Colombia. One of the main axes in the Colombian educational transformation is the successful use of new technologies, for which it is necessary not only to guarantee their implementation, but to previously identify what are those developments that allow to face the particular challenges in various areas such as access, quality, security and inclusion.
In order to provide concrete solutions to the current and future challenges that arise in schools, Jimena Genetti, Solutions Manager at Axis Communications presents five innovative technologies that could be implemented:
1. Distance learning with face-to-face sensation
The offer of courses 100% online or that combine the face-to-face modality with the interaction via the web increases every year. Market Research Future estimates that the global online education market, which is fully virtual, will increase at an annual growth rate of 24% between 2017 and 2023. If this forecast is confirmed, we are talking about almost 423 trillion dollars in motion by 2023.
The generation of quality content for these platforms is fundamental. Videos need to have superior audio, high resolution and broadcast quality for crisp, fluid and color-fidelity playback (in short, it is important that the student accompanies a surgery or the demonstration of a technique as if it were there). Sometimes the video needs to be recorded in a lab or a different environment, so the camera must be portable to be able to be placed on any table. And the generated videos need to be uploaded to the platform in a simple way, in the right format. With the rise of online teaching, more and more cameras like AXIS V59 will be used to create these digital libraries.
2. Restricted areas
With millions of people circulating daily, it seems impossible to monitor the flow of people in every building of an educational institution. But greater control of certain spaces is very valid: some of the most expensive equipment is inside laboratories. Parking is often for the exclusive use of employees. Libraries open to external visitors, and others only for students. Administrative areas should not receive teachers. The teachers' room should not receive students.
There are video door entry systems the size of an iPhone that can be placed at the entrance of each of these places, next to or above the handle. Simply press the button for the person in charge of the control center to open the door. In the central, the person is visualized and will open or not. For rooms with more intense circulation, the same AXIS A8105-E video intercom can perform facial recognition of visitors and open automatically, without anyone activating it. In this case, it can even be programmed that only students of a certain class, in the current semester, access the laboratory. In the following semester, the list is updated and the new students will have access, and no longer the previous ones.
3. Call by facial recognition
The old review of the list of students to know who is present in the classroom was left in the past. But there are reasons (academic, administrative, and security) to record who actually attended the face-to-face classes. The technological answer to this is facial recognition to control the presence of the learner.
With a properly placed camera, it is possible to record in the system who was in the room for the entire school semester. But we know that some institutions prefer not to record what happens in the classroom. In this case, the camera can be used to generate graphics instead of images, listing on a screen the students present and absent and showing the level of absenteeism, but without showing or storing the images of the room. This even allows to measure, in a dynamic way, the interest of the students for a certain course or teacher.
4. Perimeter security
Perhaps the most decisive aspect in the choice of parents of a school for their children is safety. It is not enough for the institution to appear safe. Security measures must create a long-term reputation, based on risk prevention and threat liability.
One of the latest technologies for perimeter security is the use of smart cameras installed on the wall that detect invasion immediately, even at night. In the event of an invasion, the Axis Perimeter Defender's camera will connect the lights, operate AXIS C3003-E speaker and direct the PTZ camera to the alert area. Real-time video footage is sent to on-duty security personnel and cameras can be used to follow the attacker live. This reinforces the duty that, within the walls of the school, everyone is protected.
5. Anti-bullying notices
Imagine a sound system that allows students to talk in indoor and outdoor areas, remotely, even if you are talking through a mobile phone. The messages can be for practical reasons, such as a notice about changing schedules, or also of an educational nature, to sensitize students who are doing bullying.
2016 data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that more than one in five students report being bullied. Another study, from 2010, shows that only 36% of children who were victims of this abuse came to report it. It is the responsibility of educational institutions to ensure the well-being of their students and to create pluralistic and non-oppressive environments, both for the psychological and academic consequences. There are studies that indicate a relationship between victims of bullying and a deterioration in academic performance. On the other hand, the feeling of security positively influences the student's performance.
