Specialising in management, the prestigious Audencia Business School in Nantes, France, was looking to renovate some of the lecture classes in its building. Seizing this opportunity, the school decided to take the chance to set up new digital tools for both professors and students, in order to create new pedagogical scenarios and to support the various users.

To get the best possible solution, the school administration tested various brands at exhibitions for education and technology innovation in France. After a comparison study and a product demonstration to the teachers, their choice fell on BenQ displays.

Now the students, professors, and all administrative staff use and enjoy integrated tools, which brought modernisation of the teaching methods, along with the digital transformation - from traditional whiteboards to interactive and collaborative IFPs. More BenQ interactive displays will be deployed to other Audencia sites.

During the renovation of two lecture halls, the administration decided to set up new digital tools for the professors and the students, to create new pedagogical scenarios and support the teaching staff and the pupils.

One of the key challenges was to share the whole flow of information among the various lecture halls - divided into areas with distinct workspaces and stations -, and wirelessly broadcast computers on the displays. Another task was to turn the traditional whiteboard into an interactive and collaborative one. In this way, teaching methods are modernised, while students become more active and attentive. Moreover, the school wanted to protect its users’ health, so they chose displays with a germ-resistant screen, to reduce the spread of bacteria and other possible health-related threats.

One of the highest-rated business schools in the country, Audencia is a private institution with c. 6,100 students and more than 140 teachers. In order to make an informed choice, the administration tested different display brands at two exhibitions for education and for technology innovation in France, Satis and Educatec-Educatice. Their final choice was for the BenQ displays.

Among the strong points considered when choosing BenQ displays were the easy-to-use integrated software, and the possibility to interact on the screen with hand gestures and pens. With the special EZWrite floating tool, students and teachers can switch between a variety of writing tools, make notes and draw directly on top of any source, app, image, document or video.

These displays are built to foster healthy collaboration among students and teachers, to protect them and prevent bacteria from spreading. Air quality sensors, eye-care technology and germ-resistant screens are integrated in most of the ClassroomCare® interactive displays, to guarantee a healthy learning environment, where education and innovation can thrive. In general, bad air quality diminishes students' learning efficiency and ability. Thanks to these sensors, the display monitors the environment’s air quality, creating better learning conditions. Moreover, to avoid health issues in classrooms, BenQ interactive displays’ are coated with a nano ionic silver multilayer coating, which eliminates most of the germs that a screen surface can gather.

The administration and the teachers were also looking for a tool to share information to the whole school: videos, push messages, alerts, and announcements. With X-Sign Broadcasting System - the free BenQ platform - ITC managers and administration are allowed to create, share and distribute such contents from one computer to all the classrooms’ BenQ interactive displays – also remotely. Further, one of the most relevant key terms for Audencia was “smooth teaching flow”. Thanks to AMS (Account Management System) and its handy login with QR code or NFC card, teachers have instant access to their own workspace – personal cloud storages and home screen customisation - in any display and any class. Also, for hybrid learning and distance learning, EZWrite Live helps with its whiteboarding features (similar to the interactive displays’ ones), to create a successful learning environment.

Another appreciated feature of BenQ interactive displays is the DMS Cloud (Device Management Solution) that enables the school ITC department to have real-time information about the displays installed, and to control and manage them even remotely, via web browser. For instance, this value-added solution allows ITC staff to install and uninstall applications, and to keep the displays updated with the last firmware, through the OTA (Over-the Air) Update function.

With the new BenQ displays and their friendly features, all Audencia’s users are benefiting from the integrated tools, and the transformation of the teaching methods. Professors, students and administrative staff have embraced the technology and use the monitors daily. Moreover, the displays have excellent image quality and brightness, and they require little to no maintenance. Due to the excellent user experience, Audencia has chosen to implement the use of this technology in four of its sites: in total, c.20 venues across classrooms, meeting rooms and workrooms will be equipped with BenQ interactive displays.