eyeTeach, the exciting new audio and visual teaching aid for the education sector, developed by Metro Security (GB) PLC, has been named a Runner-up in Teach Secondary magazine’s Technology & Innovation Awards. The news follows the system’s success in winning a Havering Business Award in the Innovation category.
eyeTeach complements Metro Security’s comprehensive range of cost-effective and reliable fire safety and protective systems for education providers including schools, academies, colleges and universities. eyeTeach makes use of similar technology, including sophisticated Megapixel surveillance cameras and high-definition audio recording, to provide a variety of added-value classroom applications.
The system allows teachers to see themselves in the classroom environment and review both their own performance and that of their students. Additional uses include class presentations, one-to-one student reviews, as a website resource, and for in-house training purposes. Video can also be played back while the system is still recording, for example to speed up class explanations or show a student where they can improve – replaying an oral exam, for example.
Important safeguards have been built in to eyeTeach, ensuring that teachers retain full control over the recordings. Use of personalised PIN numbers links each teacher with specific recordings, meaning that a teacher’s PIN is valid in any room the system is installed, as well as any classroom they are assigned to. Only the teacher assigned to a set of footage can view it via remote software, from anywhere on the network. This flexibility allows them to decide what to record and when, whilst also being able to delete their recordings using the same software.
Developed by specialist engineers at Metro Security, the system additionally includes a simple push-button device to ‘mark’ significant points during any lesson, which the teacher can later use for quick and easy review. “Remembering exact moments like this is very difficult, if not impossible, in what is often a fast-paced environment,” explains Metro Security’s MD, Trevor Wallace. “The technology means we can provide this attractive solution to that problem, allowing eyeTeach to become a meaningful teaching aid. The software includes a notes facility for teachers to store their remarks and ensure these don’t get lost later.”
eyeTeach uses two high definition (HD) megapixel cameras, plus advanced conferencing microphones to provide clear audio from around the room. One camera captures fine visual detail across the whole classroom, with this overview complemented by the second camera’s focus on the teaching area itself. These HD cameras allow the teacher to zoom in on any area when reviewing a lesson, without the images degrading. A server-based archive recordings facility is provided and recordings can be ‘exported’ onto a CD or memory stick, with locked-down controls to ensure only approved users can remove any footage in this way. Exported recordings can are easily edited in PowerPoint and by using video editing software.
