System savvy: Smart IT departments are assessing the value of projectors and related technology on campus, and their timing couldn't be better: prices are still coming down. (Presentation Systems).

Higher ed is now a multimedia experience. These days, more and more instructors are enhancing their teaching with digital audio and video clips snatched from the Web. The old slide show has fallen under the wheels of that oncoming tank, the PowerPoint presentation.

But to pull off compelling instruction in the multimedia age, PowerPoint just isn't enough; the old hardware tools have given way to new technology as well. Projectors, now cheaper and lighter, can link directly to the Internet, allowing professors to push information to students' laptops or to a monitor or screen at the front of the lecture hall. Digital document cameras can photograph three-dimensional objects--a tissue sample or a gemstone, for instance--and project a high-resolution image for all to study and save electronically. And electronic whiteboards can capture information from any number of sources, in real time, and store that information to digital files for retrieval

According to Tom Warger, managing editor, Edutech Reports (www.edutech-int.com), all colleges and universities are using at least some form of projection technology, with "at least a few classrooms equipped." Trouble is, he says, projection systems are still a stepchild of the information technology departments at most IHEs: too high tech to be the purview of the facilities department alone, but not quite top-of-mind to the IT folks. Projection systems are still struggling to find ownership, says Warger, and that means that their care and expansion on campus often have no champion.

THE TIME IS RIGHT

But savvier IT departments are assessing the value of projectors and related technology on campus, he says. They're building into their budgets funds for replacement and upkeep, and their timing just couldn't be better, say industry watchers. Prices on projection technology have come down considerably in the past few years. A projector that renders a 1024 x 768 dpi image (XGA resolution) would have cost $12,000 to $15,000 five years ago. Today, such projectors sell for $4,000 to $5,000, says Warger. Pricing drops are related to production innovations among projection technology companies, which are also producing projectors that are lighter and more portable than their predecessors. Some models also deliver images that are brighter than before, with more effective contrast control. Prodding the improved pricing is the malaise in corporate America. Presentation system manufacturers view education as a more promising market right now; some have even established special "education pricing" for interested colleges and universities.

In some cases, however, faculty has driven the initiative toward more cutting-edge presentation systems on campus. Yes, some are technophobic, but then there are the early adopters who come to the lecture hall with presentations ready to go. Says Warger: "Schools tell us they hear complaints from faculty who say, 'I was counting on using a projector in my course, but when I got there, there wasn't one in the room" Then, of course, there are the instructors who require students to create presentations as part of their assignments--and expect to have access to the equipment needed for those presentations.

But purchasing and installing projection systems is just a first step, adds Warger. It's critical to make sure the technology is available for use. Some schools are heading off that problem by incorporating information about technically equipped rooms into the room scheduling software. It's time for better management of multimedia assets, insists Warger, and that means strategic procurement budgeting, improved logistics, upgrade schedules, and more. It also means standardization, so that all presentation systems on campus have the same functionality and ability to link to other technologies. As always, price remains the number one criterion in buying decisions, but with greater awareness of expanded capabilities, that factor becomes ever more relative.