Barco makes interactive higher learning easy at the University of Northampton
The University of Northampton is one of the oldest universities in the UK, but their brand-new Waterside campus is fully equipped for 21st-century teaching. Barco Education partnered up with the University of Northampton to deliver a campus-wide solution for collaborative learning.
Installations of Barco’s weConnect and Overture have been realized in 168 classrooms, 24 huddle spaces, 81 interactive classrooms, 35 connected classrooms, 23 collaboration rooms and 5 lecture halls. It’s a dynamic learning environment for students and teachers alike.
A modern learning experience for modern students
“Millennials expect a different type of learning experience,” says Andrew Taylor, Digital Integration Lead at the University of Northampton. “We need technologies that allow us to serve up scalable, flexible and on-demand teaching. weConnect gives us a collaborative classroom and wireless screen-sharing experience. And Overture underpins all that as a third-party control system that is highly customizable.”
Active learning strengthens problem-solving and team-working skills and prepares students for challenges they will face in the workplace. weConnect’s interactive features such as polls and quizzes enable blended learning and train students to become content creators. And the benefits don’t stop with the students: teachers can shake up traditional teaching methods and easily adapt content. Dr. Holger Siemons, Associate Professor at the University of Northampton says: “weConnect helps me to renovate my teaching approaches, to be more curious about new topics, and it gives me immediate feedback from students. You can really build a culture of participation.”
Easy, customizable collaboration
Barco’s weConnect boosts student engagement in classrooms and lecture halls—students and teachers actively participate in lessons together, making learning more effective. And it features simple interfaces that are easy-to-use whether you’re in a classroom, huddle space, lecture hall or joining a lesson remotely.
All of this collaboration is uniformly experienced across the university thanks to Overture Barco’s smart A/V remote monitoring and control solution. “It takes some of the cognitive load off our lecturers, there are no more control panels and we can automate equipment,” reports Andrew Taylor. “In addition to more interactive teaching with weConnect, Overture helps us deliver a complete solution.”
Barco’s weConnect and Overture is the perfect solution for the University of Northampton’s Waterside campus. Barco is delighted to have delivered the technology required for enabling an interactive higher-learning experience that prepares modern students for the modern world.
Full story can be read on Barco's web site or come and visit us during Learning Technologies and we are glad to demo and explain weConnect for you.