Hybrid Higher Education — How The Channel Can Help
Article submitted by Mara Pereira, Director PC Systems and Peripherals, TD SYNNEX
A new academic year starts in the autumn across Europe. How universities responded the pandemic is having a lasting effect. A mix of remote and in-person teaching, and learning is becoming common now, three years after COVID first appeared.
According to IDC’s Future Enterprise Resilience Survey 2022, 63% of higher education institutions in Europe have adopted a hybrid-first model. Universities such as the University of Europe for Applied Sciences and EU Business School have already taken steps to ensure a successful hybrid education model for their students.
This is creating a need for transition technologies to help tutors, professors and students switch between the different modes. For the channel partners who serve education clients this creates a new opportunity.
Everyday Peripherals Matter
As classes switch between in-person and remote, the importance of individual student productivity wherever they are goes up significantly. A student or tutor wants to maximise how they use their laptop for teaching and learning. Demand for quality accessories is going to rise. A study by Targus, who recently acquired HYPER, highlighted how seven out of ten IT decision-makers in education believe both improved technology and accessories for education would increase satisfaction of those working in the industry.
To safeguard in class and remote learning situations, an ergonomic set up is essential. Using an ergonomic mouse, compatible with all surfaces, such as a Wireless USB Blue Trace Mouse and a Compact Wired Multimedia Keyboard ensures students and teachers are comfortable while teaching and learning in person and remote. As well as this, allowing students and teachers access to a Portable Laptop Stand is essential to improve posture by rising the laptop to eye level. When remote, these stands are able to be folded flat, which makes transportation easier.
Back to the Future with Docking
When you need to move so frequently between locations, how an institution enables students and staff to routinely properly set up to teach a class or work on an assignment in and out of a classroom setting becomes more critical.
Docking set-ups that allow these transitions to be friction free and not get in the way of doing the job should be planned for. Offerings like HYPER’s Universal USB-C Mobile Dock with Power Pass-through, allows any USB device to be connected to a larger screen via HDMI, VGA or Mini DisplayPort, streamlining presenting in classrooms.
Compete on Digital Teaching Experience
Universities are fighting for students who increasingly expect their institution to match the customer services standards of brands like Amazon and Netflix. As the quality of experience of hybrid teaching hinges on the digital experience inside and outside the campus, universities need to invest secure, scalable and reliable digital infrastructure. They also can explore how their yearly intake of new students is enhanced by digital welcome packages including high quality peripherals and accessories. The funding of these can be enabled by how a university can bulk buy kit from its partners, using subscription packages like TD SYNNEX’s TaaS offering.
The state of education has changed, and education specific technology has a central role to ensure that it will not be disrupted by any future shocks. Even though, many students and teachers have experienced the move from in-person to remote to hybrid education, without the right transition technologies in place, education is still impacted. Having well thought out systems and endpoint devices, it works to limit these distractions. Any concerns about financing better transition technology for staff and students can be allayed by new financing solutions that take the sting out of upfront capital costs.
