MOOC spotting at ISE 2014

Walking past the Panasonic stand at ISE 2014, Rebecca Paddick spotted a section dedicated to MOOCs, the online courses transforming HE

I caught up with product manager Katharina Strassburger-Groppweis at Panasonic’s stand earlier today, where she told me about the tech giant’s latest offering to universities.

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) – online courses aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web ­– have proven incredibly popular in recent years, and interest is growing all the time, said Katharina: “MOOCs are a huge growth area for us so among many things, ISE is an opportunity for us to show the education market our latest technologies.”

Katharina told me about Panasonic’s TH-65PB1 Interactive 65” Plasma Display. An interesting feature is the screen’s Multiple Transmission Mode, where the data on your PC screen can be easily sent by wireless transmission, and there is no need to switch cables each time the presenter changes. Data from multiple PCs can also be shown on a single screen, or the data from one PC can be shown on up to eight displays. The wireless transmission also works with iPhones and iPads.

“Almost every university is looking into MOOCs now and our equipment has to be able to create truly interactive lessons. It has to be versatile,” added Katharina.

She also stressed the importance of user-friendly equipment for today’s busy university lecturer: “Our products have been designed with the user in mind. Not all teachers are tech experts, and this screen offers all the benefits interactive technology can bring, but is very easy to set up and use every day.”

LED screens are dominating the exhibition space at this year’s ISE. Show organisers have now told us that 952 companies are exhibiting at this year’s event, representing an increase of more than 6% on last year’s figure, and pre-registration also reached record levels.

For more pictures of day one click here

The show occupies more than 36,000 net square metres for the first time this year, so I better get back to it!

Keep an eye on the ET website for more news, interviews and pictures from this year’s show.

Read more from me at ISE here