked at every step. The instant availability of information enabled them to base their decisions on actual data and delivered revenue improvements, efficiency gains and improved user satisfaction.
Some of the key benefits delivered by our solution are:
Improved learning experience
The interactive projection system and audio-visual tools in the classrooms eliminated the passive learning atmosphere that large classrooms are usually associated with. It helped the faculty to build the logical and rational thinking capabilities of the students which in turn lays the foundation of lateral and independent thinking. The system also encourages individuals to state their point of view which is more often lost in the traditional method.
Storage cost-savings
The customer has an ambitious library which they plan to constantly expand and improve. However, cost constraints associated with the requirement of physical space for storage of books as well as to accommodate readers was holding them back. The digitization of the library eliminated the need for physical space, driving cost savings for the customer.
On-time course content completion and improved coverage
The recorded lessons enabled students as well as facilitators to conveniently refer to them at any stage. This reduced the time which was previously wasted in repeating lessons and enabled the facilitators to concentrate better on covering course content in depth and in time. The easy access to course material also helped the students to perform better.
Well-maintained, catalogued, and accessible library
The digitization of the library improved the overall reading experience for members. Books were now accessible from anywhere through the web-portal. and were neatly catalogued and indexed for easy searching. The physical copies could now be stored safely, eliminating the possibility of irreparable damage to important texts.
Embee’s customized AV solutions are designed to help organizations empower their teams with the tools to collaborate on their terms. Choose from a wide range of customized audio visual and video tools such as board rooms & conference rooms, auditoriums & large meeting spaces, huddle rooms, brief & demo centers, command & control centers, multi-touch, LCD video, LED video and Microsoft Teams rooms to elevate your team’s performance and creativity.
