Case Study: How AREC engaged in education for Erasmus+ project

Dear ADENA partners, this time let’s look at Erasmus+ PRINTel project and how together with Firm Alpha, universities have prepared themselves for online education with AREC.

Before in-depth description, a few words about what Erasmus+ is. It is an EU wide program that also operates in adjacent countries, and that sponsors projects and other efforts to improve education standards. One of these projects is PRINTel. The main objective of this project is to improve the quality and level of education through the use of innovative products in 9 Higher Education Institutions of Georgia, Belarus, and Armenia. These products include lecture capture stations, auto-tracking cameras, interactive touchscreens, and document cameras. For lecture capture, PRINTel needed a solution that was easy to use, flexible, and capable of recording and streaming lectures for students to see and review. For auto-tracking, it was required for the solution to be smooth, precise, and to work with minimal input from the lecturers. In both cases, AREC proved to be the ideal system. 

A combination of LS-200 Media Station and CI-T21H Auto-Tracking camera was selected for every participating university. LS-200 is capable of creating a mixed video of two video sources (e.g. document cameras, computers, network cameras) and simultaneously stream it up to two platforms. The sources can also be recorded independently, making them available for post-editing. At the same time, front and back auto-tracking with automatic zoom provided by CI-T21H means that lecturers are always in the camera’s sight and are free to move as they desire. Very importantly, having AREC in place helped these universities continue their teaching largely undisturbed despite quarantine restrictions. Students can watch their lectures from the comfort and safety of their homes in Full HD, and because of numerous customizable layouts of video sources, students are able to focus on what is most important - be it lecture slides, document camera image, lecturer, or all of it at the same time.

Timely introduction of AREC systems to these universities has definitely upped the level of provided teaching and will help forge a new generation of professionals in these countries.

If you would like to know more about how AREC products can help your institution or company to continue and excel in an online environment, contact us on www.a-dena.com and we will gladly assist you.

Online Education No Longer a Future Topic

Dear ADENA partners, it is time to look at Online Education in detail. Online Education allows students to participate in lectures remotely from anywhere in the world. Classes can go uninterrupted, and that means students don’t need to cancel their course applications and universities don’t need to lay off staff. This is a crucial advantage these days, and increasing numbers of universities and schools are seeing it and adapting accordingly.

Some turn to video conferencing software on computers. These applications allow teachers to connect to students and hold lectures using even very basic devices. Students can ask questions in real time much the same way as in a lecture hall. However, such software is usually limited in 

• Maximum number of participants

• Content sharing abilities

• Potential connection problems 

Participants must also make sure that their microphones and cameras are disabled, as otherwise they will distract everyone. This is already a nuisance with a few participants, and it becomes a true problem when there are dozens and hundreds of them. And on that scale, setting up lectures takes plenty of time from both students and lecturers. These are some of the main concerns among others for education practitioners relying on video conferencing.

Fortunately, these concerns are covered by standalone, specifically designed products, such as AREC Media Capture Systems. 

1. Flexible arrangement of lectures - they can be streamed online, recorded for offline use, uploaded to VOD platforms and servers, or all at the same time. This saves time for both lecturers and students. Whole courses can be recorded in advance and shown to different groups of students, leaving lecturers time to address specific questions in Q&A sessions. 

2. Students have access to a database of lecture recordings, giving them a way to revise material anytime during their course. 

3. In terms of content sharing, AREC allows users to show and use up to 4 video sources at the same time - such as a computer with slides, document camera, lecturer camera, tablet, and more. 

4. Lastly, connection quality and other participants don’t impact the lectures either - video quality can be adjusted for different networks, and students don’t interrupt each other.

A great number of universities and schools worldwide have already protected their present and future work with Media Capture Systems, for instance, 

University of Bari, Italy, 

Textile University of Boras, Sweden, 

Danish Institute of Technology, Denmark,

Osnabrück University, Germany

Montemorelos University, Mexico

Budker Institute Of Nuclear Physics, Russia

and many more. 

To know more about them, or about how our systems can help your organization, please contact us via our website www.a-dena.com and we will happily assist you.

Work/Study Remotely with AREC

Dear ADENA partners, this time we would like to share some ways in which AREC products can be used to work or study remotely. It is surprisingly easy!

• STREAM - with AREC Media Stations, schools and universities can stream their lectures and classes online to enable remote student participation. Companies can stream their meetings to link employees and partners throughout the world. Governmental organizations can stream meetings, discussions, proceedings and more to make their constituents aware of the work. It’s possible to stream up to 2 platforms at the same time, like YouTube, Facebook, or any other RTMP platform. If you would like additional security, you can use private platforms (e.g. Wowza), or even connect to an internal station stream via RTSP link.

• PRESENT WITH STYLE - with HDMI to USB Bridge sales or support team can convert cameras and other sources and use them as a webcam. This will allow them to show presentations or product features in fully customizable multi-channel layouts in Skype, Zoom, and other video conferencing software. With AREC products, you can define how you would like to deliver your content and add personal flair to your work.

• BACKUP AND REVISIT - Your work and materials’ safety is a priority for us! All AREC Media Stations support FTP and SFTP backup modes. They are also integrated with popular video content management systems (VCMS), allowing users to conveniently access their recorded material in a flash on any device.

If you would like to know more about any of the ways in which AREC products can help you achieve successful remote work or study process, please visit www.a-dena.com, and we will schedule a discussion at your convenience.