Vivitek has announced that the Empower Learning Academy Trust has installed 170 NovoTouch interactive displays across its four UK sites: Upminster, Hornchurch, Havering and Romford. Vivitek’s NovoTouch replaces the Academy’s fleet of ageing projectors, bringing a new interactive dimension to lessons and learning, while lowering operating costs, simplifying maintenance for the Academy’s IT support teams and lowering print volumes.
Founded in July 2011, The Empower Learning Academy Trust has three secondary academies and a primary school at the heart of its multi-academy trust, and is home to approximately 3,000 students and 530 staff, including an IT support team. Tony Stevens, head of IT operations and support, and his team are responsible for maintaining approximately 1,200 desktop devices, several hundred iPads and 60 printers across the Academy.
Previously, the Academy had a fleet of projectors in its classrooms, but their running costs and requirement for frequent maintenance meant that the Academy sought a more effective display solution for it newly refurbished classrooms. “We didn’t want 15 year old technology in our newly refurbed classrooms, or in our brand new building at the Hall Mead School,” Stevens explained.
The majority of the new Vivitek display devices being used by the Academy are NovoTouch EK753is 75in 4K interactive displays with wireless collaboration and touch interaction. Each NovoTouch has been preconfigured with Vivitek’s NovoConnect wireless presentation and collaborative system for cable-free and hassle-free presenting in the classroom. They can connect up to 64 students simultaneously, and enables four of them to present on one display to facilitate large group work, while its high contrast ratio and fast response times delivers crisp, readable content.
The NovoTouch displays offer 4mm thick toughened glass for added protection against scratches or screen damage, helping to protect the Academy’s investment long term, while it also boasts front-facing stereo audio speakers with up to 32W of total power (16Wx2) and multiple audio-in/out ports.
“It [the NovoTouch] ticks all of our boxes, while the Android module is really good hardware. It’s flexible, fast and has no lag,” said Stevens. “Because all of the students can easily see the 75in display, teachers no longer have to print out lesson notes, which has helped lower our print volumes and costs.”
Teachers have also found NovoTouch easy to use: “We would have a regular number of calls to classrooms to fix projectors that weren’t working,” explained Stevens. “Sometimes it was a setting not being reset by a previous user or a problem with the projector itself. With the NovoTouch display, teachers and pupils just connect wirelessly and effortlessly. The IT team’s call out rate to in-lesson problems has plummeted, enabling us to focus on more pressing IT issues.”
Holger Gräff, general manager, Vivitek EMEA, added: “A state education is one of the most precious gifts we’re afforded in life. Therefore, it is essential that schools have the resources and facilities needed to unlock, share and enjoy knowledge in the classroom. Empower Learning Academy Trust’s experiences with Vivitek’s NovoTouch shows that it benefits students, teachers and IT support teams alike, to create positive experiences everyone can remember.”
