Sony has this week announced a co-operation with the University of Wales Trinity St. David (UWTSD) to bring the next generation of education technology to students across the University’s campuses through its collaborative solution, Vision Exchange.
By working in close collaboration, Sony will provide UWTSD with a pioneering platform to facilitate a move from traditional lecture theatres and auditoriums to cutting-edge learning spaces enabling collaborative and interactive learning styles that should improve engagement and attainment.
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is the oldest Royal Chartered University in Wales with campuses across South West Wales as well as in London. UWTSD is investing significantly in its infrastructure to transform the educational experience for students across its campuses.
In order to achieve its aspirations, UWTSD required a technology partner that could develop the next generation of education technology to introduce new styles of active learning. In addition, the university stipulated a solution that was simple and intuitive to use for all students and lecturers – regardless of technical expertise.
Since 2015, Sony has worked closely with UWTSD to develop its intuitive solution, Vision Exchange. The solution allows up to approximately 60 students to work collaboratively in small clusters connecting wirelessly to the platform via their own laptops (Windows or Mac), tablets or smartphone devices. The teacher can easily ‘mirror’ any devices and share content with other groups in the room or on the main presentation screen via simple drag-and-drop gestures that remain under their control. The solution can also bring in other participants located elsewhere to join the discussion and seamlessly share content regardless of geographic location.
It’s important to everyone at UWTSD that we create an environment which facilitates a collaborative approach to active learning. – Lyndon Shirley, Executive Head of Technology Enhanced Learning, UWTSD
During September 2017, the Faculty of Education and Communities and the Faculty of Architecture, Computing and Engineering will begin piloting Sony Vision Exchange. The system will then be progressively deployed across UWTSD’s campuses enabling lecturers to feature the technology at the core of their teaching programmes and bring active learning to all students. This includes the university’s new facilities at SA1 Swansea Waterfront, which will open in September 2018.
Commenting on this partnership, Lyndon Shirley, Executive Head of Technology Enhanced Learning at University of Wales Trinity St. David said: “It’s important to everyone at UWTSD that we create an environment which facilitates a collaborative approach to active learning. Having evaluated the market and being unable to find a single system that met our needs in an efficient and user-friendly manner, we were pleased to forge a relationship with Sony which enabled them to deliver the active learning platform now known as Vision Exchange based on our requirements and feedback.”
Professor Medwin Hughes, DL Vice-Chancellor of UWTSD said: “I’m delighted that the university has partnered with Sony to identify innovative technology-enabled solutions to assist us in meeting our learning and teaching ambitions. Such world class innovation will enhance the student and staff experience across our campuses and will mean that UWTSD students are pioneering new ways of learning that can be transferred to their professional careers.”
Garry Cox, Education Solutions Manager at Sony Professional said: “We’ve been thrilled to work with the university to create a collaborative solution which meets their needs as they look to change the way they educate the next generation. Our development of Vision Exchange has evolved through our collaboration with UWTSD, helping us create a scalable and flexible solution specifically tailored to the needs of Higher Education. With the start of term just around the corner, it’s exciting to think about how this new dynamic style of pedagogy will help students at UWTSD and beyond.”
