NEC Display Solutions customer installation – Education
British College of Gavà
Strengthening the use of technology in Education
NEC Display Solutions and AV&Data have facilitated the digitisation of the British College of Gavà, developing a project which has enabled the digitalisation of classrooms and common areas with digital blackboards and projectors with COMM control.
The British College of Gavà is characterised by its philosophy of personalising teaching inside and outside the classroom, and thus technological innovation becomes a powerful tool of communication which helps teachers and pupils to interact.
The Challenge
Extending what Education can offer with technology
The BC Gavà mirrors the British education system whereby classrooms benefit from digitised ICT equipment to aid full inclusion of all pupils. The project has been completed by NEC Display Solutions and AV&Data, its partner specialising in solutions for educational environments.
The technological solutions installed are very useful, not only for improving pupils’ learning skills, but also for strengthening the relationship with the teacher, which is “the greatest asset in classrooms” according to Rafael Valverde, the school’s CEO.
One of the British College of Gavà’s objectives is to involve its pupils from the first years of teaching, to integrate the youngest pupils into a digital educational environment. For this purpose, the digitisation programme has been rolled out to all ages, including the infants, primary and secondary school years, to ensure that from their first steps in the school, pupils can begin their educational adventure surrounded by the most up-to-date technology.
The plan is, therefore, to involve them in a digital environment where they learn to develop naturally and where it is easier for them to have access to new knowledge. It is a project which leaves the doors open to continuity in the co-operation between BC Gavà, NEC and AV&Data in order to achieve fully digitalised classrooms for all years and common rooms.
The NEC Solution
Technological innovation and image of the modern world
The BC Gavà has installed 11 x UM351W projectors with 1280x800 resolution, suitable for educational use thanks to their minimum shade and glare, so as to help teachers and pupils to interact during class time, with support on a large-format digital blackboard, which all the classrooms at the school have available.
In the ‘Carpa’, the assembly hall, the model PA722X has been installed. A large projection screen presides over this unique multipurpose room, surrounded by a pine wood a few metres from the beach, which makes this place a special meeting point for the educational community, family members and pupils.
In the classrooms of the youngest pupils, in order to achieve complete integration and use of technology by pupils and teachers, the infants and primary school classrooms also include large-format interactive digital blackboards with ultra-short distance projectors that have an Up&Down lifting mechanism; this helps to raise and lower the interactive system, thus making it possible to lower the blackboard for greater interaction with the pupils and raise it for the teacher to give explanations more easily.
The technological innovations have allowed the school to focus on the digitalisation of the classrooms. This translates into improvement in displaying the content to the pupils, easier access to it and an increase in the interaction between teachers and pupils. It also helps to save costs and improve the environment by reducing the amount of paper and toner used. Also, for the teaching staff at BC Gavà, the importance of co-operation between themselves, NEC Display Solutions and AV&Data is not based solely on the installation of the equipment and the new technology which brings them closer to digitalising their school. What is also important is access to expert advice and continuous training of the teaching staff in the use of ICT equipment.
The Result
The School, a place open to knowledge
A school so focused on British-style quality education strengthens its provision of individualised and personalised teaching with state-of-the-art technology. These devices are not only directed towards improving the provision of educational content, but are also a tool to improve communication between pupils and teachers, helping to make classes much more fluid and with greater participation. In this way, the pupils see their school as a place open to knowledge from their first years of education.
The devices installed in the infants and primary school classrooms have a COMM control system which enables the projectors to be controlled from a common point with VGA and HDMI connections. Also, the interactive classrooms formed by PDI and projectors have a lifting system with an Up&Down mechanism, which makes it easier to raise and lower the blackboard for greater inclusivity. The aim is to continue equipping the classrooms and to use all the educational and communication potential of the new devices integrated with the highest standards of quality.
For the teaching staff at BC Gavà, this commitment offers “the possibility to interact with experts located in places a long way away, benefitting from their experiences and knowledge, and opens up an infinite and universal range of knowledge”, assures Rafael Valverde, CEO of BC Gavà.
The school is characterised by the personalisation of education, as well as being able to offer fully digitalised classrooms, which strengthens his idea of “accustoming the pupils to deal with technology, preparing them for the ever-increasingly digitalised world we live in, by developing their abilities which will stand them in good stead in the future”.