Based in Wellesley, MA, Babson College specializes in providing a premier business education through a unique entrepreneurial lens to produce highly effective leaders across all industries. Babson College has been revolutionizing business education since its founding in 1919 and is credited as the creator of entrepreneurship education. With a world-class alumni network that includes some of the most impactful executives in organizations of all kinds, Babson College prepares and empowers its students to become entrepreneurial leaders who add sustainable, economic, and social value everywhere.

THE CHALLENGE:

Over the past few years, Babson has been an early adopter of intelligent video solutions and began by outfitting a few select classrooms to test hybrid learning for students. Once the adoption of hybrid learning began to accelerate, Babson recognized the need to bring this experience to more classrooms with the proper technology and implement those solutions at a larger scale across campus.

THE SOLUTION:

Babson’s Instructional Technology Integration Specialist, Bill O’Donnell, and integrator, CAVT, relied on Crestron as a partner to navigate the hybrid learning reality with solutions that would enable those in the room to collaborate with remote students or guest lecturers naturally. With the success of intelligent video solutions and a trusted history with Crestron as a technology partner, Babson decided to also integrate the Crestron Automate™ VX system for automated camera control in classrooms.

THE TECHNOLOGY:

With a commitment to providing a superior classroom experience for their students, Babson knew the best way to support students through hybrid learning would be investing in technologies that could bring them together, even if they weren’t physically in the same room. The initial success with the Crestron Automate VX system in specialized classrooms forged a natural evolution for Babson to bring this technology into additional classrooms across campus.

Throughout the Babson campus, there are nearly 50 classrooms that have intelligent video capabilities. The integration of the Crestron Automate VX system allows for a completely automatic camera-switching experience so whoever is speaking can be seen by the remote participants. Optical zoom PTZ cameras provide clear, crisp close-ups of the students in the room and the AutoTracker presenter tracking camera allows professors to move comfortably through their presentations.

These intelligent video capabilities empower Babson to supply enhanced classes to remote learners who could actively participate in class and have a similar experience to those in the classroom. This solution enables more collaborative work between remote and in-person students. Babson’s classrooms were designed to hold 60 students; however, due to social distancing, the maximum occupancy went down to 10 to 12 students. O’Donnell and his team leveraged the technology in these classrooms to assist professors with capturing lectures and sharing them with their students when they were unable to attend in person.

Beyond the pandemic, these impressive classrooms have continued to bring a multi-camera experience to Babson and support the flexibility of remote or hybrid classes. When a student is remote, they can always see the content and hear what is being said - an experience that is just as valuable as that provided to those sitting in the room.

RESULTS:

With the addition of intelligent video technology, Crestron was able to provide Babson with an engaging video experience in the classroom or anywhere hybrid meetings are taking place. The refined intelligent video solutions from Crestron has assured Babson that they are giving their students and faculty the technology they need to succeed.