Driving new revenue with hybrid learning - Opportunities brought to life with Philips T-Line displays

Hybrid learning hit the headlines in 2020 as the way forward for students from reception right through to university during these challenging times. Combining traditional classroom experiences, including the social aspect of school and experiential learning, together with real-time digital course delivery, ensures that students on campus and at home are better able to meet learning objectives, and meet their peers and tutors for knowledge-sharing and engaging interaction.

According to research carried out by Jisc, Emerge Education, Universities UK and Advance HE*, before March 2020 very little university teaching was online. That has shifted almost completely for the 2020/21 academic year and the same survey, which was created in collaboration with more than 1,000 representatives from UK universities, found that online would be the dominant delivery mechanism, while leaders expect the balance of face-to-face and online delivery to balance out from 2021/22 onwards.

This presents significant opportunities for education providers to redefine their provision. Character development, collaborative learning and creative thinking are all key in the education experience, and the newly emerging hybrid education model will allow students not able to be on campus in person – whether because they are in another country, training on a team of elite athletes, due to long-term illness, or any other needs that require them to work remotely – to access a more comprehensive learning experience.

Of course, facilitating this new digitised approach may require some investment into new technologies, but this investment has the potential to open new revenue streams for educational institutions – from independent schools through to universities – into the longer term, as well.

Hybrid learning – an investment for the long term

Technology plays a central role in hybrid learning, and the interactive classroom display has developed significantly in the last year alone. While digital whiteboards, and even interactive displays introduced in more recent years, have brought the education environment into a digital era, these have already dated as education needs have evolved.

In this way, technology in education is no longer simply a teaching tool, it is also a key deciding factor for parents and students when selecting their school, college or university. Providing best-in-class learning environments for students to fulfil their potential is vital and selecting the right solution, and getting maximum return on investment, has never been more important.

Ensuring that the hardware and software needed to provide a quality hybrid education model is in place is essential, yet it need not be a challenging task.

Best-in-class hybrid education display – Philips T-Line

In February 2020, PPDS introduced the Philips T-Line – an education-specific interactive touchscreen designed with input from academics and students, addressing their frustrations with legacy technologies and bringing education displays up to speed with modern requirements, including an interactive whiteboard, wireless screen sharing and videoconferencing.

Since then, the developers at PPDS have kept pace with the changing requirements made real by Covid-19, delivering new features, functionality and software ideal for the hybrid education model. All bringing the education touch screen in line with displays used in corporate environments, preparing students for the future as they learn.

Now, to complement the Philips T-Line, PPDS has partnered with cloud-based software leader, i3 Technologies, to bring access to new levels of learning provision to teachers and students around the globe.

i3LEARNHUB, available directly from the Philips T-Line display, will provide teachers and students with instant access to an extensive range of new educative and collaborative tools, designed to help teachers create fresh, inspiring and feature-rich tailored content to present during lessons, turning classrooms into highly collaborative workspaces and facilitating hybrid learning.

Available in 65”, 75”and 86” size variants, Philips T-Line comes equipped with a wide range of out-of-the-box features and functionality capable of transforming any educational space – turning once traditional, sometimes static rooms into a hot-bed of active interaction, boosting the overall learning experience and overcoming traditional barriers.

What’s more, running on an Android operating system, these new era interactive displays can work with a teacher’s preferred software, providing almost universal familiarity and ensuring lessons are started on time with minimal distraction.

Each display features true multi-touch interaction, as well as high speed technology and optimised glass coating to deliver a high-class writing experience, allowing multiple students to physically interact with the display (20 touchpoints) simultaneously, using either their hands, or for more accurate detail, a multi-tip passive stylus. The displays can also connect with a keyboard and mouse and have the functionality to support Active Pen technology.

Ensuring students always have the best view of the screen, T-line – running from a secure wireless connection – allows up to 64 students to connect their own personal computing device directly to the display at the same time – whether in the room or in their own room. And work on up to four students’ devices can be shared onto the display at any one time.

To learn more about the possibilities for hybrid learning made real with Philips T-Line displays, please contact your local PPDS sales manager.

* https://www.jisc.ac.uk/reports...