Concept AV creates a space at the University of Sydney that can do everything required for modern teaching and learning. Hurrairah bin Sohail discovers more.
What is the modern shape of teaching and learning? In its quest to discover the answer, University of Sydney found that the way educators view pedagogy, and the needs of the students and teachers, shape the conclusion. The university’s efforts and exploration resulted in the Connected Learning at Scale (CLaS) Business School project.
CLaS has been created by the combining of two rooms, with a strong focus on scalability, personalisation, and collaboration. The space is designed to equip students for the swiftly evolving digital realm by presenting them a multifaceted environment epitomising innovation and adaptability.
It can operate in three modes; Launchpad for mini-lectures, Huddle for independent quadrant-based seminars, and Focus for smaller group work and collaboration. Technology and AV are central to helping the space transition between the different teaching modes and supporting the desired activities.
Concept AV was appointed the integrator for the project through an open tender. Concept AV was selected by the builder and was on the panel of preferred partners for the University of Sydney.
Andrew Squillacioti from Concept AV starts the conversation around how the project was conceived: “The J02 CLaS Business School project is the university’s dedicated connected learning at scale space made possible through the decision to combine two existing rooms into one larger space. The space and solution designed was required to support sessions that start with the student cohorts coming together as one large group before dividing into four smaller groups, or further into groups of two to four people. With remote learning demands at a high following the pandemic, it was imperative that remote students were afforded the same capabilities as local students in any of these configurations. It was therefore a requirement that all participants, irrespective of the mode or location would feel a sense of community, being able to clearly hear each other, and see both the active talker and the content being shared to the group.”
He continues: “A key driver of success was the ability to transition from any activity or mode to any other, ad hoc, and as seamlessly as possible. The system was therefore built around the three core pedagogical modes specified by the client.”
When it came time to select products for the job, Concept AV and the consultant went down a specific, deliberate path. Victoria Moliterno from Concept AV elaborates: “The technology systems were predominantly built around the Q-SYS products, and it was a deliberate decision to keep all the products within an ecosystem in order for them to work cohesively. This decision allowed us to simplify and also make sure that the system was scalable. We believed this would not have been possible if we had to create interconnectivity between different devices from multiple different brands.”
Concept AV was essentially tasked with creating ‘nested’ learning spaces. For video endpoints, the integrator took a unique approach. Quadrants 1 and 4 have a pair of 86-in NEC displays, providing full visibility for content, while quadrants 2 and 3 are served by a single NEC videowall, which provides a central focal point for the space.
The teaching lecterns are each equipped with two Q-SYS NV-21- HU units and three Q-SYS NV-32-H units, which can be configured as either encoders or decoders to provide inputs for USB-C, HDMI, resident PC, Zoom Room, and a Q-SYS PTZ visualiser mounted overhead.
For more individual learning, 26 student pods are equipped with a screen and a Q-SYS NV-21-HU video endpoint in decoder mode to receive content.
Special attention has been paid to the fact that the university required content to be routable to all displays in the space. Squillacioti elaborates: “Zoom was considered for this functionality natively; however, it would leave the presenter without the ability to preview students’ content, check their work progress, or manage the sharing of it to local and remote students. In order to accommodate these features, all pod Zoom Room wireless NUCs were mounted in the central rack alongside nine NV-32-H units to ingest the three 1080p60 signals simultaneously and distribute them to any NV-21-HU video decoder in the space. This approach allowed better access for support, as well as a way to better leverage the temperature-controlled spaces available and minimise field devices.”
He continues: “Each pod has its default Zoom Room or wireless setup routed by default in group work modes, and the same signal could easily be distributed as required by the academic or overridden for the sharing of content to class in both Launchpad and Huddle modes. All QSC NV endpoints appear within the Q-SYS Designer file alongside audio, camera, and control inventory, allowing a familiar flexible and powerful interface for designing, programming, and supporting the AV signals throughout the space. Furthermore, the Q-SYS NV endpoints provide native USB bridging functionality that gives the system it’s most flexible feature; camera routing and tracking.”
There is a focus on ensuring meeting equity for all participants, remote and in-room. Squillacioti says: “Community and cohesion could not be achieved without ensuring that the far-end participants could keep track of where the action is happening in the space, being able to clearly hear and see the active talker, allowing them to partake in active discussion. Furthermore, in order to ensure that academics in the space could focus on what they do best it was very important that the camera system be both completely automated, as well as support all room modes and routing requirements.”
Three Q-SYS NC-12X80 network cameras were selected for the job of automatically focusing on a participant, each positioned strategically around the space. In addition, each of the student pods sports a Q-SYS NC-110 network camera. These cameras are responsible for ensuring that all participants are accurately framed and represented.
On the side of audio, Q-SYS NM-T1 networked boundary microphones and Q-SYS NL-SB42 networked speakers are employed. The entire audio system runs on QLAN, allowing it to have its own clocking domain ensuring that the Q-SYS Core 610 processor could be prioritised as the PTP grandmaster with all peripherals, audio and video, slaves to it.
Squillacioti says: “This approach prevents the AV system from affecting other clocked audio devices in the building’s network, as well as protecting it from being impacted by devices outside the system whilst running the entire system on a single subnet.”
For control, each quadrant has a Q-SYS TSC-101-G3 touchpanel running the standard University of Sydney user control interface as a baseline with advanced Q-SYS control programming, giving users the ability to set up their session prior to the start of class, with a mode selector to configure the system to support each predefined mode once the session has commenced.
As always, there were challenges when it came to integrating and deploying the technology. Squillacioti details: “The allowance underneath the floor was only a small 100mm for all cables to be run. This affected both the data contractor and Concept AV. Clear communication and design was paramount in keeping within the restraints.”
He continues: “The existence of high-raked ceilings of the two spaces brought upon a number of considerations for the installation of the systems. With over 50 speakers and microphones to be placed around in conjunction with other services, coordination of all trades was fundamental to achieve the design without compromising functionality and intended quality. Custom mounting plates and timber fixings were incorporated to provide stable mounting surface and reduce the requirement of significant drops from the mounting position.”
The University of Sydney has integrated sustainability considerations into investment practices and employed innovative approaches to the project. New buildings at the university have to achieve a minimum 5-star Green Star rating and refurbishments have to achieve a minimum 4-star Green Star rating.
Moliterno explains how Concept AV worked towards these sustainability goals: “We worked with the builders and the other trades to deliver the project as a sustainable, environmentally friendly space that met the University of Sydney’s sustainability requirements. So, whether it be reducing carbon footprint or emissions, our efforts were directed in concert. In AV, it isn’t as simple as swapping out a product for one that is more carbon efficient. But there are ways to achieve sustainability such as reducing the cables required, ensuring that material for older installations is reused. These are the points that Concept AV focuses on to reduce the environmental impact of our work.”
CLaS is intended to be a living and evolving space with efforts in place to improve outcomes. Squillacioti concludes: “From the onset, the CLaS project was a pedagogical re-alignment that will no doubt require further iteration, improvement, and augmentation. The project timeline purposefully includes two re-visits to the space during the first year of operation to both gain useful insights, gather feedback and if required, iterate the operation of the space. By including this at the scoping stage of the project, as well as selecting an incredibly flexible and modular system capable of iteration, this projects success can continue to be ensured into the future and respond to the needs of academics working on new ways of learning.”