Commercial Integrator spoke with Dan Lynch of Symetrix to discuss the need for integrators in distance learning environments, how blended learning presents new problems, and more. Watch the full video above.
On the need for quality distance learning solutions:
“In today’s environment, access has almost stopped being an issue and the more critical issue is quality, or maybe clarity is a better way to express it. Now saying that, I’m not just talking about video quality or audio clarity. It’s an issue of how clearly ideas can be communicated, how naturally interaction between the instructor and pupil can happen, and maybe most importantly, how easily that virtual classroom environment can get out of the way of education. Anybody can fire up the camera on their laptop and launch a “virtual classroom” from any one of dozens of services, and when 3.5 million public school teachers all needed a solution pretty much overnight, that simplicity saved us.”
On the value that integrators provide to distance learning environments:
“If the goal is to have a transparent distance learning environment, where the teacher and pupil are able to interact naturally without worrying about anything other than their conversation and that flow of knowledge, making that happen is going to require expertise in audio, video – both camera and capture, integrating pre-recorded materials, distributing materials to the students when you can’t just hand them a worksheet, and controlling the entire system so it’s as easy as turning on the lights in a traditional classroom. Making all of that happen is the value that a commercial integrator provides and there’s no technology that’s ever going to replace that expertise or eliminate the need for it.”
On the difficulties of blended learning environments:
“A blended distance learning environment requires all of the same solutions that our industry has been using for years in conference rooms. If even a small high school with 600 students is going to be doing blended distance learning and they want to do it effectively, they need 30 teleconference rooms.”
