Case Studies

The CSUDH esports program began as a grassroots club in 2017 with three student participants. By 2019 it had grown to over 200 members, but lacked a consistent meeting place. For a time, a corner in the lower level of the Student Union became their home, until once again the organization (now known as the CSUDH Esports Association) was bursting at the seams. They needed more space, and they needed more equipment to accommodate growing interest in what has become over a 1.1 billion-dollar industry.

Logistical challenges around space and equipment notwithstanding, possibly the greatest challenge the esports program at CSUDH faced in its first few years was to nurture its growth in a way that would meet the core program tenets set by the administration: academics and research; community engagement; competition, and entertainment, in roughly that order.

“When people think about esports, they think competition and they think about having fun,” said Ruben Caputo, CSUDH Esports Academic Advisor and team general manager, “But esports offers so much more, and we wanted our program to reflect that. First and foremost, we wanted it to provide students with experiences they could readily translate into life skills and career opportunities. Equally important to us was that we spark engagement both within the program and the university, as well as the community at large.”

The objectives below the surface of these four tenets were ambitious.

Under the first pillar, program administrators sought to provide an environment that would promote and enable the development of multidisciplinary competencies, as well as extend their vision of education through esports to other educational organizations. Community engagement would entail fostering a compassionate, multigenerational community rich with community service.
To engage in competition, the program planned to welcome and coach gamers of all experience levels to become a new breed of elite gamers with an appreciation for diversity, healthy living, academic success and life balance. Even entertainment would not be purely for fun – students would directly participate in and develop capabilities around how to broadcast and host high-quality events. Throughout their engagement with these four pillars of the program, student members would develop interpersonal and technical skills.

In the pursuit of these objectives, Caputo and his team encountered both anticipated and unforeseen obstacles, including the pandemic, parental concerns, preconceptions about gaming, and at times the very nature of many gamers themselves. To grow the program as envisioned, Caputo would need to convince students and parents of the many social, academic and career-focused benefits of organized gaming. He would need to find sufficient space, technology and resources to support the group’s goals.

Looking back over the formative years that led to the CSUDH Esports Association’s third consecutive crowning as the NECC National Gaming Competition champion in 2021, Caputo reflects that the key has been to grow organically. To an outsider looking in, it’s clear that having a passionate advocate like Caputo, paired with strong administrative support, were also prime components of the organization’s success. In 2018, when CSUDH President Dr. Thomas Parham assumed leadership of the university, he and Caputo met to discuss the trajectory of the program, forming the four domains that would guide its ongoing development.

Dr. Parham recalled during a speech at the presentation of the first team jerseys that he had invited potential supporters to consider that, “…gaming…is a strategy not just an outcome. If we can create opportunity through gaming for our students to learn coding, there’s a transferable asset in there to get them through these courses and to get them into that workforce later on once they graduate,” said Parham, adding that, “[esports] is not simply competition, it is about ways in which we as an institution can enhance the lives of our students through gaming.”

The first step toward the program they envisioned, said Caputo, was to explore interest within the university community, which they found to be overwhelming. Next, he brought in faculty from diverse departments to join the Esports Association board and provide multidisciplinary expertise. These 20 individuals now enhance the Association with the unique perspective of fields ranging from computer science, design and communications to marketing, psychology and civic engagement.

The path from there included events and activities to foster dialog with families, community educators, and industry personnel. It was around this time that the organization reached 200 members and received its first official home in the student union, outfitted with a small amount of permanent equipment. The group became more organized, setting up its own Discord communication portal, holding regular meetings and hosting small, casual gaming events on campus.

“Before this, students brought their own equipment with them, lugging in consoles and even monitors,” said Caputo. “With the added stability of our own space, I started to think about how we could get these kids, who tend to be introverted and often shy and reserved, more involved in the processes around the esports industry; to get them problem solving, gaining transferrable skills
and gaining confidence.”

Much of the students’ growth came from the very act of belonging to the club; many had never participated in extracurricular activities and tended to spend their free time gaming alone from home. More learning came from the inherent problem solving and critical thinking required to excel at the games. Even more transformative education occurred as the Association expanded and the students learned to work together as teams, host large events, design promotional materials, program, broadcast competitions, and the many other activities related to the world of esports.

One unique project that Caputo facilitated with the group provided a notable springboard for learning and community building.

“At a group meeting we began talking about the barriers to entry into esports, which can be cost-prohibitive for many students,” said Caputo. “I asked them, how could we lower those barriers and pushed them to do some out-of-the-box thinking. We unpacked the problem without actually using any technology, just sticky notes and a whiteboard.”

Together they dove into the concept of design thinking, while enjoying some carryout pizza. The empty box became their inspiration.

“One student commented that at tournaments you had to bring your own controller, which usually cost around $60, and suggested the idea of making their own, making sure it conformed to the rules but was low cost,” said Caputo. “Another student jumped in and said, ‘Hey, pizza and gaming go together – let’s turn this box into a controller.’ ”

And so they did, market testing their unique controller and a branded model
by surveying fellow gamers. The pizza box won out – whether due to novelty or the added palm space students cited, we will never know. What is certain is that this project helped put the CSUDH esports program into the limelight.

First, a student who worked at Pizza Hut showed the team’s social posts to
their manager, who shared them with the corporate office. This led to a community partnership with Pizza Hut in 2020 that led to the creation of a locally aired commercial.

“The students had the opportunity to participate in the entire process,”
said Caputo. “They worked up the concepts, created the storyboards,
and earned pizzas and pizza boxes to use for more controllers. It was our first mentorship program.”

Next, the pizza-box controller became a showpiece at an alumni event, which was attended by hundreds of parents. It was here that barriers between the Esports Association and families began to crumble, as parents gained clarity about the program and its benefits, recognizing that it was a way for their children to develop passions and skills with a high probability of leading them to job opportunities. From the parents whose children were already participating in CSUDH esports, Caputo heard repeated comments like, “I have never seen my son/daughter be this social before,” and, “They’ve been so much happier since joining the club.”

As the program continued to flourish, its multidisciplinary structure enabled it to add components like health and wellness support, a mentorship program serving local high school students, and professional development curriculum for educators. The program’s efforts and unique focus caught the attention of monitor manufacturer ViewSonic.

“ViewSonic approached us after seeing our social media posts highlighting
the ways in which we’re using esports as a student success strategy,” said Caputo. “Our mentoring program with Compton Unified School District convinced them that CSUDH would be a like-minded partner in developing esports.”

Initial conversations led to a partnership, with ViewSonic serving as the official monitor sponsor for the CSUDH Esports Association, and providing technology and support for career-building opportunities and activities.

It couldn’t have happened at a better time. Concurrent with the ViewSonic- CSUDH Esports Association discussions, the university was in the process of implementing several facilities expansions, including an Esports Incubator Lab. ViewSonic agreed to outfit the new lab with gaming monitors, large screen digital displays, and an interactive whiteboard, as well as to fund team jerseys and other apparel.

“I couldn’t be happier with the ViewSonic team, they are terrific to work with,” said Caputo. “Their vision parallels ours. In addition to their generous product and apparel support, ViewSonic is working with us to develop an internship pipeline for CSUDH students, which will allow them to begin to transfer the skills they’re learning in esports to the workplace. That’s exactly how we want to be supporting our students.”

As the CSUDH Esports Association continues to organically take shape, the Incubator Lab, set to open its doors in the spring of 2022, is destined to become the creative epicenter for the cultivation of ideas, the promotion of student projects, and a showcase for competitive gaming. Caputo looks forward to finding new ways to engage students in the enriching world of esports.

“I’ve had the great joy of seeing so many kids build confidence and competencies through their participation in esports,” he said. “Even those who were once incredibly shy, or had parents who were wary that ‘video games’ are a waste of time. The esports narrative is so much more complex than that. I am thrilled to be a steward of this amazing program.”

Located in the Huamanga Ayacucho District, the Mariscal Caceres School was looking for modern and interactive collaboration and presentation solutions to transform their traditional classrooms into powerful hybrid classrooms. The school also wanted to boost its faculty’s abilities to present content via interactive displays. With that in mind, they contacted the regional government of Ayacucho and requested their support for this sizable investment.

The school has 118 classrooms and was looking to equip them all with interactive displays, including hardware and software, while also developing an advanced training program for their faculty of over 200 members.

Along with 18 ViewBoard® interactive displays purchased in 2020, a total of 118 ViewBoard IFP7550 interactive displays were installed. Students were able to enjoy more modern classrooms equipped with video collaboration tools that support hybrid learning. The new platform allowed teachers to teach using interactive content through remote, hybrid or fully in-person sessions.

The ViewBoard displays delivered a major upgrade with 4K Ultra HD, or 3840 x 2160-pixel, resolution, which is 10-times as high as the resolution of the XGA projectors that were traditionally used in class (1024 x 768). These displays provided an enhanced surround sound experience in the classroom thanks to their integrated speakers and sub-woofer configuration.

The myViewBoard™ digital whiteboard software allows for the creation of multimedia content through interactivity, artificial intelligence, cloud-based integration and a built-in browser for downloading videos, images and/or text, which enables collaboration and also promotes student acceptance and engagement.

The casting feature can be used to wirelessly stream and present multimedia content from any device (notebook, tablet or smartphone) to the main display through the school’s WiFi or LAN networks. This makes it easy for students to share and present content on the displays from their desks or even from home, thus transforming classrooms into true hybrid platforms.

Tecnologia y Creatividad, an integrator of ViewSonic® visual solutions, trained a total of 209 teachers and assistants in the use of the myViewBoard software. Training focused on topics such as toolbars, templates, the Magic Box, browser and content search, insertion of videos and images, Artificial Intelligence (AI), myViewBoard Clips, original content and more. The goal was for teachers to use myViewBoard as their main platform for content and lesson creation in hybrid learning settings.

The school’s principal, Felix Valer Torres, said that as students gradually return to the traditional classroom setting, this upgraded equipment will be key to encouraging their engagement in both the education process and the development of social skills. “This undoubtedly helps the process of completing a robust academic, moral and emotional training so that students can achieve personal and professional success in today’s rapidly changing society, in which technology plays a critical role,” he said.

Alex Carlos, ViewSonic Territory Manager for Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, expressed his enthusiasm for boosting digital interaction in Peruvian classrooms.

“It is very important for us to have cities that prioritize their investments in education, as is the case of Ayacucho, a modern region that now also recognizes the value of technology in its education proposal,” said Carlos. “We are confident that with our ViewBoard and myViewBoard platform, teacher training programs, and the natural ease with which today’s young people embrace new technologies, will all help to create genuine 21st century learning environments.”

Torres, who managed and led this project, claimed that “This educational institution has become the most technologically equipped school nationwide with the deployment of ViewSonic IFP7550 displays and ViewSonic myViewBoard digital whiteboard software.”

The motor on the projection screen in the president’s boardroom had broken and it was the last straw. For years, GMC’s president, William B. Caldwell IV and the staff responsible for setting up his meeting space had been dealing with an unsatisfactory boardroom display. With a projector mounted 30 feet from the screen, images and text were often grainy and difficult to make out even under the best of conditions.

Depending on the time of day or ambient light, visibility could be slightly better or much, much worse.

“The projector had aged and become dimmer and this room has challenges with ambient light,” said Brian Milner, GMC Director of Technical Support Services, “Besides providing a large image, it never really fit what they wanted, although it was the best choice at the time it was installed.”

What’s more, said Milner, the projector had turned into a time-consuming hassle for the support staff, who wasted time every day focusing and refocusing the projector in an attempt to clearly display calendars and spreadsheets.

The death of the screen motor coincided with a visit by President Caldwell to a neighboring university, where he was impressed with a colleague’s boardroom display. This, said Milner, set off the hunt for a suitable new solution.

Initially, said Milner, President Caldwell was interested in a 98” LCD display - the prevalent technology at the time for this type of installation. Milner and his team began researching various manufacturers and options before turning to long-time partner ViewSonic for pricing and advice.

“We’ve been standardized in all our classrooms with ViewSonic® ViewBoard® IFP8650 interactive displays and ViewSonic CDE8600/8620 commercial displays for about three years,” said Milner. “We initially looked at them because of ViewSonic’s reputation for making great monitors as well as their warranty and we ended up being very impressed with their digital signage and ViewBoard displays.”

On a visit to the conference room, GMC’s ViewSonic rep Ben Pearson confirmed the installation challenges and Milner expected him to recommend ViewSonic’s 98-inch 4K commercial display. Instead, Pearson suggested the latest ViewSonic technology that had launched in Q3 of 2020: Direct View LED displays.

“We turned on the projector and Ben measured the image out at 163 inches,” said Milner. “He said he could offer a Direct View LED wall of the exact same size that would be bright enough to let us keep the lights on and blinds open all the time.”

The benefits of the Direct View LED (DVLED) display didn’t stop there. With an ultra-fine pixel pitch, small text was more legible than ever. And as an all-in-one solution with built-in software, the DVLED display could connect wirelessly to mobile devices and enable multiple users to easily share screens and collaborate. With greater energy efficiency than LCD technology, the DVLED display would be less costly to operate than the proposed 98” display. Fast, easy installation of pre-calibrated panels would also reduce costs compared to a typical wall-mounted LCD installation. Finally, the new technology offered the best color accuracy and refresh rates of any display type currently available.

On paper, the DVLED solution seemed ideal, with outstanding specs and benefits, said Milner. He recommended it to President Caldwell, saying “From what I’ve seen and heard, you’re going to love it.” Caldwell signed off on the purchase and a short while later, GMC had its very own 163” ViewSonic Direct View LED display.

Milner’s prediction was right on the money. As soon as the installation was complete, Caldwell commended the tech team and began sending photos to friends and colleagues.

“He has a group chat with university and college Senior VPs and directors and right away he texted them photos and told them how amazing the screen was,” said Milner. “He told us the images are even better than he expected, and he loves to brag about it.”

With its powerful brightness, seamless images and stunning resolution, it’s easy to see why.

“The resolution and clarity are amazing and it only extends from the wall 1.4 inches. It’s very sleek and high-end looking, which is great for impressing visitors,” said Milner. Plus, it’s so bright, we’re no longer fighting sunlight and ambient light throughout the day.”

The office staff are equally pleased, according to Milner, with an intuitive display solution that’s easy to use and requires virtually no set up or adjusting.

In every way, the ViewSonic DVLED display has met or exceeded expectations. The enormous screen is just as large as the previous projection screen. Text on documents, spreadsheets and calendars is clear, crisp and easily legible in all circumstances. And images stay clear without having to close the blinds or lower the lights.

“We wanted something document-friendly and this solution is definitely that and so much more,” said Milner. “In addition to how great the display is, working with ViewSonic has been a pleasure, as always, and the president now has leading collaboration technology in his boardroom that easily connects to laptops.”

What could be better than exceeding all expectations? The “WOW” factor, of course. “Other college presidents are going to be jealous and want one, we’re sure of it,” said Milner.

The Colegio y Liceo José Artigas wanted to implement a number of different IT solutions and new instructional tools that allowed for interactive learning.

To cater to the current reality of their students, the Colegio y Liceo José Artigas decided to replace their outdated blackboards and whiteboards with interactive displays that facilitate the development of a more streamlined, dynamic, interactive and current learning experience.

Acting as a Certified Reseller, SSI Ltda. introduced the ViewSonic ViewBoard® interactive flat panel displays to the school’s representatives, performing demos for both executives and the middle managers of the institution. SSI Ltda. highlighted the characteristics and benefits of both the hardware and the myViewBoard™ software solution.

The Colegio y Liceo José Artigas initially ordered a total of 11 ViewBoard IFP7550 units and two ViewBoard IFP6550 units.

According to Leonardo Isola, acting member of the school’s Board of Directors,
the ViewBoard interactive displays helped achieve several goals:

• Enhanced engagement: The myViewBoard software suite, along with ViewBoard® Cast 4-way split screen content sharing, enhance students’ attention through interactive classes, while creating dynamic learning sessions for both the teacher and their students.

• Effective remote learning: With the creation of digital content and the planning of digital tasks, teachers and students can interact with lessons from any location.

• Easy installation and setup: Upgrading firmware, installing each display on mobile mounts, updating and setting up all of the software on the slot-in PCs was all simple and straightforward.

• Trained faculty: Teachers participated in training courses led by ViewSonic-certified instructors. These courses use a combination of theory and hands-on learning to train teachers on how to effectively implement interactive learning solutions. Participants must be present for all hours of the course and take a final test to become certified. Course topics range from addressing all aspects related to using ViewSonic products to learning about the latest features in the myViewBoard software solution.

• Ongoing support: Technical assistance is readily available to answer any questions about both solution deployment and equipment installation, as well as questions on the training of the school’s teaching staff.

“The children just love it! They are already very acquainted with the displays and that makes the teaching and learning process more interesting,” said Isola. “And we can no longer imagine having a classroom without this kind of support.”

The Colegio y Liceo José Artigas saw an immediate and positive impact on the teaching/learning process for both teachers and students.

“We chose ViewSonic because of their robust, reliable products, as well as their top quality guidance and support. As a Certified Reseller, SSI Ltda. was entrusted with the training of all teaching staff during long-hour sessions,” said Isola.

“We are very pleased to have provided the solution the school was in need of, especially in terms of comprehensively deploying both our ViewBoard displays and related accessories, and also our myViewBoard solution in all of the school’s classrooms,” said Marcos Paredes, ViewSonic’s Territory Sales Manager for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. “Also, we are very happy to see a quick adoption by teachers and students. With all the teaching staff trained in the use of myViewBoard as an interactive, collaboration tool, a more emotional and dynamic learning process is accomplished, both in-person and remotely.”

The school’s administrator is now considering further project expansion by adding more displays and providing frequent training in order to keep teachers up-to-date and motivated. Based on his experience, for these types of solutions to truly pay off, equipment should be available in all classrooms so that teachers and students can seamlessly integrate it into their way of working.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began closing schools in the spring of 2020, Langston University quickly shifted its resources online to support a remote learning initiative. Although plans to upgrade their aging technology infrastructure were already in the works, the university was still working on defining their needs and creating timelines for implementation. That’s when Langston University turned to ImageNet Consulting for a consultation.

“We’ve worked with Langston for many years, providing a wide range of products and services,” said Ian Ramsey, ImageNet audio & video sales specialist. “Our senior solutions consultant for Langston, Monica Nichols, has built a great relationship with them.”

Thanks to funds from the CARES Act and additional grants, the university selected ImageNet as their partner to assess and solve their remote learning challenges. Langston’s dean of business, Joshua Snavely, and the President’s chief of staff, Theresa Powell, teamed up to spearhead the process within Langston. Working with key personnel throughout the university as well as university president Kent Smith, the team defined the project’s multiple goals:

• To install professional-grade technology that would enable instructors to connect via Zoom or other videoconferencing platforms.
• To enable teaching using an interactive touchscreen.
• To implement a new system without changing existing programs and platforms.
• To enable students to see both their instructors and content on the board.
• To implement a standardized solution that would be consistent across all classrooms.

Together the ImageNet and Langston teams walked through the main campus to assess the spaces.

Nichols and Ramsey quickly recognized some hurdles that would need to be addressed during installation. Due to the unusual configurations in many classrooms and variety in classroom shapes and sizes, a full teardown and installation would be difficult. And because there was no existing technology that could be integrated into a new solution, this would have to be a blank slate deployment.

The ImageNet AV team put their heads together and recalled a previous solution they had considered for another client – a basic conference room AV setup on a rolling cart. Langston wanted a system that delivered more complexity, including more robust functionality and longer-lasting professional-grade materials.

“We asked ourselves whether we could create a mobile rolling cart that would be everything they needed,” said Ramsey. “We had never done that but thought it was possible. The critical factor would be delivering an outstanding user experience and for that we would need the right equipment.

“With all the chaos going on with COVID, we didn’t have time to waste. It came down to our relationship with ViewSonic. We knew that they make a great product and our ViewSonic reps have always been great – their support has been second to none for us.”

This, he said, along with ViewSonic’s history of being on the mark with pricing and inventory, makes it easy to put the ViewSonic product line in front of clients.

The right product for Langston University, said Ramsey, turned out to be the ViewSonic® ViewBoard® IFP7550 75” 4K interactive flat panel display, combined with the ViewSonic VPC15-WP-4 Slot-In PC and a just-released beamforming microphone, mounted on a ViewSonic VB-STND-001 Mobile Trolley Cart.

Based on a wish list that the Langston University team had put together, the AV team built a proof-of-concept model and placed it in the president’s office. After testing and putting the demo unit through its paces, the trial run was deemed successful and the project was given the green light.

The trolley units were a success. Both teachers and students reported outstanding user experiences and the university was able to rapidly equip their learning spaces with a fully functional professional-grade solution at a very reasonable price point.

The university ordered 50 mobile cart solutions over the summer of 2020. By the end of October, they had ordered another 27, for a total of just over 75 solutions across three campuses.

“LU named them ‘CTUs’ for ‘Classroom Technology Unit,’” said Ramsey, adding that at ImageNet they like to think of them as Conference Technology Units for the broader possibilities. “It’s been an incredible solution for them.”

The units have met the critical need to connect remote students and gone beyond even that, noted chemistry professor Dr. Nisa Ganewatta, who uses the CTUs in all her classes:

“The CTUs are very useful in teaching subjects like chemistry and physical sciences, which have lots of calculations that need to be explained and worked out on the board to support student understanding of the materials. All the content, visualizations and videos are clearly visible and audible to both the students who join via Zoom and the students who attend classes in-person,” said Ganewatta, adding that “The myViewBoard app in these CTUs is tremendously helpful in the above tasks. Powerful speakers, microphones, and the camera in the unit completes its job!”

The university has so much faith in their ViewSonic-powered CTUs that they now use them for everything, including connecting remote participants for their Board of Regents meetings, said Nichols.

Department of English Professor, Wonderful Faison, points out the ViewSonic ViewBoard display’s central role in remote learning:

“The CTUs give instructors a more realistic face-to-face classroom feel during remote learning. The size of the display lets instructors see their entire class, which makes the lecture more organic. Other CTU functions also allow instructors to write notes and highlight specific material to focus student’s attention on specific ideas or concepts.”

Biology professor, Dr. Julia Reed, praised the ViewSonic CTUs for their ability to share lab class content with remote students.

“I use a CTU for every Human Anatomy class, and they’re critical for lab classes,” said Reed. “The wide-angle camera enables my virtual students to see the bones, models and other objects that I present to the students that are present in class. I can walk around the classroom and students at home can see exactly what I’m doing.”

Not only does the innovative solution meet and exceed instructor needs, but its unique form also allowed the university to deploy it in time for the freshman class re-entry for the 2020-2021 school year.

“If we had gone the traditional route of renovating and installing custom solutions for each type of classroom, we might still be in implementation stages,” said Nichols. “With this fully commercial-grade system on a cart, we were able to equip all 75 lecture halls and classrooms within 6 months. We are very grateful to President Smith, Mrs. Powell, and Dean Snavely for their hard work, diligent efforts and prowess – and most especially for their partnership and trust to award ImageNet such an exciting and monumental project!”

The only thing a room needs, added Ramsey, is a wall outlet and available Wi-Fi. Outside of that, the mobile cart is an entire professional, commercial-grade videoconferencing system on a rolling platform.

“We’re thrilled that Langston has been so happy with it,” said Nichols, noting that they’ve already had interest in the solution from other clients. “The ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7550 75” 4K interactive flat panel display with slot-in PC alone gives clients an entire computer and with all the controls built-in on the cart.”

Despite the speed of deployment, Ramsey noted that this in no way represents a compromise in quality.

“There are some great ‘icing on the cake’ outcomes from this solution as well,” he said. “Langston University got all the upgraded professional-grade technology that they needed at an excellent price point. This increased the number of units they could place and assures them a long-term return on investment, with a high-quality product that will be long lasting and adaptable.”

What’s more, he added, these commercial-grade mobile technology units could be easily transformed into stationary, professional wall-mounted solutions at any time, for just the cost of additional labor.

“If Langston ever wants to create a clean, seamless, wall-mounted environment in any of the rooms, we can do that with a few ancillary parts,” said Ramsey. “On the other hand, the cart solution will never be useless. This solution represents a big value to all education sector clients with ‘technology on wheels.’”

In 2018, UNT became the first public university in the state to launch a varsity- level collegiate esports program. A year later the university became the first in the state to offer esports scholarships to current and incoming students. The program’s rapid growth resulted in the need for added facilities.

“When the program began, the university opened a practice space called The Nest inside the Media Library,” said Dylan Wray, Esports Coordinator. “It’s a great space, but it’s open to anyone who enjoys gaming, or who wants do game design, multimedia work or 3D immersion. It’s not dedicated for our use alone.”

For the program to continue to expand, it needed more space and leading technology to support its players.

With ongoing support from UNT President Neal Smatresk, the esports program was granted space within the University’s POHL Recreation Center to renovate and call its own. The build-out and hardware was funded by the UNT Esports operational budget, with added support from UNT Division of Student Affairs.

Opened in December 2019 and given the moniker “the Eyrie,” (definition: a large nest of a bird of prey, especially an eagle), the space provides a home to varsity esports members and coaches.

“Our collegiate spirit animal is an eagle, and we wanted to maintain the theme begun with the Nest facility” said Wray, “It’s a fantastic space – glass-enclosed, like a fishbowl, and located at the entrance of the Rec Center. We get visibility from thousands of visitors every day.”

Working with ViewSonic marketing manager for gaming, Jason Maryne, Wray outfitted the new facilities with 15 ViewSonic XG2530 25-inch Full HD gaming monitors.

“Right away we found these to be outstanding gaming-quality monitors,” said Wray. “Everything about them seemed ideal for our needs. The 240Hz refresh rate is incredible and the image quality is fantastic. Plus, the design includes great added features like a headphone hook, adjustable stand, cable management – the little things that make life easier.”

Now in its second competitive season, the UNT varsity esports program is going strong. More than 35 students participate on four teams, competing at Hearthstone, League of Legends, Overwatch and Rocket League. The university offers 20k annually in scholarships to recruit and support high school esports athletes.

“It’s been a busy two years, taking over a club-level program and turning it into a winning varsity team,” said Wray. “Having a dedicated practice facility with leading gaming technology has played an important part in our success.”

The ViewSonic monitors help prepare players to be their best for competition, said Wray, noting that without exception the players are all big fans of the ViewSonic XG2530 gaming monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate.

“Immediately when they sit down to play, they notice the difference,” said Wray. “Even the monitors in the other facility don’t hold a candle to these.”

While there is no mandated standard for tournament play, most players agree that training on a high refresh rate boosts their competitive advantage.

“Training on the ViewSonic monitors absolutely gives us an advantage at tournaments,” said Wray. “At the competitions they usually have some form of gamer monitor. If players are used to being on a lower-grade set up, like they may have at their home, then when they go to a LAN experience, they’re at a disadvantage.”

As UNT Rocket League player Tristan King put it: “The 240-frame rate makes a massive difference in gameplay. Rocket League is a very fast-paced game, so it can be the difference between winning a challenge or getting beat.”

Fellow Rocket League player Dylan Windebank agrees.

“The higher refresh rate makes the game easier to process when I’m getting more information per second than if I was on a 144Hz monitor,” said Windebank. “It makes the game feel smoother and makes me play better. I don’t have the opportunity to play on a monitor this fast at home so being able to use a monitor that makes me play better at practices and CRL matches really improves my performance.”

The program’s content manager, Dylan Acrey is another of the many fans of the ViewSonic gaming monitors in the Eyrie practice facility.

“The monitor I use at home is only 75Hz,” said Acrey. “There’s a distinct advantage to using the ViewSonic XG2530, particularly in terms of player control and awareness of surroundings.”

Another big plus of the ViewSonic XG2530 gaming monitor is the swivel stand, said Wray, noting that it’s his staff’s favorite feature.

“It’s a great design. Picking it up and moving it is easy,” he said. “And to be able to flip it on the side, pull everything out and put it back together, without having to lift up the monitor is a huge help.”

Also charged with hauling and setting up monitors at events, Dylan Acrey couldn’t agree more.

“The stand/support system for the ViewSonic XG2530 monitor is great. My work program uses these monitors for public esports events and we often have to set up 20 to 30 of them at a time,” said Acrey. “Detaching and re-attaching screens from their stands is quick and easy, and is a lifesaver on the job.”

UNT varsity esports team members have noted many other positive features of the ViewSonic XG2530 monitors, said Wray. These include: the “exceptional build quality,” great visual clarity, easy height adjustability, tilting head and integrated USB connectivity. Many have commented on the slim, space-saving and attractive design.

“The 240Hz is by far my favorite thing about these ViewSonic monitors,” said League of Legends player Andrew Schmidhausler. “I also like the design, with the sparks of red with the black. It’s a great-looking monitor. A lot of people who make monitors just make them plain, when what many people are looking for is a nice monitor with a sleek look.”Himself a “laptop gamer,” Wray said his experience with the ViewSonic XG2530 gaming monitors has made him want to move up to big-screen gaming.

“These top-quality monitors definitely provide an edge over someone who doesn’t have a monitor like this,” he said. “It’s like in football, not all wide receivers use gloves, but gloves usually make it easier to catch so those who do use them have an edge over someone who doesn’t have them.”

Fresno Unified School District structures its administration around four key goals. The second of these states that “All students will engage in arts, activities, and athletics.” The growing popularity of esports presented a significant new opportunity to support Goal 2.

“The benefits of extracurricular involvement and a relationship with a coach to improve academics and social growth are well-documented,” said Joe DiFilippo, Vice Principal on Special Assignment. “From a Goal 2 point of view, esports offered a great opportunity to engage students who would typically hustle home to get on their computer and engage with friends online. We wanted to bring this to the high school campus, to get these students engaging face to face with their peers and an adult coach.”

The challenge was to develop a strong high school esports program at a time when few existed. Certain of the importance of the new activity (whether or not one agrees that it is truly a “sport”), the district was poised to be a trailblazer in this exciting new arena.

“We knew that developing an esports league would not only deliver all the benefits of extracurricular involvement,” said Don Soyinthisane, FUSD Director of Information Technology. “We also wanted to bring focus to a new lucrative and developing industry. We wanted our esports league to foster curiosity into technology and other STEM areas, as well as provide potential career paths to students.”

Goal 2 Administrator and Assistant Superintendent, Holland Locker, teamed up with the information technology department’s Chief Technology Officer, Kurt Madden, to tackle the task of developing a district-wide esports league. They chose to model their league after a traditional high school sport, which according to Soyinthisane, is somewhat unique among high school esports leagues.

“Our league operates at a district level, like traditional sports,” said Soyinthisane. “Students from each of our high schools can compete against teams from other schools, just like they would with tennis or baseball.”

Dubbed the Fresno Unified Esports League better known as FUeL, the fledgling program began in 2018 with members training and competing on Rocket League. Thirteen district high schools participate in the league, practicing weekly then competing across an 8-week season, at the end of which a final tournament determines the district champion.

The IT department handles arena set up and technology procurement and maintenance. The Goal 2 group develops the schedule, runs tournaments and reports stats. The Goal 2 group’s extensive experience managing other athletic teams made for an easy learning curve.

When it came to equipping the league with display technology, Soyinthisane turned to ViewSonic.

“We’re standardized on ViewSonic monitors across the district, with several models that we buy from CDW-G to equip classrooms, computer labs and administrative offices,” he said. “I was hopeful that they would have a gaming-quality option for us, which it turned out they definitely did.”

The IT Team selected the ViewSonic XG2402 24” gaming monitor with 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time and AMD FreeSync™ technology to equip FUeL.

In a short period of time, FUeL has attracted a large participation base. Switching to the popular game League of Legends for their second year, increased membership to around 185 participants across 13 district high schools. The league’s size is matched by member diversity, which includes many female and special ed students as well as the traditional male esports athlete.“Our esports league is giving more students an outlet to participate, to feel
and to show school pride. They may not be kids who could make the soccer team, but they’re super stars at esports,” said Soyinthisane. “They have uniforms, just
like any other athlete, and they wear them with pride on game days. They take it very seriously.”

Seeing FUeL students represent their schools at tournaments exemplifies what the league’s founders hoped to accomplish. Another is a measurable increase in attendance. Among students at the district’s alternative education school, for example, a teacher reported that after joining FUeL student attendance rose from a discouragingly low 25% to around 92%.

“We’re definitely reaching more kids and getting more students to be more active in school,” said Soyinthisane. “These kids were probably gaming at home. Now they’re showcasing their skills to the school.”

The ViewSonic XG2402 24-inch gaming monitors have supported the league players well as they prepare for competition, said Soyinthisane.

“The ViewSonic monitors are great: a quality product at a price that is right for us. With the 144 Hz and 1ms refresh rate, the images constantly refresh. Everything is nice and clear. The students enjoy competing on them,” he said.

Team coaches have commented on the image quality as well, Soyinthisane added.

“Our coaches are a big part of the league success. They watch the students play. Rewind the game play and go over it with them – just like a traditional athletic coach would do after a game or training session.”

Soyinthisane and DiFilippo agree that their efforts to build the league have payed off beyond their initial expectations.

“The amount of engagement this program has created is incredible” said DiFilippo. “We’ve seen fantastic growth with these students in peer to peer interaction and school pride. Our eSports athletes wear their jerseys on Fridays with enthusiasm. The coaches are generally young – in their late 20s and early 30s – they are able to build a real connection with their students.”

Once they accomplish that, he added, everything else falls into place – greater focus in class, improved grades and better behavior – because just like with other school sports eligibility requirements apply.

Currently in the midst of its second year, FUeL has held two tournaments in each of the last two years. The Fall tournament is only open to Fresno Unified School District schools. The Spring tournament includes teams from other school districts that want to compete in a professional-level arena.

“The Fall tournament is huge,” said Soyinthisane. “We set up four arenas on a Saturday, equipped with gaming workstations and our ViewSonic monitors. We have ‘shout casters’ commenting throughout. We want to replicate all that in the Spring and just keep making the program bigger and better and involving more students.”

Beyond that, hopes for FUeL include building a dedicated esports arena and continuing to leverage the growth of the burgeoning industry to help students make the connection between their passion for gaming and real prospects for future career and college opportunities.

“There are more than 200 colleges and universities offering full ride scholarships for esports athletes. And there are opportunities beyond playing, such as coding, shout casting, the business aspects of gaming,” said DiFilippo. “We see parents connecting the dots and realizing that this activity can really point their kids on a path in life.”

Any expansion plans will most certainly involve ViewSonic gaming monitors, said Soyinthisane, who credits the monitor maker for a role in FUeL’s success.

“We have a great relationship with ViewSonic as a supplier and appreciate their support of the growth of our esports league,” he said. “They’re a very strategic partner. They deliver good quality product at a good price, and the support from our account manager Lena Cull has been truly awesome.”

In 2010, the historic Wright Leppien Opera House in Alma Michigan suffered massive interior damage in a fire. Efforts to renovate the space languished and Alma College took ownership of the space in 2017, investing two years of work to bring it up to code. The upper floors became apartments for Alma College students. The ground floor became home to six storefronts, which the university sought to lease to local businesses that would benefit students and the community.

During renovation, the college asked New Media Studies Professor Anthony Collamati for his thoughts on how to use one of the spaces. The result of that exchange gave birth to an exciting idea: Transform the space into an esports environment that would serve as a practice and competition space for the
Alma College varsity esports team.

“The college didn’t actually have an esports team at that point, but they recognized the value of providing this opportunity to students and plans were in the works,” said Collamati. “One of the biggest roadblocks was the lack of facilities for the team.”

Collamati teamed up with friend and local business owner Nick Lux and leased the space from the university. The plan quickly expanded beyond a simple practice facility.

“As we talked through the options, we realized that we wanted to create a place that lived up to the original historic mission of the building, which was to be a community gathering place for residents to enjoy what was the dominant medium of the time,” said Collamati. “We live in a small town and there aren’t that many places to gather and we wanted to create a space where everyone would feel comfortable and welcome.”

Today’s medium, of course, is gaming. Whereas gaming was seen as a niche hobby for nerds and teenagers two decades ago, today esports has become a multi-billion dollar industry that is still growing. Creating a space that facilitated practice, competition and casual enjoyment – along with comfortable companionship for non-gamers – was an entirely new business and entertainment model.

“We wanted to create a space that would be inviting to anyone who walked in, along with the serious gamers and the Alma esports team,” said Collamati. “The vision encompassed multiple areas designed for different types of game play, as well as areas for the spectating and dining-only crowd.”

A critical component, said Collamati, was a stage area that would replicate the high-level competitive esports experience, which typically takes place in large halls or stadiums, is broadcast live and includes play-by-play “shoutcasting.”

While there were some challenges related to building on a historic site, building a bar and dining tables proved to be the easy part. Mapping out the varied game spaces, individual team practice stations, a pro-level gaming stage and the AV needed to tie it all together into a vibrant environment was beyond Lux and Collamati’s experience. For this, they turned to Matt Smiley, owner and president
of CCS Presentation Systems of Michigan.

“Matt was tremendous at helping us think through ideas and finding pitfalls before we fell into them,” said Collamati. “Typically, to create the type of environment we sought would require a giant broadcast switcher that costs as much as a house and could run AV feeds from many PCs, along with a control booth, command center and a few producers and operators to manage it all.”

Constrained by costs and space, this full-on esports broadcast approach wasn’t an option, said Collamati. “Our daily team would need to be just a couple of people to edit the broadcast, and we could only afford a dozen AV inputs,” he added.

That’s where CSS presentation systems came in. CSS utilized a dynamic AV over IP solution that used network switching to transition between SDI and HDMI, creating an immersive environment at a budget-friendly price point.

“To do this, we needed monitors and large screen displays with the appropriate integrated connectivity options and Anthony wanted top-notch graphics and color,” said AV pro Matt Smiley. “I’ve worked with ViewSonic for years and they’ve been my go-to monitor brand for some time now. Their products are very dependable, and every client we’ve sold ViewSonic displays to tells us they’re great.”

CCS suggested several ViewSonic® monitors and large screen displays to meet the varied requirements of the installation. Not only were the ViewSonic graphics displays beautiful and the gaming monitor specs up to par, said Collamati, the display’s enabled CCS to bring the entrepreneurs’ vision to life.
“ViewSonic did a great job of sending us demo equipment and helping us pick the right monitors and displays for each area,” said Smiley. “They went above and beyond and together we determined the displays that fit the budget and had the specs Anthony needed.

“A critical feature of the game displays was the refresh rate,” added Smiley.
“And ViewSonic had great monitors specifically for the gaming market.”
Before committing, Collamati put the ViewSonic gaming monitors to the test, determined to make sure that the technology was a good fit for the serious gamers.

“The ViewSonic gaming monitors had great specs, but just to make sure we brought in coaches and members of the Alma College Overwatch and League of Legends teams,” said Collamati. “We did a brand-blind comparison with competitive products. It was incredible --- each and every one of them picked the 24-inch ViewSonic models.”

Ultimately, the CCS and Collamati chose the following ViewSonic products to outfit Block House Esports:

• 12 ViewSonic 24” LCD Gaming Monitors with ELITE RGB Technology, 1920x1080 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, rapid response time (Model XG240R)

• 13 ViewSonic 24” Gaming LED monitors, 1920x1080 resolution, 144Hz ultra-fast refresh rate, 1ms response time (Model XG2401)

• 2 ViewSonic 65” 4K Ultra HD Commercial Displays (Model CDE6510)

• 4 ViewSonic 50” 4K Ultra HD Commercial Displays, 3840x2160 resolution, 350nits, built-in multi-core media player with 8gb storage
(Model CDE5010)

• 1 ViewSonic 75” 4K UHD Commercial Display (Model CDE7500)

• 1 ViewSonic 86” 4K Ultra HD Commercial Display (Model CDE8600)

• 1 ViewSonic 27” 4K UHD Monitor with SuperClear IPS Technology, 3840x2160 resolution (Model VX2776-4K-MHD)

• 1 ViewSonic 35” 1440p Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor with ELITE RGB Technology, 3440x1440 resolution, 100Hz refresh rate (Model XG350R-C)

Despite delays and constraints related to the coronavirus pandemic, Block House officially opened on October 4, 2020. The response has been even better than he could have dreamed of, says Collamati.

“We host the Alma varsity team practices and competitions, just like a hockey team rents ice time at a rink,” he said. “Beyond this, the response from the community has been overwhelming. Whenever pandemic conditions have allowed us to serve them, we have people here enjoying the food or the bar, or gaming – or all three.”

The crowd ranges from families and groups of kids to couples on dates, said Collamati, who says he’s thrilled to be helping esports come out of the basement and become a social activity.

The space roughly breaks out into three activity-based areas: The bar/dining tables; gaming stations; and competitive streaming stage. To keep track of the large screen displays and facilitate easier communication and programming (while having fun to boot), Collamati and his team named the large ViewSonic commercial displays after the Greek Gods.

Upon entering the Block House, just inside the doorway, Hades, the massive 86” 4K Ultra HD commercial display greets visitors, provides a family- and group-friendly game zone, and captures the attention of passersby. To the left, drinking, dining and spectating visitors can choose from a bar, four-top tables and a large community high-top.

Two-person gaming nooks with ViewSonic XG2401 24” gaming monitors line the wall with larger ViewSonic 50” displays above that showcase the action to spectators. Venture further into the Block House and you’ll find more game stations nestled against historic bare brick walls and situated throughout open spaces. Couches in front of two pairs of ViewSonic 50” 4K Ultra HD Commercial Displays (Ares, Hephaestus, Apollo and Artemis) invite visitors to get comfortable and grab a controller.

The stage area comes to life with 12 ViewSonic 24” LCD gaming monitors with ELITE RGB Technology, which can be configured for a variety of live competitions ranging from 1v1 to 6v6. “These ViewSonic Elite RGB monitors are really terrific,” said Collamati. “We can program them to use our brand colors or can color code the teams so it’s easy to tell who’s home and who’s away.”

Above the stage and along the back wall of the Block House, Zeus, a ViewSonic 75” 4K UHD commercial display is flanked by Poseidon and Hera, ViewSonic’s 65” 4K Ultra HD commercial displays. Transmitters on top of every player station send signals to the control screen, where the Block House team uses a digital switcher to broadcast gameplay onto the big screens.

“The ViewSonic displays have been fantastic and they’re a big part of how the media staff is able to craft an exciting audio-visual experience for people coming into the venue,” said Collamati. “For example, say there’s a group of four battling it out on Valorant, we can stream their game to Zeus, Hera and Poseidon, amping up the competitive excitement.”

What’s more, Collamati adds, the content on the ViewSonic commercial displays can be easily adapted to fit the season, day or mood – as well as to deliver advertising and promotions. “We like to cycle through some branding for ourselves and our sponsors, like the Alma Esports Team, on at least one display,” said Collamati. “On others we could be running seasonal or themed movies. We can run a Twitch broadcast or a live or virtual football game on another. The possibilities are endless.”

One of the biggest thrills and most heartwarming aspect of the venue, says Collamati, is seeing the ways in which the games and the environment bring people together.

“Say we have a mom and daughter playing Mario Kart and we take their game and put it on a ton of screens around the space; it’s such a joy to see their reaction and the connection between the parent and child,” he said. “I knew we could do that – it was our goal all along to be able to show the game play around the space – but I didn’t realize the huge guest experience value it would bring.”

From start to finish, he added, Block House has been a labor of love. To date, their crew is still working out the kinks and looking forward to the post-COVID days when teams in the Block House can livestream their battles on Twitch, just like the pros. On days when Block House is able to open, the excitement just keeps going.

“We just love seeing people walk by, and the big 86-inch ViewSonic display in the front window catches their eye and draws them in,” said Collamati. “We’ve seen a family with young kids eyeing the couch and the rich colors on the display showcasing Donkey Kong or Mario Kart, and they come in and play together, smiling and laughing. Or a teen with his parents who convinces them to come in and they end up playing together. You gotta ask yourself – would those parents have ended up playing Among Us in their basement with their kid?”

While working as a Microsoft engineer, Ashton decided to keep his competitive spark alive by working part-time at an event photography company. Despite his enthusiasm, Ashton was frustrated by the lack of professionalism he encountered.

“I was not impressed by the way they went about things and I was constantly giving them ideas,” said Ashton. “They never listened, so my wife and I decided to do it ourselves.”

At the time, he said, there was no major software solution for the event photography space, so they developed their own. Along with their software (which was faster and more efficient than anything else on the market), they needed monitors that could be used for up to 20 hours a day in environments that were often dirty, dusty and wet. These monitors would also need to withstand the constant bumping and jostling that came with constant transportation to and from events – initially throughout the Southwest, then across the country as Mad Moose Media expanded.

In the early days of Mad Moose, said Ashton, everything was about the bottom line. Their Mad Moose POS, Sort and Photo Grab software was developed entirely in-house. Cost, rather than function, was the priority when it came to purchasing monitors.

“The first monitors we had were what we could get easily and inexpensively from Best Buy. As it turned out, some were from ViewSonic and others weren’t,” he said.

During that first year, Mad Moose Media went to any event they could find near their home base of Nevada and Southern California. At a mountain bike race in Orange County, Ashton met someone who would change his life. A Mad Moose customer noticed the ViewSonic monitors then brought his friend by to meet the Mad Moose crew. That friend turned out to be President of ViewSonic Americas, Jeff Volpe.

“He and I ended up having a lot of common interests,” said Ashton, “We had a great time talking, and of course he commented on how ViewSonic monitors could do a better job for us. I was thrilled to take his advice and try out the monitors he recommended as best for our different needs.”

With a range of vehicles, trailers and tents that traveled to events, Mad Moose Media needed a wide range of monitors to meet their needs. The final solution consisted of:

ViewSonic® TD2730 Multi-Touch Displays
The 10 TD2730 multi-touch displays being used for customer point-of-sale were the most critical component of the business, said Ashton, as they served the interface where customers could see, customize and order photos. Using the VESA compatible mounts on the displays, Ashton connected standard folding wall mounts, flipped them 180-degrees and attached them to a table instead of a wall, creating a fast and easy set-up process.

ViewSonic VA2256-mhd Displays
10 displays are used by the sales team from inside the tent or trailer, mirroring what the customer sees on the outside.

ViewSonic ViewBoard® IFP7550 75” Interactive Flat Panel Display
This giant display, said Ashton, is ideal for circumstances that bring Mad Moose inside to showcase and sell their photography. Mounted on the ViewSonic
LB-STND-003-S mobile stand, the 75” ViewBoard interactive display is quite literally a standout in conference rooms, convention centers and high-end award ceremonies.

ViewSonic PX701-4K Ultra HD Projectors
Two 4K projectors amp up the excitement during events by displaying content onto the ceiling of the tent. With nighttime images that reach up to 20 feet, Aston’s team can livestream races, showcase results and present highlights.

ViewSonic VP3881 38” ColorPro™ Monitor
This powerful color-accurate display is used for image editing in Ashton’s home office to produce pixel-perfect pictures every time.

ViewSonic VX4380-4K 43” Ultra HD Monitor
The Mad Moose team uses this 4K monitor for poster development and general in-office use.

ViewSonic XG350R-C 35” Ultrawide ELITE Gaming Monitor
Running a business is hard work. That’s why for Ashton, a gaming monitor was critical for self-care.

Equipped with the right technology for each job and driven by a passion for excellence, Mad Moose Media has grown exponentially over the past five years. Some of the credit goes to the durability and performance of the ViewSonic displays, said Ashton.

“For one thing, without the touchscreen POS monitors we couldn’t do anything,” he said. “And these ViewSonic multi-touch models do everything we need. The images are great and the high nit count for brightness is very important because we’re outside. Even with the awning providing shade it’s still very bright.”

Not only do the ViewSonic TD2730 touch displays deliver everything needed for point-of-sale customer interaction, they do so again and again, without fail, at nearly 100 events per year.

“The durability of these monitors is mind-blowing,” said Ashton. “We’ve never had a failure in the field and we put them to work in the worst dust you can imagine. They’ve been through rain multiple times plus snow, 20-degree weather, 100-degree weather, you name it. They’ve had thousands of customers pushing on them and they’ve been driven across the country dozens of times.”

This, he said, is beyond critical for the company’s five concessions: A tent with five ViewSonic TD2730 touchscreen displays; two vending trailers, each with four to six TD2730 displays; a golf cart with two TD2730 displays; and the indoor concession: a 75” ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7550 interactive display.

“We rely completely on our ViewSonic monitors. We can’t have low-quality monitors that break during an event,” said Ashton. “That would cost us thousands of dollars in a day.”

From small to large, outdoor to indoor, ViewSonic displays do not disappoint,
said Ashton, who is particularly fond of the 75” ViewBoard interactive display.

“It’s huge and vibrant and always catches peoples’ attention with its beautiful, massive screen,” he said. “We just push it into the meeting room or convention hall, put it in the corner, and people continually walk up and interact with it.”

While most of the company’s business - from order placement to the final printed product placed in the customers’ hands - is conducted and completed onsite, Mad Moose Media also specializes in creating customized posters produced off-site.

“We take a lot of pride in our posters,” said Ashton. “We know they can stay up
on walls for a long time and we work hard to make sure they’re perfect.”

This is where the ViewSonic VP3881 Ultrawide ColorPro™ monitor shines, enabling Ashton and his team to edit, color-correct and personalize photos taken in the toughest of conditions.

“None of our photographers get it easy. They have to work with odd lighting, dust and water reflections; we don’t get to set up a photoshoot,” Ashton said. “This is where the editing, color coding and color grading that we do on this monitor is critical.

For example, an image may be a bit hazy due to dust but also the best image from the event. The functionality of the ViewSonic VP3881 enables us to edit out the haze and get the colors perfect, said Ashton, adding that this is another important cost-saver for the company.

“When we generate the poster on our giant printer, we know that what we see on the monitor screen will be what we see on the final result. This is critical because we print thousands of posters per year. If it doesn’t look exactly right onscreen compared to what we print, we’d waste a lot of time and expensive paper.”

The Mad Moose headquarters is also home to a ViewSonic VX4380-4K Ultra HD monitor, which supports basic business functions as well as some poster design. “To be honest, I just love this monitor, it’s so easy to read everything on it,” said Ashton. “It’s my general office workstation so I use it daily for emails, PowerPoint, Excel, that sort of thing. The 4K is a whole different feel and I notice way less eye strain.”

Beyond the ViewSonic monitors that support his business, Ashton has one more that’s near and dear to his heart: the ViewSonic XG350R-C 35” Ultrawide ELITE gaming monitor. Designed to deliver an immersive experience for esports and gaming enthusiasts, this elegant, curved display includes ViewSonic exclusive RGB ELITE lighting technology, a 100Hz refresh rate and ClearMotion™ technology to reduce blur.

“I grew up racing and I’m a racer at heart. These days I do a lot of iRacing and sim racing online for fun,” Ashton said. “I’m at races and competitions every weekend, running the Mad Moose show, but when I want to race myself, I can do it anytime online with other people from around the world.”

What started as a pastime became something bigger when the COVID pandemic put a stop to many live events in early 2020. Because of his background, Ashton has become what he calls “tech support” for 20 or so NASCAR drivers, advising them on everything from the software to the workstation setup. And he always recommends the ViewSonic XG350R-C 35” Ultrawide ELITE gaming monitor.

“I tell them that this incredible 35” curved ViewSonic gaming monitor is absolutely what they need. It’s pretty much perfect for sim racing,” he said. “You need the ultrawide because you need to be able to easily see who’s to your left and right, and it gives you a tremendous field of view. It’s an amazing monitor and for the price point it’s even more amazing.”

With a thriving and expanding business, Mad Moose Media captures thousands of athletes and racers in the heat of the action. As soon as those shots are captured, ViewSonic monitors play a vital role in getting those images into the hands of athletes and their fans.

“These monitors – and the projectors – all do what they’re supposed to do, with outstanding quality and without fail,” said Ashton, summing up his experience with the many ViewSonic products he uses daily. “I think one of the most incredible things is their reliability. We’ve put them through the worst environments they could be through. I’m often shocked that they still work.”

Despite the damp, dust and grime spanning five-plus years, none of the ViewSonic monitors have ever been dismantled or professionally cleaned. “We just blow them off and wipe the screens, simple things,” said Ashton. “I joke that we put these monitors through more durability testing than when they’re manufactured. With us they go through hell and back – and keep working.”

Interactive displays have become a gold standard for technology in K-12 education by empowering students and instructors to communicate and collaborate in ways that have been shown to increase educational outcomes and prepare students for career success. Would it be possible then, wondered Claremont Graduate University’s leadership team, for this technology to be applied to the unique environment of their institution?

What started off as a thought experiment quickly became reality when CGU board members, Trustee Weng Chan and university president Len Jessup met with ViewSonic leadership to discuss different possibilities. The members greenlit a project that would eventually become known as the Advanced Learning Environment (ALE), a room outfitted with several ViewSonic® ViewBoard® interactive displays and short-throw laser projectors, along with enough laptops to accommodate every student. If it worked as anticipated, it would become the prototype for future classrooms.

But before the ALE could change the way CGU approached technology, it first needed to pass muster with the IT team that would be responsible for implementation. Associate Vice President of Finance and Administration/Technology Services and Information Systems Manoj Chitre admits to being skeptical at first.

“ViewBoard displays have great capabilities and deliver a terrific, immersive classroom experience that’s great for K-12 education,” said Chitre. “As a graduate-only institution it wasn’t immediately apparent how our faculty would use the devices. I wondered, how applicable would they be to our class settings?”

Michael Thomas, Director of Educational Technology and Client Services, was of a similar mindset.

“These tools, the ViewBoard displays and myViewBoard™ software, were specifically designed for K-12,” said Thomas. “We were assured by the ViewSonic team that the software would translate well to pedagogy for adults and that it would be regularly updated for this use.”

With all the relevant stakeholders onboard with the project, the IT and leadership teams went to work.

The ALE was envisioned as an interactive space where teachers could have the flexibility to expand their teaching methods and foster creativity and collaboration individually and in groups.

ViewSonic worked with the CGU team to determine the best technology to bring this collaborative vision to life, ultimately selecting five interactive displays – an 86” ViewSonic® ViewBoard® IFP8650 to serve as the “teaching display” and four 75” ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7550 displays for use by students – all featuring 4K Ultra HD resolution and immersive 20-point touchscreens. For flexibility, each display was mounted on a cart to enable teachers to move them around the room as desired. Two ViewSonic LS820 short-throw laser projectors and 40 laptops rounded out the room.

“We knew that for this room to embody our vision it needed to be highly versatile,” said Thomas. “My philosophy is that technology alone isn’t always the solution and to achieve our goals every element of the room needed to contribute to the modularity. To achieve this, CGU leadership ultimately invested in a complete remodel of the space.”

With financial backing from the University’s board, the team gave the room a modern makeover to make it more accessible for students. Whereas before there was a typical 800 sq. ft. lab with rows of tables and chairs, there now stood a vibrant, cutting-edge technology center. An electrified glass wall provided a sense of openness but also doubled as a privacy filter by being opaque at the push of a button. Window blinds (which normally took minutes to close) became motorized and could be remotely raised and lowered as a group. A browser-based system provided hassle-free room scheduling and cut down on many of the conflicts that came with booking a regular meeting space.

“The old room was very static. This one is modular and modern,” said Thomas. “The furniture is modular and easy to reconfigure. The ViewBoard displays are on rolling carts. Everything can be easily changed up to accommodate different needs.”

The CGU IT team completed the installation during the summer of 2019. In September, the Advanced Learning Environment was officially open for use. With help from ViewSonic, the IT team laid the groundwork for a successful launch.

“ViewSonic helped train my team members, who became trainers for the faculty,” said Thomas. “We also created documentation on how to use the tools and software in the room, including recommendations on how to use these resources for different teaching modalities.”

The ALE quickly became one of the most popular spots on campus, with five months of increasing use before the university shut down in March of 2020
to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“Pre-pandemic the ALE was being used daily by faculty across the campus,” said Thomas. “The Statistics professors were the first to use it extensively, but soon it was being used for every type of class as well as for board meetings, special events and training faculty and staff from our sister schools.”

It was so in-demand, says Thomas, that they regularly had to turn people away.

“This room provides the faculty with capabilities they didn’t have in the past, and it’s changing the way they teach,” he said. “Some use all the displays at once, for upgraded one-to-many teaching. For example, this approach is good for classes that use the Socratic method, and it adds visibility for vision-impaired students. Many use the displays separately for breakouts and group work, then have the students share their work onto the large screens using myViewBoard software.

In Professor Brian Hilton’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class, ViewSonic ViewBoard displays have particularly been effective at saving time for both himself and his students. Consider this “then” versus “now” snapshot of group work in Hilton’s classes with and without the large screen huddle spaces.

“Before I had these resources to use, groups of students would share a single laptop to create the assigned GIS maps or apps. To demonstrate their work, they had to come to the front of the room, login to their account and find the correct content – all before they could begin discussing it, all of which took time,” said Hilton. “Now each group works at a large ViewSonic ViewBoard display, which has many benefits.”

“First of all, it gets them up and moving, getting into groups around their display – a good outcome for evening classes where almost everyone is coming from work at the end of a long day. They then proceed as before with the exercise, but since the screen is large, they have the ability to work together rather than just watch one person manipulate the application. Then, when it’s time for their demonstration, we just move between groups – it’s much more efficient.”

Hilton also talked about another unanticipated bonus, “The groups at each display can easily see what the others are doing, which creates some useful friendly competition.”

The results lived up to the high expectations that the CGU leadership had for the room. What the team couldn’t have anticipated was how useful the ALE would become in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This room has proved valuable in so many ways we didn’t imagine,” said Chitre. “For one thing, it was an ideal environment for training faculty in online learning tools and techniques before going home in March.”

“For another,” said Chitre, “ViewBoard displays have proven invaluable in facilitating remote teaching in new ways at the outset of the 2020-2021 school year, with the campus closed and the university offering online flexible learning.

“Some faculty can’t or don’t want to teach from home,” he said. “We’ve been able to bring them on campus and enable them to use the big screens to connect with remote students. They can talk to them easily and present though the ViewBoard displays. It’s really been a blessing for them.”

The combination of Zoom plus the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays has been tremendous, added Thomas.

“These tools together have been a huge win this fall for the faculty teaching from campus,” he said. “They wanted to be in a classroom to teach but many found it awkward lecturing on Zoom to an empty room. When we set them up on the ViewBoard displays with webcams and they were able to see a large gallery of their students’ faces and have bidirectional conversations -- definitely a more enjoyable teaching and learning experience.”

To maximize this benefit, the ViewBoard displays were moved to individual classrooms.

According to Thomas, whether it was late 2019, during the transition to remote learning, or in its current distributed locations, feedback has been “overwhelmingly fantastic.”

“The faculty really enjoy the modularity of the ALE and the touchscreen aspect of the displays has been one of the biggest wins,” he said. “The screens are absolutely gorgeous and the touchscreen capabilities are outstanding. We’ve had nothing but positive feedback about the displays.”

All in all (pandemic notwithstanding), the faculty’s expectations were overwhelmingly met, says Thomas.

“The professors really enjoy having a top tier, cutting-edge space that gives them so much teaching flexibility,” he said. “We’re looking forward to extending the concept and are working with ViewSonic to acquire more ViewBoard displays.”

The IT team has also been offering demos of the ALE for CGU’s sister colleges.

“Scripps just bought three and CMC is also in the process acquiring some ViewSonic ViewBoards,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting more – a lot more.”

Upon becoming Head of School at Syracuse Hebrew Day School, one of Laura Lavine’s first priorities was to upgrade classroom technology. A former public school superintendent, she recognized that her SHDS students were missing out on the benefits of interactive and collaborative technology.

“I wanted my students to be as adept at using these devices as other students, so that when they graduate and move on to seventh grade, they won’t have to face a challenging learning curve,” said Lavine. “They also deserved the educational benefits that come with using technology during their primary and intermediate grades.”

Additionally, Lavine wanted to prepare for potential remote learning due to snow days or extended student absences (a prescient move considering the pandemic that surfaced months later).

At that time, classrooms used a mix of old-school tools. The go-to for displaying content at the front of the room was a cart-mounted projector and a pull-down screen. Teachers shared lesson materials on a classic whiteboard.

Lavine was familiar with projector-based interactive whiteboards from her days as a public school superintendent, and began considering this type of solution for SHDS, while also evaluating 1:1 computing devices, taking steps to become a Google school, and beginning professional development to bring teachers up-to- date on the use of online resources.

In June 2019, as she began her research into technology and online solutions, Lavine visited an area high school. As she peered into classrooms along the way, she noticed teachers and students working at interactive whiteboards that lacked a separate projector.

“That’s when I first became aware of interactive whiteboards that don’t need a projector,” said Lavine. “They were slim, compact and looked easier to use.”

Her colleagues at the high school confirmed her initial impressions and spoke highly of their displays – ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive flat panel displays.

“I started looking at the various products available in this category,” said Lavine. “And I decided I didn’t want to do my usual lengthy amount of research. The school I visited is very large and loves their ViewSonic ViewBoard displays; I decided that if they were good enough for them, they would surely be good enough for our little gem of a school.”

Lavine purchased a 75” ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7550 4K interactive display within two weeks of her first glimpse of the technology. At the recommendation of her sales representative Nick Gugliuzza, she purchased the IFP7550-E2 bundle, which included everything needed to create an easy-to-use shared resource: the display, a mobile trolley cart and a wireless AC adapter.

It proved to be much more than “good enough” for SHDS.

Thanks to excellent PD provided by Nick, said Lavine, teachers quickly began integrating the ViewBoard into their curriculum and were initially satisfied with using it as a shared resource. (“Back in the pre-COVID days we could do that,” noted Lavine.)

“Nick made the training very hands-on and everyone picked it up quickly,” Lavine said, acknowledging that she herself was a bit nervous about learning to use the display. “A teacher said, ‘Laura it’s just a big iPad’ – so I told myself, I can do this, and it ended up being easy. Our teachers took to it very quickly.”

Soon, however, teachers began asking to have one of their own, so Lavine purchased four more, equipping other classrooms – including every general education classroom – with a ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display.

“They told me that there was so much more they could do if they had one full time in their rooms,” said Lavine. “Fortunately, we received a grant from an area bank that enabled us to purchase more.”

Along with outstanding customer service, Lavine said the displays themselves did not disappoint.

“The quality of the onscreen picture is extremely high, the sound is good, and the user interface is very intuitive,” she said. “Half of our faculty is over 60 yet everyone is using them. Everything about these displays is great. They are easy to use and there’s been nothing glitchy at all. We love them.”

When schools across the country began closing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, Lavine said she was the first one in their county to announce the closing of a school.

“I was confident in doing so because I knew we could handle teaching remotely thanks to the technology and training we had invested in,” she said. “We closed school on Friday March 13th, then on Monday March 16th we were fully online for the next three and a half months.”

When the start of the next school year came around, Lavine opened the doors of SHDS knowing they had the pieces in place to keep everyone safe: small class sizes along with masking, maintaining socially-distanced classroom pods, and the addition of six-foot clear plexiglass booths around each student desk.

“When it came to teaching effectively under these conditions,” she said, “The ViewSonic ViewBoard displays helped tremendously – I don’t think it’s too much to say that they’ve saved our school day.”

In many ways, teachers used the ViewBoard displays exactly as they had for their first seven months at the school – working collaboratively with students using apps like Go Noodle, Brain Pop, Kahoot, Padlet and more. Under these new conditions, the large screen with crisp, clear images made it possible for every student to see and hear lessons clearly, said Lavine. Older students, who could be counted on to take care and use hand sanitizer appropriately, continue to get up and work at the boards.

What has made the biggest difference during the pandemic, said Lavine, is the ability to connect with those who used to come into the building – guest readers, authors and the like – along with the ability to connect to the world at large.

“Once a week, the cantor from an area synagogue came to school to teach Jewish music. Now she connects via Zoom so students get the that same half hour of music each week, displayed on the ViewBoard,” said Lavine. “The same goes for our monthly Kindergarten storyteller. These displays are allowing us to stay connected; they’ve opened up the world to us more than we would have thought possible during this pandemic.”

Another invaluable result of having ViewSonic ViewBoard displays in each classroom during these COVID times is the ability to keep the school’s traditions alive and well. One such tradition is the morning meeting, which, during typical times, brings students of all ages together in one room to get to know one another and share Torah portion lessons. It’s a tradition with countless student benefits, including the development of leadership and public speaking skills. The  ViewSonic ViewBoard displays have enabled a nearly seamless continuation of this tradition.

“Every classroom turns on their display and everyone is together virtually,” said Lavine. “The sixth graders still run the meeting and get the leadership experience. Even though the classrooms are just 20 feet apart, the ViewBoard displays are what bring us together as a community.”

Day-to-day instruction continues within each classroom “pod,” bolstered by the combined use of the ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays and individual student devices.

“A teacher’s creativity is the only thing that limits the use of the ViewBoard displays,” said Lavine. “And all of our teachers are really enjoying coming up with ways to use their ViewBoard for instruction.”

A Hebrew teacher uses the Padlet app for teaching Hebrew. Sixth graders read the book Wonder, then watched it on the classroom screen. First graders learn about nouns and verbs using the Kahoot app and respond to questions on the big board using their individual devices. Just about every teacher mines YouTube for resources to display on their classroom ViewBoard.

“These teachers are among the most collaborative and hard-working I have known in forty years, and they were - and are - eager to learn about new resources,” said Lavine. “The ViewSonic ViewBoard displays boosted their capabilities both in terms of what they do in their classrooms and in terms of getting them adjusted to learning and teaching remotely through technology.

“The ViewBoard displays don’t just come in handy, they’re invaluable.”

Like thousands of schools across the country, in March of 2020 Brentwood Academy closed its doors and began an unprecedented experiment in distance  learning brought about by the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. To quickly implement a solution, the IT team aligned teachers around Zoom as the distance learning platform to finish out the educational year.

With this stopgap in place, the team turned its sights on preparing for the upcoming school year. No one could predict whether the spread of COVID-19 would prevent the return of in-person learning in the fall or require another closure if the school was able to reopen as scheduled.

“We took the time to reflect on the current conditions with COVID-19 while school wasn’t in session,” said Brentwood Academy IT Director Chris Allen. “We were exploring options for systems that would enable us to adapt to a changing climate – whether during a complete lockdown or if staff or students needed to self-quarantine.”

The goal, said Allen, was to be ready for in-person learning, while having the ability to nimbly shift at any moment to hybrid or complete virtual learning.

To achieve their goal of delivering a highly flexible and adaptable teaching system, the Brentwood Academy team realized that they needed more than communication software. Likewise, their current projection system not only limited their options but had inherent in-classroom challenges. Cabled connectivity to laptops, VCR/DVD players and document cameras was cumbersome, messy and time consuming. The ceiling-mounted audio system radiated sound into surrounding classrooms while interactivity and annotation capabilities were limited.

Investing in interactive displays with robust connectivity, communications and annotation capabilities would enable teachers to bring an enhanced classroom- like experience to remote students.

The transition to Zoom for distance learning went well, leading Allen to initially consider a Zoom-based display solution. Then he discovered ViewSonic.

“I was looking into which companies were leveraging Zoom with their interactive displays,” said Allen. “When I discovered ViewSonic it became clear that their solution offered the adaptability that we were looking for. It was clear that ViewSonic® ViewBoard® interactive displays and myViewBoardTM software would open up many options and opportunities.”

More research and testing led to the final decision to create an adaptable system with several components, the centerpiece of which was the 65-inch ViewSonic® ViewBoard® IFP6550 4K interactive display.

“We put the 65-inch ViewSonic ViewBoard displays in every classroom. They are the core of our hybrid-ready virtual learning environment,” said Allen. “Along with the myViewBoard software, they connect all the pieces of the system together. Because they’re agnostic, they are very open to other tools that our teachers use, like document cameras and even legacy VCR players.”

Standardized around Microsoft 365 Education, they moved from Zoom to Microsoft Teams for video collaboration. No additional sound equipment was needed, said Allen, as the integrated ViewSonic® ViewBoard® audio was both sufficient for and contained within each classroom. Intel NUC small form factor PCs power each classroom setup while cloud-based ViewSonic® myViewBoard® software delivers in-person whiteboarding capabilities and the ability to prepare materials and present from anywhere.

“The myViewBoard software combines everything we needed to teach under any circumstances,” said Jeff Bryant, Brentwood Academy Dean of Academics who worked with Allen to develop the new system. “From the first time I saw it I was impressed with the ability of the ViewSonic solution to provide interactivity between teachers and students at a really responsive rate and be adaptable to hybrid scenarios.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge, said Allen, was authentication. While newer ViewBoard interactive displays have an integrated fingerprint reader, Brentwood Academy chose an earlier model to accommodate substitute personnel. The concern: password security. Their solution: Windows Hello, the authentication method integrated into Windows 10 Pro, in conjunction with a FIDO2 USB key.

“It’s essentially like a car key for the ViewBoard display, which has three easy- access USB ports. Each key is bound to a teacher’s Microsoft 365 identity,” said Allen. “Teachers can simply plug the key into any ViewBoard on campus, which then prompts for a PIN.”

Another point of pride in the unique system setup is the two strategically placed 105-degree field of view USB 3.0 webcams with built-in microphone arrays in each classroom.

“We have one webcam mounted on top of each ViewBoard display and another attached to the ceiling about 10 feet into the classroom,” said Allen. “This enables us to capture more than just what’s happening at the front of the room.”

The goal, said Allen, was to replicate seeing and interacting with each participant in a Zoom call.

“The Zoom concept of distance learning enables all the participating students to see and interact with one another,” said Allen. “With our dual-camera setup teachers can flip to the second camera to show the entire class during a discussion, enabling those participating from home or elsewhere to be more fully involved. If we only had the single camera facing the ViewBoard, remote students could only see the teacher and front of the room.”

Last but not least, the team purchased 75 ViewSonic WoodPad drawing tablets, which enable teachers to replicate the whiteboarding experience from home.

While the realities of the 2020-2021 school year are far from certain, Brentwood Academy is ready to deliver top-notch education in any foreseeable circumstances. Teachers will train on the ViewSonic ViewBoard system beginning in early August, then set up their FIDO2 keys during orientation using help desk kiosks to walk them through the process of adding the key to their Microsoft profile.

“From day one we’ll have the added security of this multifactor authentication,” said Allen. “And the teachers will be able to securely launch any programs and apps they have associated with their Microsoft Education account profile from any ViewBoard on campus – including their personal myViewBoard hub and Microsoft OneDrive.”

Students who start the school year in-person will see an impressive new classroom setup and experience enhanced collaboration and interaction with content. Those who need to be out of the classroom for any reason will similarly enjoy enhanced collaborative and interactive learning benefits.

“With this new system we’ll be able to more easily accommodate those who need to learn or teach from home,” said Bryant, “We’ll also be able to meet the needs of students who may need to recuperate or quarantine from home, and we’ll be able to quickly pivot should we need to move to 100% remote learning.”

Those learning remotely (which Bryant points out includes students traveling during the school day for sports or a debate tournament) will receive synchronous learning complete with the sights and sounds of their teacher and classmates, along with full visibility to all content displayed and manipulated on the ViewSonic ViewBoard. For those that can’t sync up live, the solution provides the ability to record visual and auditory content, said Bryant.

“With our block schedule it can be difficult to catch up if a student misses even one class,” said Bryant. “With the myViewBoard and Microsoft Teams combination, they don’t have to wait to get the material second hand. Instructors can record key lesson material and make it available anytime, anywhere.”

This, he added, is a terrific tool for all students, who can use the recorded material for concept review and test prep.

The benefits for teachers are equally notable. First, said Allen, the IT team wanted to offer a solution that was easy for teachers to adapt to their instructional styles and existing toolkit.

“We wanted it to be pretty seamless for teachers. The myViewBoard software and ViewBoard displays are so intuitive they make this easy,” said Allen, adding that because it’s not a proprietary system it will be easy for the teachers to use any tools they are already using. When they walk into their classroom for the first time, everything will be setup and ready to go.

“With the setup we developed, the only thing teachers will need to do is come to class, log into Windows, launch Teams, and launch the myViewBoard software,” said Allen. “From that point they’ll already have a classroom session going within Teams and will be able to share their desktop, which is their myViewBoard whiteboard. They can easily display the myViewBoard session from within Teams as well as bounce in and out of the myViewBoard window to open a web browser, display a YouTube video or open an app. It’s all very straightforward.”

The flexible capabilities address another critical challenge for teachers during COVID-19: the strain of balancing work and family.

“If we do have to go into full distance learning,” said Allen, “teachers will be challenged by having to teach from home. With this system they can come into their classrooms and teach from their ViewBoard displays.”

The ViewBoard WoodPad tablets provide an additional level of flexibility, added Allen, by enabling instructors to interface with their myViewBoard software and develop visual materials from home, whether for advanced prep or because they are self-isolating due to potential coronavirus exposure.

Amid these uncertain times excitement is nonetheless building around the new system, said Allen.

“We had two instructors teaching summer enrichment classes using the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays,” he said. “Other teachers walked by and were mesmerized by it, then came and asked when they were getting one.”

Staff and faculty have been making the same request, leading Allen to put ViewSonic ViewBoard displays in the school’s dens and meeting spaces as well as every classroom.

“We’re all in with ViewSonic and we couldn’t be happier with this solution,” said Bryant. “Even if we never have to do hybrid or remote learning, the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays will enhance student learning and allow interactivity in new ways that we and the teachers are very excited about.”

And if distance learning is called for?

“I’m confident that we met our goal of best-in-class products that will help us deliver a top-notch learning experience whether in or out of the classroom,” Allen concluded.

In response to COVID-19, Chile began implementing various measures designed to slow the spread of the disease, such as enforcing social distancing, placing residents under quarantine, and closing schools, shops, and restaurants. While Sanhueza had always conducted his one-on-one private classes in person, Chile’s new restrictions forced him to adapt. As teaching was a fundamental part of his economic livelihood, stopping lessons was not an option. In March of 2020, Sanhueza decided to reinvent his teaching process through online classes.

While Sanhueza was aware of ViewSonic® interactive displays and myViewBoard™ software, he had never considered working with these tools before COVID-19. But since Sanhueza needed products that would enable him to teach his online classes just as effectively as he did in his in-person classes, he decided to invest in ViewSonic products.

On March 15th 2020, Sanhueza purchased a 65-inch ViewSonic ViewBoard® IFP7550 interactive display with 4K Ultra HD resolution and a 20-point immersive touchscreen, to be used in conjunction with Zoom Pro and ViewSonic's myViewBoard™ educational software, in order to teach remotely.

For Sanhueza, acquiring the interactive display was one of the best investments he could have made. Before the pandemic, Sanhueza would spend hours traveling to reach his students. But with virtual classes, he is able to reach them instantly. Now, rather than wasting hours in traffic, Sanhueza is able to spend more time with his family in Peñalolén.

Thanks to the ViewBoard IFP6550 interactive display and myViewBoard software, the quality of his classes has also changed dramatically.

“In my face-to-face classes, the kids interrupted the class to go to the bathroom and look for food. They were not motivated and did everything to avoid the lessons. Instead, with remote classes, since these kids are digital natives, they feel they are in a friendly environment and get excited with all the myViewBoard tools. The interactivity makes them constantly attentive; they do not ask for permission to go to the bathroom or become unmotivated. Students who had two hours of classes started asking me for four, those who had one hour a week asked for two.” says Sanhueza.

The interactivity provided by both the interactive display and myViewBoard software excited students so much that many requested for classes to be continued over the winter holidays (something that had never happened to Sanhueza in his 15-year career as a teacher).

With myViewBoard, Sanhueza can send students and parents QR codes that link to all the work done during a study session, so that students can review their work, and parents can see exactly what is being taught to their children.

Sanhueza believes that once the pandemic is over, at least 80% of his classes will remain remote. One of the main reasons for sticking to remote classes is that the IFP6550 interactive display and myViewBoard enable him to both capture the attention of his students, and easily adapt to their learning style – whether it be audio, kinesthetic, or visual.

“Students have different ways of learning, some do it with the help of sounds, others through touch, or visually. The face-to-face classes are rather explanatory, but the virtual one is more experiential, where I am the intermediary between knowledge and the student, it is a constructive class in which we work together,” explains Sanhueza.

However, not all students liked the idea of having virtual private lessons at first. "There was a young student who wanted face-to-face classes, because supposedly he wasn't going to hook up with the virtual ones and I said, "let's try it.” “We did it and now he is fascinated, he has two classes a week,” says Sanhueza.

For Sanhueza, feedback from his private virtual classes has been so positive that he is now using both the IFP6550 interactive display and myViewBoard for his classes at the Gauss School. Administrators, noticing the substantial improvement among Sanhueza’s students, decided to acquire two more ViewSonic interactive displays for its classes.

“I was quite happy, I was a pioneer in the pre-college school, they congratulated me for my classes. They told me that the best pre-college school classes are the ones I teach using the interactive display. I went from having eight students in my class to having 12 the following week, because the kids spread the word that they were having spectacular classes with me,” says Sanhueza.

Deloitte (Uruguay) wanted to modernize its conference, training, and meeting rooms.

They were looking for a modern solution to replace the aging projector in their boardroom as well as a way to upgrade their training rooms in order to provide their employees with a more comprehensive training experience. Deloitte Uruguay also wanted to create an innovation center for employees to work, interact, and test the latest technology.

Representatives at Soluciones en Sistemas de Información (SSI Ltda.), a firm
that specializes in technology and communication, presented Deloitte Uruguay
with ViewSonic interactive displays.

Since their projectors displayed images poorly, Deloitte Uruguay wanted their new screens to be high resolution. These screens also had to be bright enough to be visible in a dark room.

While Deloitte Uruguay’s old projectors were not interactive, having interactivity in the new interactive displays quickly became an essential part of their company.

“We managed to achieve something we didn’t have before - interactivity with presentations - where the presenter can work on his or her presentation in a very easy way. And collaboration, so that participants can also interact with each other”, highlighted Rafael Charquero, IT Deloitte Uruguay.

Deloitte purchased four ViewSonic IFP50 ViewBoard® interactive displays including two 75-inch displays, one 65-inch display, and one 55-inch display as well as two display stands (VB-STND-001).

Each display came with 4K Ultra-HD resolution and a 20-point immersive touchscreen. The equipment was divided as follows: one IFP7550 was installed in the boardroom, the other IFP7550 was installed in the training room, one IFP6550 was installed in the conference room, while the IFP5550 was installed in the co-working space.

Deloitte Uruguay executives and employees were thrilled with the interactive displays as it allowed them to transition from using outdated projectors with poor resolution to state-of-the-art interactive displays that fostered teamwork.

“We were looking for new tools that allow us to innovate our way of working, to make it dynamic, more productive and efficient. We have very different users within the company, and with this ViewSonic solution we are able to satisfy the needs of everyone, from board members to younger users such as users of the training rooms or co-working [spaces]”, highlighted Rafael Charquero.

As for the installation itself, there were no setbacks and the company leaders were satisfied with the training provided by the equipment vendor on how to use the screens.

Deloitte plans to continue modernizing its company and incorporate more IFP units in the following months, both in Uruguay and other countries on the continent.

Emergency alert systems (EAS) are a critical priority for higher education
campuses, as mandated by the Federal Clery Act. The University of Houston
Downtown Campus had an aging EAS. Deployed in 2011, it never quite met
the school’s objectives.

“At the time we couldn’t find a digital signage system to do what we wanted,” said Steven Cachia, Assistant Director of Information Technology. “So we went with an Android system that ended up presenting some serious challenges.”

In addition to requiring the IT team to modify the tablets, develop their own app
and custom-build a power-up method, the system was high maintenance and not
very reliable.

“Several years back we decided to get serious about making an improvement,” said Cachia. “We began looking for a system that would deliver fast, dependable alerts.”

Additional asks included easy, out-of-the-box deployment and reliable power.

UHD set out to assess the market. Cachia’s team found his options limited.
“There aren’t many providers in this space who could deliver everything we were looking for,” said Cachia. “In addition to the functional specs, we were looking for a reliable product from a reliable brand – a company that would be there for us down the road.”

ViewSonic, the team discovered, had an ideal product to meet their needs:
the ViewSonic EP1042T 10.1” all-in-one interactive digital ePoster. The company’s
30-plus years in the industry and solid brand reputation clearly checked off
the ‘here for the long haul’ box.

“The ViewSonic EP1042T monitors have an integrated media player that enabled
us to lock it down to prevent tampering,” said Cachia. “And with the power over
ethernet, setup was truly out-of-the-box.”

What’s more, he said, it offered exactly what they were looking for at a good
price point for their budget. Cachia’s team evaluated the displays, which worked
seamlessly with their interactive software provider, Four Winds Interactive.
The decision was clear and Cachia invested in 250 units.

In addition to the easy Power over Ethernet installation, everything about the ViewSonic EP1042T 10-inch monitors made delivering and managing the system simple, Cachia said.

“We’re very happy with the ViewSonic EAS solution,” said Cachia. “It’s very dependable. It works well with our software. It receives signals promptly, and we’ve had zero losses. They’re workhorses.” Basically, he added, UHD’s new alert system has been an “install and forget” application for the IT team. Thankfully, the system hasn’t seen much real-time use. When activated in response to what turned out to be minor incidents, the EAS performed admirably, distributing warnings to impacted classrooms/floors. Regular testing confirms the ongoing health of this critical system, which is monitored and managed by the local police department and campus public relations.

Everything related to the EAS project went so smoothly that UHD turned to ViewSonic for its next digital signage installation, Cachia said. “For years,
the university had been showcasing awards in a high-traffic hallway using large
print posters. It was time for an upgrade. We also felt the need to assess a new
digital signage provider and wanted to see how the back-end part of the puzzle
would work with the front-end portion similar to the EP1042T units.”

“The team in charge of the project asked us to find a digital alternative that would be more efficient,” said Cachia. How would a cloud-based signage provider work with the already proven ViewSonic core technology on a larger display concept?

Once again, ViewSonic had just what they were looking for with the ViewSonic
EP5540T. The 55-inch EP series display even came with the same integrated mediaplayer. Cachia’s team tested the ViewSonic EP5540T displays with cloud software from Zignage and worked with both companies to develop their ideal solution.

“They work very well together and we were able to do exactly what we wanted to
accomplish,” said Cachia. “The finishing touch was the addition of Chief Mfg frames to deliver a dressed-up look to the digital award wall.”

Several months post-deployment the award wall is still performing beautifully. In fact, the university has been so pleased with the performance that it has once again expanded its use of ViewSonic products, this time to classroom teaching,

“We replaced our old Smartboards with nine ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7750-E1 displays and VPC15-WP-4 slot-in PCs. They look better and are performing well,” said Cachia. “Importantly, the choice of sizes is terrific. When we spec technology, we like to be consistent. If we deploy lots of different brands my staff and the instructors get annoyed – they have to train on and learn different systems.”

With ViewSonic as a partner, Cachia said, he has the ability to choose from a wide array of size options to meet the needs of different room sizes. “Because ViewSonic has such a great array of products in their portfolio, it makes it very easy to work with them,” he said. “And their reps are also great to work with. If we need to talk with someone it’s easy to get the answers you need.”

Across all three project deployments – from the emergency alert system and award wall to the classroom interactive displays – stakeholders have been very happy with the results, Cachia said.

“We haven’t had any issues. It’s all good and I look forward to continuing to work with ViewSonic as a panel provider. By no means is this it. We have a lot more panels to buy.”

As a global provider of IT products and services, Insight supports its own operations by choosing tech that reflects best-in-class solutions based on their extensive partner relationships. Such was the case when the company decided to outfit their conference rooms with interactive displays.

“Skype is our internal communication standard,” said Steve Berenter, PMP, Insight senior IT manager. “So, when we first began adding interactive displays to our conference rooms it made sense to select the Surface Hub.”

It proved to be a solid choice, said Berenter. It was an all-in-one device and it interfaced easily with Skype, their internal standard for audio and video conferencing. It simplified the user meeting experience by offering system consistency.

“Our legacy conference systems were all over the place. We had rooms with Cisco, Polycom, and others. Some had projectors. Our goal was to standardize the majority of our rooms,” he said. “The Hub offered a great way to accomplish these things and we started down the path of standardizing. However, as Microsoft began the transition to the Surface Hub 2 there was a shortage of the original Surface Hubs. For almost a year we were unable to procure any new Surface Hubs.”

It was a significant predicament for the growing company. New offices were about to open. Buildouts and remodels were planned. The project management and sales teams wanted to begin weekly touchpoint meetings and needed a reliable, user-friendly system to connect teams in Arizona, Texas and Montreal.

The IT team concluded that a new solution was needed to support the growing company’s needs.

“We were happy with the Surface Hubs, but we needed immediately available solutions in these conference rooms with video and audio conferencing, whiteboarding – the full spectrum of meeting room communication and collaboration capabilities,” said Berenter.

The IT team began a comprehensive search that included all the major players: HP, Logitech, Lenovo, Polycom, and more. Then, at Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, Berenter came across the ViewSonic booth, and the path to finding a solution took a sharp turn toward the end of the journey.

“ViewSonic was presenting on an 86” ViewBoard® display and I was very impressed with its capabilities and the user experience,” said Berenter. “It’s very ’Surface Hub-like,’ in that it’s an intuitive, all-in-one solution.”

Insight’s IT team brought in 4 units to test out. Based on the good things he’d seen so far from the ViewBoard displays, Berenter’s only concern was security. ViewSonic rep Jeffrey Erb, who Berenter had met at Insight, provided the answer.

“The system was publicly facing but running on a Windows® 10 PC, so my biggest question about the project was, how do we secure it,” he said. “Jeff suggested that we try the Quicklaunch application by UC Workspace. It secures the device and adds one-touch capabilities to start and join meetings.”

Quicklaunch added security on top of the already-robust ViewBoard security features, with password-protected complete lock down. It also added the benefit of a transparent interface with Exchange and Google Calendar, as well as the ability to customize with brand elements like colors and logos.

The ViewBoard interactive displays continued to impress throughout the test period.

“The usage flexibility was phenomenal. Although we’re standardized on Skype, because we do business with Cisco, some of our team members like to use Webex,” said Berenter. “We needed a platform that easily integrated with both of those conferencing solutions. Sure, we could do it on the back end, which we’ve done before, but that’s clunky and has a less-than-optimal user experience. With the ViewBoard displays, we were able to load and use any conference solution – the device is completely agnostic.”

The ViewSonic ViewBoard displays even won over the most diehard Surface Hub proponents, said Berenter. Based on the overwhelming positive feedback during the demo process, the IT team purchased 22 ViewSonic ViewBoard displays ranging in sizes from 55” – 98”, as well as with VPC Slot-In PCs, to deploy across multiple locations.

A streamlined, all-in-one solution, deployment of the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays was a breeze, said Berenter.

“So many other solutions are modular. You buy their device, then you have to piece together other components,” he said. “With the ViewSonic ViewBoard, you get the display with the interactive capabilities and the slot-in PC. It’s a single solution that delivered 99% of what we needed. The only other thing I had to source as an add-on was the camera.”

For that, Berenter settled on the Poly Studio camera, which delivers speaker tracking and eliminates the need to manually pan, tilt and zoom as different users take the floor.

“It delivers a nice 18 feet of coverage with audio and visual,” he said. “We can accommodate up to 16 seats without needing any other equipment.”

Berenter was able to easily load Skype, Webex, Zoom and more, delivering the outstanding flexibility that he noted as one of the many reasons Insight employees have become big fans of the ViewBoard displays.

“Skype is our primary, but the ViewBoard is flexible and can be used with several communications applications. With Microsoft and Cisco as our two largest partners, we also use Webex for some business needs. Some of our clients prefer Zoom for their meetings. With the Viewsonic ViewBoard we can accommodate them all – without delaying meeting start up.”

To help facilitate the transition to the ViewBoard conference rooms, Berenter’s team held open-door training sessions at each of their locations.

“This was very helpful to the rapid adoption of the devices,” he said. “Feedback from those at the sessions was extremely positive.”

Evidence of the popularity of the ViewBoard displays came early in their time at  Insight.

“Every month we pull a report of all Skype-enabled room devices – we still have a mishmash of 4-5 different configurations,” said Berenter. “The very first month after deploying six ViewSonic ViewBoard solutions at our headquarters and three at each of our two offices in Tempe, they became the number one devices used – more than any other system. They instantly became very popular.”

Quick startup is one much-appreciated advantage of the ViewBoard-equipped conference rooms, said Berenter.

“With our other systems, we still fell prey to that industry metric: 10 minutes or so to start a meeting,” he said. “Now, with the ViewBoard displays and Quicklaunch, users see a menu of scheduled meetings, tap their meeting, and away they go.”

Embedded within ViewSonic digital slot-in PCs, Quicklaunch PE by UC Workspace creates a user-friendly interface, with fast access to preferred apps from a single dashboard. Users can choose from Exchange and Google Calendar to create meeting rooms, with support for virtually all preferred meeting platforms.

Each ViewBoard display appears as a resource in Microsoft Exchange, said Berenter, letting users choose and schedule in Outlook. Once meetings are in session, users enjoy the wide range of interactive whiteboarding capabilities ViewBoard displays deliver – from across the conference room table or across the country.

“It doesn’t matter which office users are in,” said Berenter. “If they’re each in a room with a ViewBoard they can whiteboard together. That’s a great thing for productivity.”

Last but not least, Berenter mentioned the terrific value offered by the ViewBoard solutions.

“Jeffrey offered us a great price and the ViewBoard displays deliver a quality conferencing experience,” he said. “It’s a perfect fit for us and the deployment has been a great success. We continue to get very positive feedback the more people use them.”

Next on the agenda: Deployment of 10 or more to continue the process of standardizing on the ViewBoard interactive display solution.

“This is an outstanding solution for us,” said Berenter. “We plan to standardize on ViewSonic ViewBoard displays for any new conference room upgrades or build outs in our future.”

To maintain its leadership in education, the institution is constantly in search of new tools and technologies tailored to its specific teaching strategies and student
needs. The school’s initial experience with interactive projection was a negative
one. Not only did they find frequent calibration issues with the equipment, but they also discovered noticeable on-screen trace delays, and low overall brightness. In addition, the school found that local distributors lacked the necessary expertise for proper service of these projectors. To find an alternative technology, the school hired Neox Corporation Sac, an engineering solutions company with more than 25 years of experience in Peru.

After assessing the school’s needs, the Neox team suggested the latest generation
of ViewSonic® ViewBoard® interactive displays and demonstrated the IFP7550 model to school authorities and students. With a huge 20-point touchscreen, 4K Ultra HD resolution, and a powerful quad-core processor, the 75-inch IFP7550 made a big impression on the school.  In addition, with an included software package consisting of myViewBoard™ annotation software, ViewBoard® Cast content sharing software, Wi-Fi broadcasting software, and Zoom video conferencing software, the IFP7550 held a considerable advantage over other competing products under consideration. In particular, the Zoom software enabled the school to connect and communicate with other schools of the congregation, while the ViewBoard® Cast software allowed users to stream
content from Mac, Android, and Windows devices such as smartphones.
The school community was so convinced about the effectiveness of the ViewBoard® displays, that Colegio Sagrado Corazón Sophianum purchased a total of 24 units. In addition, they requested 13 more units for their venue at San Isidro in Lima (eight units of model IFP7500, and five more units of model IFP7550).

“The impact of these ViewBoard® displays has been highly positive on the school
community. As a matter of fact, both teachers and students find the displays to be easy to use, especially when compared to interactive projectors that have to be
continuously calibrated,” said Sister Silvana León Orbegozo, Religious Director of
Sagrado Corazón.

“Some teachers commented that with prior equipment, they were always afraid
of malfunctions during their presentations to parents. Students shared the same
feelings when they were presenting to classmates,” said Sister León.

The 4K Ultra HD resolution of the ViewBoard® interactive displays provided a 10x increase in resolution compared to previously installed XGA and WXGA projectors.  The school also appreciated how the IFP7550 reduced their total cost of ownership.  Compared to projectors, the ViewBoard® displays do not require additional accessories such as filters, lamps, or preventative maintenance. The hidden costs of these extra items make projectors more expensive in the long run, making the IFP7550 a good investment.  Today, the school serves as a prime example not only for the region, but at a national level as well. Colegio Sagrado Corazón Sophianum has shown how interactive technologies can benefit educational institutions.  Alex Carlos, ViewSonic Manager for Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, noted that technology can be a great partner to the educational process at all levels from K-12 and higher education. Schools are continuously looking for technological solutions to develop more dynamic and creative learning communities.

"We are pleased to contribute to the development of the Peruvian educational system with products that offer highly useful features for both teachers and students,” said Carlos. “In today's learning environment, familiarity with technology at the early stages of the educational process is incredibly important."

The school was having a number of problems with its long-throw interactive projectors, including reduced picture sharpness and loss of interactivity in bright classrooms, as well as the additional costs required by lamp service or replacement. With plans to invest further in educational technology, the school looked for new projection alternatives that would improve the students’ classroom experience and offer a better cost-benefit ratio.

Edulink, a specialist in educational technology solutions, suggested ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays as the best solution to replace the school’s aging projectors. With a 4K Ultra HD 20-point touchscreen, a ViewBoard display remains bright and visible even in well-lit classrooms. In addition, the school also liked that Edulink would be responsible for ViewBoard installation and training.

In total, the school acquired eight units of the ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7550: a 75” interactive display with 4K Ultra HD resolution and immersive 20-point touchscreen. The displays were installed in second and third grade classrooms for the benefit of more than 240 students.

The administration and staff at Colegio San Agustín de Chiclayo have been extremely pleased with their new ViewBoard displays. With superior image quality, immersive interactivity, and incredible audio, the ViewBoard displays have provided a huge upgrade over the outdated long-throw projectors previously in use by the school.

“The ViewBoard displays deliver increased classroom collaboration, and allow for lessons that are more dynamic, interactive, and multifunctional,” said Janinne del Carmen Rojas, Coordinator of Information Technology for Colegio San Agustín de Chiclayo. “The displays also allow teachers to use different resources that, together with the Internet, enable them to immediately investigate and solve various student concerns. And thanks to the 4K images, children can begin to shape their ideas and imagination.”

In fact, these positive results have helped to reaffirm the administration’s decision to continue their edtech investments for the remaining grades over the next year. To take full advantage of their ViewBoard displays, the school plans on installing wireless systems throughout the campus. In addition, with ViewBoard displays in place of old projectors, the school’s concerns over support, filter and lamp replacements, and maintenance costs have all but vanished.

Alex Carlos, Manager of ViewSonic Peru, stated that more and more educational institutions are investing in technology not only at the university level, but at earlier stages to make pedagogical practices more dynamic. In that sense, Carlos believes that Colegio San Agustín de Chiclayo is committing to the future with its ViewBoard investment, while also strengthening its educational leadership in the northern Peruvian region.

“Today’s educational institutions cannot grow with their backs to technology,” said Carlos. “And it is gratifying to see cases like this in which the school is committed to implementing technology fit for today’s students, while also meeting the educational expectations of their parents. We hope to continue supporting this growth and establish a relationship of long encouragement and satisfaction.”

The 2019 CUE BOLD event focused on the symbiotic relationship between learning environment design, digital learning systems and the need to rethink traditional lesson design. To demonstrate how these essential components of the 1:1 learning environment are converging, CUE BOLD 2019 set out to revamp a classroom-based on the latest design advances.

“We wanted to take a standard classroom and build it out to better support 21st-century education,” said Jon Corippo, CUE chief learning officer and mastermind behind the project. “Classroom design and the way technology is used has a big impact on how kids learn, and whether they’re learning in a way that best develops their skills for future success.”

Thinking that the classroom environment doesn’t make a difference in learning outcomes is outdated, said Corippo, referring to evidence from Rebecca Louise Hare and Dr. Robert Dillon. Hare and Dillon are the authors of The Space, a teacher-focused guide to adapting classrooms to amplify brain-friendly learning.

“There’s so much evidence that new ways of teaching work. Engaging students as a part of the learning process rather than lecturing to them. Challenging them to collaborate to solve problems. Flipping the classroom. Whether we call it ‘active learning’ or ‘constructivism’ or SCALE UP learning, we know it increases engagement and learning and test scores,” said Corippo. “And, as [Hare and Dillon] say, the furniture and the design of a room isn’t neutral in this process—it either improves or inhibits learning.”

For the CUE BOLD project, the selected classroom belonged to Carlsbad, Calif.-based language arts teacher George Porter, who teaches at the Carlsbad Unified School District’s Sage Creek High School.

The room’s “before” state would have felt familiar to many educators. Connected chair-desk combos designed for use in rows in a teacher-centered classroom were arranged in awkward groups of four. Made for solo use, with curved fronts, the desktops butted awkwardly against one another, leaving unattractive, space-hogging gaps. Standard-issue wood-grain desktops and black chairs gave the room a dull, homogenous feel. The front-of-room AV equipment was an aging, projector-based interactive whiteboard (IWB). Porter’s home base was a desk adjacent to the IWB, where he spent most of his time operating the system.

Corippo’s goal: Redesign the room to support today’s teaching strategies and provide students with a dynamic, appealing environment—in a way that would be cost-effective and easy for schools to implement.

To achieve his vision, Corippo enlisted the help of learning spaces provider MeTEOR Education—specialists in creating environments that foster teacher-learner engagement—and display leader ViewSonic, a trusted brand in education with more than 35 years in the visual solutions business.

A foundational step in transforming Porter’s classroom into a dynamic learning space was to eliminate the room’s single-direction, forward-facing orientation. Technology and furnishings both played a key role in the change.

“To maximize both the budget and the visual reach, we left the older projector-based IWB and added on from there,” said Corippo. “We wanted to show that we could extend the use of existing tech and achieve our goals in a cost-effective way.”

The team selected a ViewSonic® IFP7550 75” ViewBoard® interactive touchscreen display and two ViewSonic CDE5510 55” displays, which were mounted around the room to provide visibility on every wall.

“We ran HDMI connections from the main ViewSonic 75” display to the two 55” displays, as well as to the existing IWB,” said Corippo. “This gave George the ability to share images on all four screens at once. That’s a big deal because now kids don’t all have to be looking in the same direction.”

The dull, constraining furniture was replaced with a range of flexible seating options in a lively color palette.

“The original space was inflexible. George wanted a multimodal environment with the flexibility to easily reconfigure the space for different sized active learning groups,” said MeTEOR SVP Sean Baum. “He also wanted to be able to clear the floor and have as much open space as possible, and we needed to align the furnishings to maximize flexible use of the visual technology.”

Every piece of the new MeTEOR furniture is mobile and configurable—a bit like a Lego set, said Baum. Distinct chairs and “puzzle-piece” tables enabled combinations ranging from circular discussion groups and horseshoe huddle spaces to two-person teams and independent workstations. Height adjustment capabilities and whiteboard-surfaced desktops added flexibility for creativity and comfort. A round standing table and modular couch offered coveted space for downtime and impromptu conversations.

A rolling lectern, along with robust content sharing capabilities, untethered Porter from his desk. To facilitate collaborative, active learning, students were likewise empowered to share content from their devices to the classroom screens.

“All three of the new ViewSonic displays were equipped with Chromecast, and the 75” ViewBoard interactive touchscreen display comes with an integrated module that delivers streaming capabilities,” said Corippo. “For those familiar with Apple TV, it’s just like AirPlay. It makes it really easy to stream your webpage from your computer to the screen.”

The extent of the transformation is apparent with a glance at the “before” and “after” pictures. Visually, the makeover resulted in a cheerful, dynamic-looking space that’s clearly more aligned with what students encounter in their after-school hours.

“Kids are trained by McDonald’s and Starbucks and the mall to expect options, choice and a certain aesthetic,” said Corippo. “Outside of school, they get to pick what’s optimum for them. Not only is this comfortable and engaging, but kids are also developing executive functions when they get to make choices, when they have to ask, ‘where do I want to go, what do I do now?’”

In the redesigned classroom, students and teacher alike appreciate the ability to easily see a screen from every vantage point. With a display on every wall and chairs that move with ease, no one is left out, or left with a sore neck from twisting for a view.

“It’s a huge benefit to have screens on every wall,” said Porter. “With the ability to display information and instructions on all screens, I get fewer questions like, ‘when is this due,’ and ‘what are we supposed to be doing.’”

Because the ViewSonic® IFP7550 75” ViewBoard® interactive display has built-in Android, running Chrome is seamless, noted Corippo. With Chromecast on every display, different groups can use different screens at the same time.

“I plan to use the screens for station rotation, with each group working on something different,” said Porter. “Those at the touchscreen will be able to display work and annotate text. We do lots of close reads—it’s perfect for that. In the past I’ve used a document camera, with students watching me do the annotations. Using the touchscreen creates a student-centered approach.”

The rolling lectern and the ability to dynamically cast content to the screens has made a big impact on the way he teaches, said Porter.

“I don’t have to stay at my desk when I’m presenting,” he said. “I’m moving around more, which makes it much easier to interact with the kids.”

This mobility can have a big impact on classroom management and offers the ability to maintain proximity to students who need added assistance, with less disruption to the lesson.

Easy content sharing by all has created an environment where students can also seamlessly share their screens. This, says Corippo, is a key to active learning, which develops skills that kids need to thrive in the workplace.

“If a student says, ‘you know what I just figured out…,’ the teacher can say, ‘why don’t you show us?’ There’s no need for the teacher to walk to the student and look over his shoulder to see his work,” Corippo said. “Then, when a classmate says, ‘you know what, that made me think of…,’ that student can show her work on the screens. It’s a totally different interaction than in traditional classrooms.”

Importantly, achieving this collaborative flow doesn’t require advanced IT knowledge, added Corippo.

“You don’t need to be a techie to do this. The only thing you need is to be in a Chrome browser. There’s an icon you click that immediately sends what you’re doing to the screen. The only requirement is that Chromecast and the device be in the same network.”

While it’s possible to stream with any HDMI device, such as Chromecast, Apple TV or Roku, Corippo noted that the ViewSonic system makes it simple and seamless.

“ViewSonic makes content sharing so easy, with the integrated feature on the 75” ViewBoard interactive display that essentially makes the display think that it’s a Smart TV or an Apple TV,” he said. “It’s easy and cost-saving. Schools don’t have to buy an Apple TV or any other streaming device. The ViewSonic display provides the “casting” capacity for streaming. In addition to being easy, there’s no Apple license needed.”

Minimal need for teacher training is one of the many ways this streamlined solution saves schools money, said Corippo. Equipment savings is yet another.

“With the ViewSonic LCD displays, you don’t need an expensive AV system like Extron or Crestron, just a couple of HDMI cables and a splitter. And the sound from the integrated speakers in the ViewSonic IFP7550 75” ViewBoard interactive display is more than enough for a standard classroom. That’s a big cost savings and the system is so much more accessible.”

Easy setup saves IT time, getting classrooms up and running quickly and conserving IT resources, Corippo said, adding that for many districts the use of HDMI cabling is far less costly than requiring specialized labor to do electrical work.

Completed just eight weeks before the end of the school year, the impact of the CUE BOLD classroom makeover is just beginning. Porter anticipates an ongoing transition to greater collaboration and student-centered active learning, as he and his students find more ways to integrate the ViewBoard interactive display into the curriculum.

Along the way, he looks forward to continuing to use the boards to promote mindfulness and alleviate anxiety.

“It seems like a small thing, but using the displays to create a vibe in the room can really support what we’re doing,” said Porter. “For example, if students are reading, or doing a more passive activity, I’ll put on video like a fireplace or a shoreline with gentle waves and display it on all the screens. It’s a great way to promote mindfulness.”

• IFP7550

• CDE5510

Due to strict safety and health regulations in the Jorge Chávez terminal of El
Callao, the Gate Gourmet cooking staff operates in a closed environment not open to the public. Within this environment, the staff is in constant contact with food and cooking equipment. Due to the continuous wear and tear of this fast-paced cooking environment, the team’s previous monitors and display equipment often malfunctioned and became less effective the more they were used.

To find a better, more durable monitor alternative, Gate Gourmet decided to change its corporate Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP), and required that interactive multitouch smart displays be used in their kitchens. Gate Gourmet began to look into tablets as a solution, but found that only 10.1” models were available in their region, and were not big enough to meet the expectations of internal users.

Gate Gourmet then began a global search to find the best solution possible that
included large screen sizes, durable designs, and could operate as a replacement for an independent PC with an operating system and data processing unit.

After receiving three different proposals from three different touch display vendors, Gate Gourmet found that the VSD242 smart display from ViewSonic met all of the necessary requirements.

“Despite them providing an imported device, ViewSonic still guaranteed the performance of the VSD242 in our country,” said Eric Solórzano, Gate Gourmet IT
Manager. “And they were the only vendor that offered the equipment and features we were looking for.”

Gate Gourmet purchased 40 units of the VSD242, due in large part to the following features of the smart display:

• 10-point multi-touch projected capacitive technology
• Ability to perform as a stand-alone PC replacement, or as a traditional Full HD touch monitor via HDMI connection to PC or laptop
• Android Lollipop operating system
• Full Google GMS certification to provide instant access to Google Play™ store and thousands of current Android apps

“With its sleek ID, thin bezel, and 7H screen hardness, the VSD242 delivered the
robustness and durability that Gate Gourmet required. It’s a flexible enough solution for their tough environment, as well as for information kiosks, public screens, POS stations, libraries, and retail stores,” said Alex Carlos, ViewSonic Area Manager for Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.

Gate Gourmet has been using the VSD242 smart displays for the last two years, with no technical or functional problems despite the constant usage in the Gate Gourmet cooking environment. In addition to the durability provided by the ViewSonic® smart displays, Gate Gourmet also enjoys the high-resolution images, large 24” screen size, and ease of use provided by the VSD242.
"The ViewSonic® VSD242 smart displays far exceeded our expectations. So much so that the rest of our corporation may replicate our case study throughout the rest of our global locations,” said Solórzano.