The University of Hong Kong upgrades AV at its facilities to improve teaching and learning outcomes while also preparing to combat the challenges of the future.
The role of technology in the education sector has shifted dramatically over the course of 2020. We have explored
the shifts in trends in-depth
and with the installation at the
University of Hong Kong [HKU]
we get further clarity into how
end users in the education sector
are responding to the demands
of modern pedagogy.
Dr. Wilson Kwok, assistant
IT director at University of
Hong Kong, and Karho Wan, IT
manager at University of Hong
Kong, are part of the Learning
Environment Services team
of Information Technology
Services [ITS] at the university.
Their job is to manage the 150
or so classrooms and learning
spaces across the two campuses
of HKU along with five
performance venues and video
production labs.
Kwok from HKU explains the
reasoning behind the upgrade
project: “The facilities at Meng
Wah Complex were refurbished
approximately 17 years ago
and with the new upgrade we
were looking to modernise
the equipment in the rooms
in order to accommodate the
new pedagogical arrangement.
In particular, we had been
talking a lot internally about the
‘free classroom’ and encouraging
discussion instead of just having
a lecturer as a single point
of delivery. The interaction
between teachers and students,
and student engagement, served
as the core driving force for the
project.”
Wan from HKU sheds further
light: “The old AV systems had
served us well, but it was obvious
to us that they needed to be
upgraded. For example we still
had VGA connectivity in the
complex and the structured
cabling was still analogue based.
But we did not want the upgrade
to just focus on infrastructure
and technology. Before
embarking on the project, we
reached out to the collective
and asked them what would
enhance the facilities and a
lot of the decisions regarding
the AV systems, such as the
confidence monitors and digital
connectivity, were made with
their feedback in mind.”
Kwok from HKU further
elaborates: “We really had a
traditional AV arrangement
in the classrooms with just
projection serving as the display
for the spaces. We didn’t even
have visualisers. So, the decision
to invite the academic staff to
come and discuss their needs
and requirements was crucial.
At HKU, we encourage the
teachers and lecturers to drive
new and innovative ways to
teach and to learn. From our
discussions we came to focus on
really enhancing and upgrading
our lecture capture solution
which is integrated into our
learning management system.
All these elements were in
consideration from the start when
we began to design the rooms.”
Audio System Consultants
(Asia) Limited [ASCL] was
appointed as the system
integrator for the upgrade
project. Patrick Leung, director
for ASCL, details: “The team at
HKU is very experienced when
it comes to AV systems and the
design was driven by them. They
had a detailed idea regarding
what systems and products they
wanted to use and for us it was
a matter of executing their
vision and delivering on their
requirements. Of course, there
were some challenges. Since this
was an upgrade project, a lot
of the building infrastructure
was already in place and the
AV systems had to be designed
and deployed with these
considerations."
A key component of the
upgrade project was to improve
the facilities and functionality
of the seven lecture theatres
and classroom at the Meng Wah
Complex. Starting with the video
portion of the installation, ASCL
has upgraded the capabilities of
the learning spaces.
The fundamental video
system for the spaces comprises
Panasonic AW-HE40SW cameras,
classroom PCs, lectern input
panels for laptops and WolfVision
VZ-8Neo+ visualisers as the input
sources. These input signals are
sent to Crestron DM8x8-CPU3
video processor then delivered to
Panasonic PT-MZ770A projectors
and Philips flat panel displays
through Crestron DM-RMC-4KZ-
100-C video extenders.
A quick glance at the different
input sources available is enough
to highlight the fact that HKU
was keen to ensure content
capture in the upgraded learning
spaces. Kwok from HKU says:
“With the challenges caused
by Covid-19, we have moved
from synchronous content to
asynchronous content. Our
efforts to improve our capabilities
for lecture capture have helped
us address these challenges.
I think moving forward we will
be working towards what we call
‘blended learning’ where we have
both an online and an offline
component. Students will be able
to attend lectures in person in the
room, but at the same time the
content will be made available
to students who are at home.”
The video system is also
integrated into HKU’s learning
portal and Leung from ASCL
explains how this was achieved:
“The expectation of the
client was to have a real-time
interfacing system with
their existing Panopto and
videoconferencing software
like Team and Zoom. We use
the Extron USB to HDMI
scaling bridge to amalgamate
the video and audio sources,
including the camera, laptop,
desktop, and even visualiser.
Distance learning is becoming
more fundamental and it was
vital for the professors to be able
to capture the lecture.”
As always, there were
challenges for the integrator to
overcome during the course of
the project. Iris Ip, assistant
project engineer at ASCL, says:
“Ceiling height varied a lot from
classroom to classroom. There
were seven different rooms and
approximately four different
ceiling heights. One particular
room had a very high ceiling and
the floor was not flat so we had to
plan carefully regarding where
the AV equipment would be
situated. And of course, the
AV equipment also needed to
be placed in a way to fulfil its
function. For example, the
confidence monitor had to be
at the back of the room but still
be visible and also be at a spot
where the students could not
disrupt the AV systems. On the
other end of the spectrum, we
also had a room with a low ceiling
which presented a different
set of challenges. We had to be
careful about the position of the
projector to make sure that the
speaker does not cast a shadow.”
Audio in the learning spaces
has also been given due
consideration. Wan from HKU
says: “We have individual speaker
routing, we use single, dedicated
wires for each and every speaker
that has been deployed. This
allows us to set individual delay
times with few extra milliseconds
of Haas effect for creating a better
image and enhancing the audio
quality. We make use of the delay
in Lecture Theatre 1 and Lecture
Theatre 2 to provide a proper
audio experience and improve
intelligibility.”
The audio system comprises
Shure SLX24/BETA58 wireless
handheld microphones, Shure
SLX14/84 wireless lavalier
microphones in T1 to T7 and
Room 103 as the inputs. Audio
Technica U857QLU gooseneck
microphones are installed in T1
to T7 as well. Crestron DSP-1281
audio DSP serves as the audio
processor and Powersoft
Quattrocanali 1204 amplifiers
provide power. Tannoy AMS-
8DC-WH speakers provide
output. Additional HDbaseT
panels, audio panels with XLR
in/out chassis were deployed at
skirt line level for accommodating
external audio video signals for
event and seminar support.
The audio signals from the
classroom PC, lectern input
panel, wireless microphones
receivers, etc. are all wired to
Crestron DSP-1281 for signal
processing, routing and control.
All output signals are sent to
Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204
amplifiers which in turn deliver
the amplified signals to all
Tannoy AMS- 8DC-WH speakers
in the lecture theatre.
As Kwok and Wan mention
earlier in this feature the user,
in this case the professors and
lecturers who would avail the
facilities in the learning spaces,
was at the centre of the upgrade
project. The idea was for the
upgrade to facilitate different
instructional designs.
Wan from HKU details: “One of
our key technical and specialised
requirements was that the AV
system should be fully integrated
into the control system and
that we should have remote
monitoring and control. The
reasoning behind this was
two-fold. First, remote monitoring
and control would allow us to
manage a large AV deployment
with the resources that we have
at hand. And secondly, it would
allow us to provide the teachers
and students inside the learning
spaces a consistent user
experience.”
He continues: “Our goal was
for the academic staff to be able
to walk into any learning space
and be able to use the facilities
without any training and without
having to refer to any operation
manuals. We have achieved this
by standardising the GUI found
on every touch panel in the
complex and ensuring that it is
intuitive and easy to use. This is
made possible by the Crestron
control system and by ASCL’s
work. And with the remote
monitoring capabilities now
at our disposal, we are able to
quickly and efficiently respond
if our services are needed to
troubleshoot or help the
academic staff.”
Meng Wah Complex currently
runs AMX control and Crestron
Control systems in parallel.
Leung from ASCL says:
“Integrating two different
control systems in the true sense
is almost impossible, so we
are running the AMX and the
Crestron systems in parallel.
On our end, we spent a lot of
time testing and commissioning.
We tested the GUI and every
single product and every single
interaction to make sure that
there were no conflicts. This was
a challenge for us, and it was
made harder due to the time
limit of the project. We wanted
to thoroughly test the control
system and in the end I think we
were able to do that and deliver
what HKU required.”
The intention of the Learning
Environment Services team is
to streamline the control system
further in the future and expand
the remote monitoring
capabilities available.
With the project complete and
the spaces functional, Leung
from ASCL surmises: “This
upgraded audio visual system
is an integrated system for
academics. Since audio and
video for both professors
teaching in the lecture theatre
and students learning are
important, it is necessary to
provide the right technology
with affordable price. The lecture
theatres are operated every day
with frequent switching between
systems and it is important to
have equipment which is stable.”
Kwok from HKU concludes:
“My retired supervisor, Mrs.
Antoinette Kelly, who also served
as my mentor, says that silence is
golden and we haven’t had any
negative feedback from the users
even though the rooms are being
heavily used. There have been no
failures and the teachers have
been able to continue teaching
the students with ease and
pleasure.”