PC Stand – Kirklees College

The Brief

Kirklees College recently completed a new build programme at the Waterfront Quarter, a high quality commercial development close to the centre of Huddersfield. The college’s Information and Learning Technologies (ILT) team led by Richard Brook had recognised the challenge of ensuring classroom technology remains positioned and installed in a way which ensures themost effective management of the classroom environment.

The new build provided the ILT team an opportunity to set a new and consistent standard for interactive whiteboard installations that avoided set ups that require the tutor to turn their back to students when preparing the next presentation or be seated when standing would be preferable.

Whatever the installation type there is always an associated PC or Mac positioned close-by and table installations can often have messy cable arrangements adding unreliability to the system.

The Solution

The vision at Kirklees College was consistent and clear: to install height adjustable, dual control Promethean Interactive whiteboards with matching PC stand in every teaching space across the site.

Working with Dalen TOP-TEC the college identified a set of features for its PC stands that complemented the installation of the interactive whiteboard and significantly improved the reliability of the systems.

In six weeks the college’s facilities team together with the ILT team installed 110 interactive whiteboards and PC stands.

The Benefits

Teaching and Learning: Feedback from tutors has been positive. The high level view of the student group together with a significant narrowing of the angle between a view of the monitor and the student group has contributed positively to teaching and learning. Students remain in the tutor’s vision while stood at the PC stand when preparing the next task or explaining a concept. Technical: The PC stand provides a semipermanent installation of the supporting whiteboard computer system, making connections and cables less accessible, improving system performance and contributing to a reduced number of support calls.

The PC stand provides reliable system performance. Stylish and ergonomic it compliments the use of the interactive whiteboard, allowing tutors to move with ease between the whiteboard and supporting computer.

The Outcome

Kirklees College has been able to create a new and consistent standard for Whiteboard installations. The introduction of the PC Stand has helped tutor communication with students, enhanced the teaching experience and reduced the support needed to use and maintain the systems.

Key features of the Teaching PC stand

  • Can be used standing or with a high-level draughtman’s chair
  • Flexible positioning enables the tutor to maintain better communication with students and helps contribute to good classroom behaviour
  • PC stands can be positioned adjacent to the whiteboard on the left or right side
  • The high level system unit installation provides access to power control and USB sockets
  • Table top mouse, keyboard, stable and mounted monitor with hidden cabling