Case Study

Bring lectures
to lifeModernize
learning withWacom.

Education“As well as making the lives of lecturers easier, Wacominteractive pen displays are also improving the learning
experience for students. Wacom technology is and willcontinue to power the modernization of the learning
experience at TUD in a very significant way.”

USAGE SCENARIO

Martin Aust, Media Services Department within theProfessor/lecturer presentations

IT & Media Center, Technical University of Dortmund

AT A GLANCE
INDUSTRY

during auditorium-based student lectures
CHALLENGES
Physical integration into the auditorium
lectern required; potential resistance to adoption

Challenge

from less technologically savvy users
SOLUTION
26 Wacom interactive pen displays, each embedded

Create a modern,intuitive presentation station

within a physical lecture room desk, and integrated withmini-PCs running Microsoft Windows and additionalannotation and note-taking software.

Founded in 1968, and with 16 faculties

of modern, digital alternative for professors toranging from science and engineering to social

use in the auditoriums. Martin Aust, a technical

BENEFITS

sciences and cultural studies, the Technicalemployee within the University’s IT & Media• Quick and easy deployment

University of Dortmund currently has almost

Center, recalls: “We became aware of the• Intuitive user experience for all

35,000 students and over 6,200 employees,

possibility of using digital pen displays and a• Increased working efficiency for lecturers

including 300 professors.

projector, so we began to investigate. The first• Enhanced learning experience for students
WACOM INTERACTIVE PEN DISPLAY

solution we tried was less than satisfactory.
As recently as 2013, lectures were still

The pen was connected to a cable from a signal

partially being conducted using traditional

perspective, which restricted the user’s freedom

acetate slides on overhead projectors, aof movement. The way the pen wrote on thesituation that was no longer in line with thedisplay surface and the less than intuitive

expectations of “digital native” students. And

writing software from the manufacturer wereso the university’s management decided that it

also unconvincing. That’s when one of ourwas time for a modernization of the multimedia

technology partners made us aware of Wacom

technology within the lecture halls.

interactive pen displays. The experience we
had with it was so positive, in addition to very

A number of prototype digital presentation

2 Wacom for Businessgood user feedback, that we decided to build aand writing devices were to be trialed toprototype presentation lectern using that pen

replace the old overhead projectors with a kinddisplay instead.”Solution

Embedded displays.

Intuitive presentation.

Martin Aust and his team designed a prototype“The ease of use, the speed of the pen input

using the pen display embedded into a media

and the attractiveness of the written result

lectern constructed according to the needs

were just what we were looking for,” saysof the TU Dortmund. It consisted of mini-PCAust. “The positive user feedback gave us therunning Windows and annotation software,confidence we needed to roll out the solution

and a connection to the auditorium’s video

more widely as part of the modernization ofprojector. This technology package produced

the University’s multimedia technology.”

an intuitive presentation and annotation
experience that perfectly replicated real pen
and paper, while allowing lecturers to makenotes during their lessons within familiar PDF
and PowerPoint formats.

3 Wacom for BusinessImplementation

Beautiful simplicity

Fast installation

In 2017, TUD began a refurbishment programThis ensures lecturers can run theirencompassing all of its 26 lecture theatres, withpresentations without being interrupted bya Wacom pen display-enabled presentation

unintentional hand inputs. The installation ofstation as the centerpiece of each. Speaking

the pen display within each lectern and theabout the reasons for selecting Wacom devices,integration with the other hardware is also

Aust explains, “In addition to the quality of thequick and easy, taking no more than an hour

display and pen output, the fact that the pen

each time. We completed 10 of the planned

is battery and maintenance free was a big

installations in 2017, and the other 16 will beplus for us. In addition, the fact that the touchfinished by Autumn 2018.”

function can be turned off was very important.

4 Wacom for businessOutcome

Intuitive teaching

Superior learning

Speaking about the impact made by theto them on our digital learning platform after the

deployment of Wacom interactive pen displays

lecture. This integrated, digital teaching style

at TUD, Aust continues, “The new lecterns in theensures students get a richer set of learning

lecture halls have opened up completely newmaterials, which helps them with the revision

possibilities for our teaching staff. They have theand exam preparation process. We’re delighted

flexibility to bring their materials on a memorythat the Wacom devices have been adopted sostick that they can plug into the lectern, rather

quickly and enthusiastically.”than carrying around a laptop. But they also
have the flexibility to use a laptop alongside

Finally, thinking about how the use of

the pen display if they prefer. Nevertheless, theWacom pen displays may evolve in the future,fact that I now also see professors who are notAust concludes, “I can easily imagine that we

usually technology-savvy going into lectures

will deploy these kinds of devices within smaller

without their laptops is a sign of how reliable

seminar rooms in the future, and that other pen-working with the Wacom pen displays is.”enabled devices will be used more intensively bylecturers and students going forward. Either way,

In fact, the Wacom pen displays are now a

Wacom technology is and will continue to power

key standard element of the digitization process

the modernization of the learning experience at

at TUD. And it’s not just lecturers who are

TUD in a very significant way.”

benefitting, as Aust explains: “As well as making
the lives of lecturers easier, Wacom pen displays
are also improving the learning experience forstudents. They can now focus on listening rather
than taking notes, as they know the annotatedpresentations and PDFs will be made available

5 Wacom for Business

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