Lenovo’s EdVision empowers educators to expand online teaching capabilities

The Philippine education sector was met with new challenges, having been driven to completely transition to online learning this academic year. To assist the sector and create various solutions for its differing needs, Lenovo developed the EdVision program, in collaboration with Microsoft.

“Lenovo makes sure that the learning experiences of students are prioritized even as learning has moved to digital. We address the struggles of the teachers as we believe that they play a crucial role in maintaining quality education through the online platform. It may be tough, but with the right tech and support from education institutions, both teachers and students can achieve the optimal distance learning experience even amid the pandemic,” said Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines President and General Manager.

Lenovo worked closely with Microsoft to create education software solutions that power the successful implementation of e-learning by enabling innovation and transformation that is centered on ease of understanding, flexibility, productivity, and collaboration of users.

“Our nation-building agenda for the Philippines, which we call Microsoft Para sa Bayan, aims to create positive impact for 25 million Filipinos over the next three years by accelerating digital transformation, building coalitions for responsible innovation, and closing critical digital skills gaps with increased digital literacy and improve employability. Collaborating with Lenovo, we are able to scale up our efforts and through this particular initiative, provide training and development resources to help educators and students develop future-ready skills. Microsoft and Lenovo have the shared belief that technology has the power to transform education and achieve better learning outcomes,” said Joanna Rodriguez, Public Sector Director, Microsoft Philippines.

Lenovo and Microsoft collaborated with educators to fully understand from an institutional perspective the challenges of this significant step in the education sector’s digital transformation journey. EdVision enriches smarter education by offering not only tangible solutions to the demands of online education, but also knowledge to effectively deliver learning in the new normal. It involves six solution-based distance learning setups or scenarios that are best utilized with Microsoft’s suite of collaboration platforms:

1. Basic laptop-and-webcam setup

The simplest and most budget-friendly option, in this scenario, the educator teaches from home with a notebook and a webcam while students learn from home using a notebook/PC or tablet. Utilizing reliable unified communications (UC) platforms such as Microsoft Teams among participants is vital in this environment to fully maximize learning.

2. Small, medium, or large room

Institutions that can provide their teachers with their own room for teaching can benefit well under these setups. With three different room sizes, this scenario involves a maximum of three TVs or monitors, a notebook or tablet, webcam, Teams, and the Lenovo ThinkSmart Hub 500 running the Teams Rooms experience. The Lenovo ThinkSmart Hub 500 comes pre-installed with Microsoft Teams Rooms, an experience that keeps everyone engaged whether they’re joining a meeting in-person or from home by creating the ultimate hybrid collaboration experience. Thanks to Teams Rooms, the ThinkSmart Hub 500 is an easy-to-use device scalable for all room sizes and can easily project three displays onto different screens through an integrated touch control. These displays may include the PowerPoint presentation or teacher’s screen, the participants in the session, and the speaker.

3. Professional trainer setup

Designed for teachers, trainers, and even managers, this setup involves a more comprehensive home office where teachers can combine technology with classroom equipment to better recreate the customary ways of learning. By using a notebook, monitor, webcam, and a whiteboard with a dedicated content camera, teachers may more smoothly present ideas live to their students as this set of equipment allows them to teach as they did in physical classrooms. Teams Rooms enables user-friendly collaborative features on the Lenovo ThinkSmart Hub, allowing teachers to efficiently manage their Teams video conferences.

4. Classroom or lecture hall 

Developed for teachers who can teach in a classroom or lecture hall, this setup suggests taking advantage of available school utilities such as whiteboards and pairing it with auto-tracking cameras with deep learning for high precision body tracking so that no matter which way the teacher moves, the camera still captures them in a focused way for the benefit of students joining online. This scenario is best met with a ThinkSmart Hub 500 running Teams Rooms, to enable students to feel like they are learning from an actual classroom setting.

5. Virtual instruction (Green screen setup)

For teachers who want to increase student engagement, the virtual instruction setup proposes that they create a virtual classroom environment by using live production tools such as a high-resolution camera and production software. Teachers can project themselves as news anchors in a TV studio or whatever and wherever their creativity takes them. This solution includes various tech devices that will allow distance learning facilitators to easily manage the whole production. Live productions such as this may also be published simultaneously in platforms like Facebook and YouTube via Teams as necessary.

6. Moveable video conference kit

This setup was developed for teachers who need to constantly move from one room to another when facilitating teaching online. To achieve this, tech equipment such as webcam, monitor, and Teams Room control console are ideally mounted on a wheeled stand, while a separate wheeled stand is dedicated to a physical whiteboard or TV to enable mobility and for more comfortable teaching.

“In the past months, people’s need for technology to meet basic needs, including education, has grown exponentially. Lenovo brings smarter technology, bundled with services, to the education sector to help it address the challenges ahead. We design with purpose to meet their needs and ensure that teachers are as productive and connected to their students as possible. While the shift to online learning is a thorough process, Lenovo strives to empower the sector with technology and opportunity to eventually equip students with the digital skills they need in preparation for the jobs of the future,” said Ngan.

Institutions interested to register under EdVision may find more program benefits, offerings, and information at <www.lenovo.com/ph/en/edvision>.