Since its founding in 1946, King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, has been dedicated to transforming minds and hearts through the College’s commitment to creative pedagogy.
The William G. McGowan School of Business is part of that commitment. Established in 1990, the AACSB International Accredited School of Business offers innovation in program development and a forward-thinking approach of teaching with the use of the latest in technology. The design and development of their latest collaboration lab speaks volumes to the long-term vision of the school. “We have wanted to develop this level of teaching environment for several years, but we did not feel the industry was where it needed to be,” stated Ray Pryor, Managing Director of User Services for King’s College. “When Barco developed the weConnect, we felt we had finally found the right product.”
Barco’s weConnect BYOD Classroom offers an easy way to achieve a fully functional collaborative learning environment. The system allows students and teachers to bring their own devices to the classroom and wirelessly present their information − whether it is graphics, video, audio or applications − on the classroom display. “The product is robust and intuitive with no need for physical wires,” said Pryor. “Wireless without lag is what we were looking for.”
The classroom is designed with four pods. The instructor teaches from a café-style table in the center of the room, sharing content from a laptop on a Polyvision Eno in the front of the room. The teacher controls the displays from a simple web interface with live preview of the classroom screen and shared student content. The instructor can also share their content on the Samsung screens at each of the pods, or bring the student’s content in from their laptops, iPads or phones. The weConnect replaces the need for hard-wired machines and allows for every classroom to become a lab.
When our faculty asks what you can do with this classroom, my answer is: Use your imagination!
The room was also designed with a virtual experience in mind. Along the rear wall will eventually be the home of multiple videoconferencing cameras, giving students at the other end of the connection the feeling as though they were actually sitting in the classroom.
The collaboration lab is currently being utilized for Marketing classes, but will be adopted into more of the curriculum at the start of the next academic year in August.
“It is exciting to watch the class in action,” stated Dr. Barry H. Williams, Dean, McGowan School of Business. “When our faculty asks what you can do with this classroom, my answer is: “Use your imagination!”
