Emerging Technology (Enhancing, Engaging, Connecting)
Changing the Landscape
Colleges and universities are increasingly integrating cutting-edge audiovisual technologies in order
to modernize the higher education experience for students
raised in the digital age. These new tools enable schools and educators
to promote their educational goals and programs, ensure every student
has a clear view of classroom activities, and provide media students with
commercial media technologies crucial to post-graduation success.
The diverse institutions and methods detailed here show how
audiovisual technology is influencing many aspects of the higher
education landscape.
Digital Messaging
Keeps Pace With Scientific Progress
When the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight
Cancer Institute in Portland, OR, built a new 320,000-square-foot
facility in 2018, faculty realized the ground floor’s expansive windows
presented an excellent opportunity to convey the school’s mission and
purpose to the surrounding community. Recognizing that projection
systems are not ideal for sunlit environments, the planners elected to
install a 52-foot-wide 4K LED video wall they call the “Discovery Wall,”
which faces outside and can display video content 24 hours a day.
“The video wall allows the Institute to tell the story of the
science occurring in the building and change our message as the
science changes,” says Allen Tomlinson, director of Marketing and
Strategic Communications for the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.
“The science will change, and in 10 years we’ll be telling an
entirely different story from the one we’re telling today.”
The building’s main auditorium also features a 10-foot-tall-by-16-foot-wide 4K LED video wall that, in addition to supporting
lectures with bright, high-resolution imagery, is used throughout the
year to display the institute’s busy schedule of events and as a backdrop
for public TED-style talks hosted by university researchers.
Every Seat Seems Like the Front Row
The Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM) opened in
2018 with the stated mission “to be the nation’s leader in the training
of caring and expert osteopathic physicians.” Utilizing display
technologies is a core piece of the school’s plan to achieve that goal.
In the main lecture hall, ICOM installed a 90-inch “confidence”
LCD monitor as the primary display, ensuring every student can
clearly see presented content. Additional 60- to-70-inch LCD
monitors work in tandem to provide multiple fields of view for
students during lectures. In the school’s Osteopathic Manipulative
Medicine Laboratory, a variety of 60-, 70-, and 80-inch LCD
displays help students learn how to perform muscle manipulation
techniques with patients, using split-screen video to show alternative
manipulation methods. When not in use for instruction, all of
the displays provide information on campus events, display maps,
and also connect to social media feeds.
The Benefits of Using Real-World Equipment
Educators are increasingly recognizing how valuable it is to
provide students hands-on experience with technologies they will
use in their careers.
At Canadore College in Ontario, Canada, this idea blossomed
into a partnership with Dolby that resulted in a “Post-Production
at Canadore” facility that provides complete editing, sound mixing,
and finishing facilities to their students.
The studio features a digital cinema projector and Dolbycertified
sound system with 41 surround-sound speakers, in addition
to a color-correction suite, an Automated Dialogue Replacement
stage, and full sound mixing equipment—all of which are
professional-grade and state-of-the-art. The knowledge and skills
gained working with this caliber of equipment prepares students
for the highly competitive media industry.
Furthermore, last year alone, the area surrounding the school
hosted 11 film and television shoots—which now use the school’s
post-production facility. By renting the space to local professional
productions the studio not only generates revenue for the school,
but also encourages cross-pollination of ideas and best practices
between students and seasoned pros.
According to Yura Monestime, project lead and associate dean
of Media, Canadore College, “When you have state-of-the-art
facilities, you start seeing incredibly professional results coming
out of the student work, and that bodes well for all the film and
film-related programs at the college.”
Preparing for the Future
As technology progresses, higher education providers are integrating
the latest in audiovisual technology—such as LED video walls,
networks of LCD displays, and cutting-edge media production technologies—to better engage students and inform local communities of
university projects. Through thoughtful design and planning, these
audiovisual installations are changing how colleges deliver curricula,
campus information, and preparation for entry into the job market.
AVIXA™ is the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association,
which represents the $231-billion global commercial AV industry and
produces InfoComm trade shows around the world. To find out more,
visit www.avixa.org/higheredAV.