The Norwegian municipality of Bærum has installed 224 Sony BRAVIA displays across 14 institutions in the school district in preparation for ‘Digital School Day’.
The focus of this project is to upgrade the teaching rooms to enhance the learning experiences of students in the area, and also aid their educational development and prepare them for a truly digital future.
Since the start of 2015, the Norwegian municipality of Bærum has been working towards establishing a modernised digital learning environment for its students. With this goal in mind, the municipality started a pilot project with four schools that were equipped with projectors, screens and boards to bring collaborative technology into the classroom.
Following the successful pilot project, the municipality of Bærum set out to include 14 more schools in the project ‘Digital School Day’. The schools are committed to using technology for learning and education, so all students and teachers have their own tablet to use as a learning tool. The municipality has chosen more than 30 different apps for the students and teachers to use for learning, while students prepare their homework and hand in papers via their tablet.
The schools’ previous solutions were based on projectors and boards, so Bærum’s key priority was to find a more automated solution. The required specifications from the municipality were at a minimum of 70in screens delivered at a reasonable price and with a matte surface. The municipality required the solution to seamlessly connect to tablets and with auto switching to reduce start-up time. It was also important that the displays could easily be connected to PCs through HDMI or VGA cables, in addition to supporting various streaming solutions.
Along with Sony partner, Evercom AS, and the municipality of Bærum, a solution comprising 224 BRAVIA Professional Displays was designed and implemented at a total of 14 schools throughout the municipality, in classrooms designed to cater for up to 30 students. The Sony solution included 219 FWL-75W855C models, four FWL-55W805C models, and one FWL-65W855C, which are all full HD LED displays.
Working digitally has provided more flexibility, instead of being tied to their desks, the teachers can now walk around the classroom more than they previously could. The long-term aim for the municipality of Bærum, and the main reason for starting the project ‘Digital School Day,’ is to educate students in a way that makes them digitally-equipped and technologically-competent to suit the evolving requirements of today’s workplaces.
“This is part of a larger project focusing on collaboration and co-operation, not only between teachers and pupils, but also between the students themselves,” said Christian Sørbye Larsen, special advisor with the school administration in Bærum. “The user interface is key to achieving this. For teachers, technology has previously been an element of uncertainty, and they have been forced to make several backup plans in case the technology lets them down. The new LED professional displays are an important contribution to reduce the teachers’ need for backup plans, and for the teachers to have more trust in the technology.”
Evercom AS chose the Sony solutions for the robustness and auto-switching capabilities, as well as for being cost-effective and offering good value to the municipality. Sony’s automatic and flexible solution allowed Evercom AS to configure one display and copy the setup to all other displays, saving both time and resources.
“Sony was chosen mainly based on the price,” said Larsen. “The new displays require less maintenance and have low total ownership costs. This is where our benefits and cost savings are.”
“The education segment is one of our key areas of focus at Sony Professional and we are continuously working to bring products and solutions to the market that simplify and enhance the workday of students and teachers alike. We are very happy to work with an innovative and environmentally-focused customer like the municipality of Bærum”, added Marius Karthum, channel account manager Norway at Sony Professional Solutions Europe.
