The Université-de-Saint-Boniface needed LAN, power and USB outlets for professors and students but it also needed to be able to reconfigure classrooms quickly. Connectrac’s In-Carpet option gave them all of the above.
Challenge:
Each school year, the Université de Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, retrofits a few classrooms to create a more active learning environment. Last summer, the university renovated their IT classrooms to provide power and data capabilities to student desks as well as the instructor lectern. For IT classes, technology access was a must.
“We needed LAN and power connectivity for student computers, USB outlets for their laptops, as well as an effective wire management solution for the instructor’s desk,” said Robert Simard, director of facilities and security at the university. “Quite a bit of wiring goes into the professor’s area. We were looking for a clean solution.”
Solution:
After seeing the Connectrac In-Carpet option in an issue of CFM&D Magazine, Simard and the project team ordered and installed the product into their classrooms. The wireways went under the student desks to provide power, LAN and USB capabilities for each table which was then distributed to the students station via a under table wire management system. Subsequently, the instructor lecterns in each classroom received power and data access, ensuring the connections they needed.
For the university, the greatest benefit of using Connectrac is the wireway’s flexibility to be moved or reconfigured if and when future changes come along to the classroom. Given today rapidly changing learning environment, “We wanted to be able to move things around if we need to,” Simard said. “With Connectrac, we know we can make different configuration if we need to. The ability to transform the classroom quickly and efficiently is something we’re really seeking.”
The classrooms have been put into service, the school year has started off smoothly at the Université de Saint-Boniface, and future Connectrac installations are in store for future renovations.
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