Case Study -- Jacobs University

Case Studies

One of Germany’s Leading Universities Uses LifeSize to Bring Worldwide Maritime Experts From The Port to The Classroom

Organization

Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany

Jacobs University Bremen is an international, private university in Bremen, Germany. The college offers more than 40 different academic programs in English alone. Students can work towards a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or Ph. D in a variety of disciplines including engineering, humanities, science and management. The university was founded over 10 years ago with support from the University of Bremen, Rice University in Houston, Texas and the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The first courses of study began in the fall of 2001 and the university has continued to grow ever since

Challenge

For Jacobs University educators, hands-on learning was a key focus. They believed that instead of just gaining knowledge from textbooks, students are more actively engaged in learning when they actually work in their specific field. The establishment regularly invites experts from a variety of disciplines to hold presentations and discussions with small groups. Unfortunately, some areas of study are extremely specific and experts are few and far between. For example, in the field of maritime logistics, specialists have demanding jobs in the major ports of the world and, as a rule, cannot be easily persuaded to make the long trip to Bremen in order to give a lecture.

Jacobs University refused to take no for an answer. They decided that if the logistics experts couldn’t come to the university, the university must go to them. They realized that the most convenient and economical way for this to happen was through an HD video conferencing solution. Jens Froese, professor of maritime logistics at Jacobs University, agreed as he had already had some positive experiences with this video-based means of knowledge transfer during his earlier teaching activities.

“The global network of expert lecturers and students is one of the outstanding characteristics of our university and that is why we needed a solution like this in any case,” said Froese.

The professor and his departmental colleagues recognized that the “lecture experience” depended very heavily on the quality of the video. For students to be fully engaged in the presentation, it must feel like the speaker is in the same room with them. There was also a second decisive point: presentation slides and other visual aids, such as videos, had to appear on a separate video screen.

“It was very important to us that we gave the impression of normal classroom teaching. Constantly switching between video sources would have been distracting and would have rapidly canceled out any benefits,” explained Froese.

Solution

Jacobs University

Professor Froese and his team presented their arguments to the WFB Bremen Economic Development committee, who is responsible for granting funds for special projects throughout the university.

The committee was quickly convinced of the benefits of HD video conferencing and the search began for the perfect system. Following detailed research, the establishment turned to a company, which had successfully conducted a whole range of projects in this area. These experienced video conferencing specialists recommended the use of a solution by LifeSize, a division of Logitech and one of the pioneers able to offer HD quality for this type of communication.

Together with an implementation partner, Jacobs University equipped its video room with LifeSize’s best-in-class endpoints.

“We definitely wanted two video screens and a central controller that could be very easily operated from the lecture stand,” said Froese. Another important point was seamless integration of the lighting controls for the room. This includes not only dimmable lights, but also the adjustment of the blinds depending on the time of day. “We don’t have any personnel to ‘stage manage’. The technology therefore had to be as simple to operate as possible.”

The core of the new system is the LifeSize® Room 220™ solution. In the past few months, this has already brought some renowned figures from the world of logistics to the university. For example, the environmental manager of the Los Angeles Port Authority told a small group of interested students about his work.

“Anyone can read up on the academic subject matter in books. But such direct insights into the real-life situation can only be gained through a video conference,” said Professor Froese.

To complement the fixed installation, the university decided to purchase the portable LifeSize® Express 220™ solution. This is given out to staff or students, who will then be able to hold lectures “from outside” or link into discussions. This made it possible for a specialist who worked at Hamburg port to hold a weekly lecture from her office, for example. All lectures and classes are recorded by the LifeSize® Video Center™. This means that not only the video image is saved, but also the drawings that the lecturer draws on the smartboard. For students who have missed the lecture or want to see it again, it is then very easy for them to view it.

Results

The university not only maintains an interesting dialog with experienced specialists, it also holds regular video conferences with other educational establishments. Graduates at Jacobs University have the opportunity to exchange information with their fellow students in the UK, for example. “In Germany, systems like this are unfortunately still scarce. The situation is better in the rest of the world,” reported Professor Froese.

For Professor Froese, the purchase of the LifeSize solution has paid off. He believes that the use of the LifeSize system gives a significant advantage to the university, geared as it is toward internationality. “Using the HD video conferencing system from LifeSize, we can now connect the experts of tomorrow with current specialists from all over the world.”