Medical Education Institution Leverages Collaboration for Flexible Learning
As part of a vision to enhance its student experience with a modern, technology-driven learning environment, a renowned medical education institution was converting a historic manufacturing plant into a cutting-edge learning facility. Instructor-to-student collaboration and remote access to instruction and content were essential for achieving the medical school’s objectives. Burwood Group was selected to create a sophisticated yet simple solution to support multimedia content, distance learning and collaboration in classrooms, labs, and clinical simulation suites.
The Challenge: Bring Cutting-Edge Learning Technology to a Historic Building
Leadership at the highly ranked medical school recognized that technology enabled instruction was the future of medical education. The institution solicited proposals for adding traditional videoconferencing and connectivity to 30 rooms in the new learning facility. The challenges? 1) Preserving the historic integrity of the building was paramount for the new space. Significant engineering and expertise were required to overcome the physical challenges of this space. 2) Understanding the demand for classroom space and working within considerable time constraints of the new pending academic year.
The Solution: Reliable, User-Friendly Connectivity
Designed for flexibility, the streamlined architecture reduces support costs while providing a foundation for future upgrades for unified communications and new learning technologies.
Drawing from the firm’s prior work performing a distance learning and unified communications assessment for the medical school, Burwood proposed an alternative approach to traditional video connectivity and leveraged the latest collaboration technology to double the number classrooms the University could deploy without adding to the budget.
Burwood consultants built the infrastructure for connected learning with technology from Cisco including: Cisco’s Conductor, Telepresence Manager, and Expressway solutions. Then Burwood stretched the budget by streamlining the design to require fewer components, conduits and cables, and less installation time. In addition, Burwood provided a standardized touch interface in nearly every room to simplify the user experience. The Burwood project management and delivery team met this objective on time for the start of the new year.
““Burwood helped us achieve our vision of a state-of-the-art medical learning facility. They provided a creative solution that expanded our capability to provide students with a world class learning environment without expanding the budget. With a big-picture strategic perspective, Burwood provided us with the technical infrastructure we need for future technology advances.”
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The Outcome: State-of-the-Art Videoconferencing—and More
The new facility removes barriers to learning, enabling students and faculty to communicate and share multimedia content between multiple rooms or from remote locations. Professors can record and easily post live lectures online for students to access on demand. Designed for flexibility, the streamlined architecture reduces support costs while providing a foundation for future upgrades for unified communications and new learning technologies.
Burwood Group Services:
Collaboration
Physical Design
Technology Strategy
Wireless Networking