On Higher Ed Tech: NETGEAR

John Henkel, Director of SMB Product Marketing at NETGEAR
(Image credit: Future)

AVT Question: Please share insight and best practices for designing the higher ed classroom for today and the future.

Thought Leader: John Henkel, Director of SMB Product Marketing at NETGEAR

More than two years into learn-from-anywhere, modern learning is no longer limited to simple websites, face-to-face communication, and low-bandwidth content, but involves real-time video chat, HD streaming, and next-generation learning technology (smart whiteboards, interactive digital displays). To level the playing field between remote and on-campus students, there’s a critical need in higher education to embrace AV over IP, providing high-quality, low-latency video and audio distribution with increased scalability.

To level the playing field between remote and on-campus students, there’s a critical need in higher education to embrace AV over IP, providing high-quality, low-latency video and audio distribution with increased scalability." —John Henkel, Director of SMB Product Marketing at NETGEAR

Some smaller institutions lack a dedicated AV or IT manager, meaning their AV technology must be even more efficient, reliable, and easy to use. With AV over IP, admins can add switches whenever and wherever they need—now or a year from now. As needs change, campuses grow, and more students return onsite, AV-over-IP tech ensures end-to-end collaboration and scalability. To make it easy for higher education organizations, companies like Crestron, Q-SYS, and Shure offer a one-stop shop for AV, offering the best in AV technology products including NETGEAR AV switches, combined with tailored installation and management solutions.

As more and more campuses practice inclusion of local and remote students, the technology has had to change. The great thing is that this same change is occurring across the corporate world, too. Many tools developed for one market are perfectly aligned with the needs of the other. Keeping the AV installation flexible and ready for the future is paramount.

Cindy Davis
Brand and content director of AV Technology

Cindy Davis is the brand and content director of AV Technology. Davis enjoys exploring the ethos of experiential spaces as well as diving deep into the complex topics that shape the AV/IT industry. In 2012, the TechDecisions brand of content sites she developed for EH Publishing was named one of “10 Great Business Media Websites” by B2B Media Business magazine. For more than 20 years, Davis has developed and delivered multiplatform content for AV/IT B2B and consumer electronics B2C publications, associations, and companies. From 2000 to 2008, Davis was the publisher and editor-in-chief of Electronic House. From 2009 to present, as the principal of CustomMedia.Co, Davis developed content plans and delivered content for associations such as IEEE Standards Association and AVIXA, content marketing for Future Plc, and numerous AV/IT companies. Davis was a critical member of the AVT editorial team when the title won the “Best Media Brand” laurel in the 2018 SIIA Jesse H. Neal Awards. A lifelong New Englander, Davis makes time for coastal hikes with her husband, Gary, and their Vizsla rescue, Dixie, sailing on one of Gloucester’s great schooners, and sampling local IPAs.