Education spotlight
KRAMER DELIVERS AVOIP SOLUTIONS TO NEW SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED FLEXIBLE LEARNING EXPERIENCES
The Finnish article: The new Akvarelli multi-purpose centre in Forssa – for students aged 3 to 16 – is using Kramer AVoIP technology to create highly interactive, inspiring and flexible learning spaces and experiences in 25 classrooms.
K
ramer has supplied some of its AVoIP solutions to help revolutionise the teaching and learning experiences for students inside all 25 classrooms at the new €24m Akvarelli
school in Finland. Located in Forssa, a small Finnish municipality with a
population of around 16,500, Akvarelli is an exciting new, multi- purpose learning centre, supporting over 600 students aged 3-16, from pre-school to secondary education, plus a range of other extra-curricular leisure activities. Replacing a tired and outdated existing site, construction on the new centre began in 2018, with all aspects of the design centred heavily around creating more stimulating learning spaces and experiences. The Akvarelli AV/IT team required a best-in-class solution to
meet the challenges of education and teaching both today and in the future. Key requirements for the project included:
• Creating flexible learning spaces • Give educators the flexibility to move around the classroom as they teach
• Provide teachers with a stress-free, unified experience so they can focus on teaching rather than operating technology
• Ensure seamless and consistent user experiences in all classrooms with AV equipment
At first, Forssa was looking at a solution with a standard HDMI connection to accommodate the many projectors and smartboards the former school building already had. However, with a bigger school in the Akvarelli centre, additional smartboards would have been required, and after interviewing the teachers, it became clear the benefits of these dated tools were not being utilised. As a result, an AVoIP solution was chosen as the new direction. Niko Sutinen, IT manager for the Forssa Municipality
commented: “We wanted to create flexible classrooms in which teachers would be able to move around, while also delivering a stress-free environment for teachers; to have the same setup and solution in every classroom with the same functions, so their time is spent teaching, not working complicated technology.” After extensive testing, trials and demonstrations – including
teachers – in the existing school building, the final solutions included Kramer’s scalable and flexible KC-Brainware-25 hardware platform for controlling almost any device over ethernet (on the network) in all 25 classrooms. In addition, 100 x Kramer KDS-6 devices have been used in the
project, with one KDS-EN6 encoder and two KDS-DEC6 decoders installed in each of the 25 classrooms.
60 | September/October 2023 To ensure maximum usability, and remove all complexity of the
technology, 25 x Kramer KT-107 wall and desk mountable touch panels have been installed in each classroom. Supporting wired PoE and advanced WiFi connectivity, the 7” multi-touch 1280x800 resolution panels, provide tutors seamless one-touch near-zero latency (10 milliseconds) access to all connected devices available in the room. With Kramer’s cloud-based K-Touch Control software, tutors
can securely mirror the control panel’s interface directly on an existing iOS or Android auxiliary device, such as a smartphone or tablet, adding even greater flexibility and freedom in how and where they choose to present during a class. The set-up – including panels and all technology – is mirrored
and consistent in every classroom, so tutors are always competent and comfortable using the technology, helping to eliminate possible confusion or delays. Kramer’s AV solution is used for multiple purposes beyond
classroom lessons at Akvarelli, with the school’s administrators using the displays for each morning’s 10-minute ‘opening ceremony’ to make announcements and share messages. For security purposes, the system can also send out warnings via a silent alarm, which can be immediately pinpointed to an exact location. “It is a huge step to change solutions for the teachers, so it needs
to be done right,” said Niko Sutinen. “Now, with AvoIP, the teachers can present everywhere in the classroom and are not dependent on any connection. You can open up the classrooms. Be a few steps ahead of other schools. And ultimately help Akvarelli become a stimulating learning environment that meets the challenges of education – today and in the future.”
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