The future of AV in education: simple, networked, automated solutions: the classrooms of the not-too-distant future are looking like an AV project

University Business, May, 2004 by Gary Kayye

In the beginning there was AV.

Then came IT.

Now, it's being called AV/IT. But shouldn't it really be called IT/AV?

According to 59-year AV-industry veteran Fred Dixon, almost every school across the country--the world in fact--has had an AV department since the slide projector made its debut in the chemistry department in the 1950s. Sure, the film projector showed up in schools and campuses long before the slide projector, but it wasn't considered as portable so management of it was based on possession--whoever possessed one, managed it. Back in 1955, the AV department managed where the slide projectors and next-generation portable film projectors were, what media was placed in them and, in some cases, any special audio needs for the classrooms. And many AV departments weren't yet called AV.

Now, AV encompasses projectors (the video and data kind), VCRs, DVD players, digital recorders, audio PA systems and a whole host of other AV-designated equipment that even stretches into buzzwords like multimedia, real-time media, videoconferencing and even some legacy film and slide projectors. And more recently, a merger of AV and IT departments has forced a convergence in technologies that will soon produce an explosion of technological innovation that will create a plethora of network-enabled AV products.

TAPPING INTO THE NETWORK

The new world of AV started fairly recently in 2001 with the networkable projector from Sony that included an Ethernet port in the FX-50. At the time, virtually no one realized the impact this tiny innovation would have on the future of the ProAV market, but it's staggering.

Since then, virtually every projector manufacturer has emulated that move and produced a network-enabled digital projector. Adoption in 2003 was around 13 percent. And now we've got networkable plasmas, LCDs, switchers, videoconferencing systems and even networkable speakerphones.

But 2004 will be remembered as the year AV in education changed forever--the year that brought networkable systems. Now every AV system you install can be completely networked with either an in-house existing network or via an independent AV network, and it will not only change the way you design, install and use AV systems; it will completely simplify the AV-enabled classroom, thereby eliminating the need for training and potentially automating the entire operation.

[In case you're a professor or an educator, please skip this paragraph and jump to the next one] Now, statistically, we know that if an educator is having a problem with a system, there's a greater than 90 percent chance that it's actually, the educator--poor training, a technological gap or just someone who just can't figure out how to change the blinking 12:00 on the VCR. We call that cockpit error.

But let's take a look how schools tackle AV problems and how they're likely to.

At colleges, for example, if an instructor heads over to a hall or classroom 10 minutes before class starts with a laptop to deliver a lecture, he or she better hope all systems are go. If there's a problem getting the laptop on the screen, getting the DVD player to PLAY or figuring out how to get the document camera to work, there's usually a way to connect to the AV/IT department (often via the nearby magic phone--some are even red). Just pick up the phone in class to tlak to an AV tech.

The technician will spend a few minutes checking the obvious potential problems. However, if this doesn't solve the problem, the AV tech heads into the classroom to solve the problem. Usually it's cockpit error, and because of this, it means that greater than 90 percent of the time the problem is solved within a matter of minutes after AV tech arrives.

NOW LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE

Same problem, but now instead of the AV tech heading across campus or building to enter the classroom, the tech actually types in the room's IP address and, voila, they're in the room without having to actually be in the room. Now, via network-enabled AV gear, every single thing an AV technician can do standing in that classroom can be done online through a connection across the network to the classroom--and before the IT guys object, we're using less than one percent of the bandwidth of that network connection.

Now take it a step forward and automate it all.

What if every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 A.M. the same class is held in the same room? Why not totally automate the process? I would still install the cameras and motion sensors, but in most cases they would be used so that the AV department can monitor what's going on in class and while set-up is happening, but using fuzzy logic, the system learns the "usual" commands of the instructor and normal daily set-up of that room and adjusts itself.

IT DOESN'T STOP THERE. HERE, A GLIMPSE DOWN THE ROAD

* Theft prevention No more equipment loss or theft since every AV product is networked, and if any cable connector--even power--is disconnected when it's not supposed to be or if a room is turned on or off when it's not supposed to be, an alarm is triggered across the network and even turns off the lights in the room so the would-be thief can't get out easily! An abnormal situation, for example, would be disconnecting the power cable from the projector. In that situation, your system sets off an audible alarm in the room, then shuts down the lights, then calls (yes, calls) the police and tells them what's being stolen.