CTOUCH cocreates virtual classroom for training
The virtual training room with a capacity of up to 112 participants was built in collaboration with Barco and Kinly and is designed for use by external organisations as well as CTOUCH.
CTOUCH has built a virtual classroom at its headquarters in Eindhoven in the Netherlands in collaboration with Barco and Kinly. The facility makes it possible for companies and institutions to organise real-time, interactive training and classes with co-workers, students and partners from all over the world. The virtual training room will also be used by CTOUCH to provide collaboration sessions and technical product training to its network of resellers and touchscreen users.
The virtual classroom is equipped with seven wall mounted 55” Christie UHD551-L LCD displays with 4K native resolution. Attendees can observe the session from three different angles, by manually choosing between the front view Logitech MeetUp camera, from the top view Panasonic AW-HE60 camera or from a side angle provided by another AW-HE60 camera. The virtual classroom offers plenty of space for more than one host and is equipped with special lighting to make sure that presenters and products are well visible to the virtual audience.
Barco’s integrated weConnect system tops it all off. The virtual classroom can range in size from six to 112 participants that all are visible via the displays on the wall, so that the presenter can make eye contact and the virtual training room at CTOUCH has a capacity of up to 24 visible participants. A data overlay enables audience participation in various ways, such as raised hands, polls or quizzes in order to have maximum engagement.
“At this moment, there are only a couple of these training facilities in The Netherlands,” said CEO Remmelt van der Woude. “The latest one is built here at our CTOUCH office in Eindhoven. What makes our virtual training room unique, is that we’ve been able to integrate our touchscreens in it. This adds an extra dimension to interactive training, since everybody in the session is able to see what’s happening on the touchscreen, in real-time. With Barco’s weConnect SaaS solution as a backbone and the expertise that Kinly provided in facilitating the complete solution, I’m happy that we enable ourselves and other companies to effectively train, teach and coach teams in these challenging times.”
The demand for remote working and blended learning solutions has increased tremendously in the past few months due to the Covid-19 outbreak. With many
companies currently preparing for a new way of working, another challenge is arising: how to bring interactivity and engagement into a virtual classroom environment?
“As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, we see an increased demand from our customers – in education, government and companies for blended learning”, said Robert Blaas, marketing director at Kinly Benelux. “However, what is missing in many of the solutions for blended learning are interactivity and engagement. Matters that are important in training and lectures. Together with Barco and CTOUCH, we have built a solution for remote education and training where interactivity and engagement are paramount. We believe that solutions such as the virtual classroom should not only be used today as an emergency solution, but should also contribute to the innovation of education and training.”
“Our virtual classroom is a purpose-built platform for teaching and learning. It is cocreated with learning technologists from universities, business schools and corporate training centres. We’ve already rolled out this concept in various places in education and at corporate training centres. We see a lot of value for business environments. With CTOUCH and Kinly we have excellent partners to make sure the user experience and the level of engagement is on a par with live, face-to-face classes”, said Ellen Van de Woestijne, segment marketing director at Barco.
CTOUCH is inviting businesses and educational institutions to learn more about the virtual training facility. For more information, visit https://ctouch.eu/virtual-classroom.
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Posted: 1st July 2020