Hawthorne Elementary School in DeKalb County, GA recently renovated its media center. With new furniture, power and data were required at each collaboration table. The tables are used by both students and faculty and are essential for working in groups. Also essential was ensuring ADA compliance for the space.
The challenge was avoiding trip hazards in the media center. Nisewonger AV looked at several options for getting power and AV to the collaboration tables, and selected FSR Smart-Way to meet the project’s demands.
Smart-Way features a low profile and has the capacity to carry both data and power. Nisewonger AV demonstrated the Smart-Way system by laying out the raceway for the Hawthorne Elementary principal Lisa Limoncelli.
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“Hawthorne had a plan for use when we installed the tables with access to power and USB ports,” Limoncelli said. “Unfortunately, we did not have a way to execute that plan. We had several ideas but nothing that was a good fit. Fortunately, Nisewonger kept looking for a solution for us and found out about Smart-Way. Having an easy and low-profile way to bring power to the tables has enabled us to use them the way we had intended.”
Nisewonger AV used 25 feet of the Smart-Way Raceway with a 90-degree corner, bringing power and data to three tables with a total of four electrical outlets. The Smart-Way system provides the ability to have power for charging devices. This accessibility makes the collaboration space efficient for both setup and the collaboration session. There is no need to search for an outlet; AV and data connections are also available through the Smart-Way system.
“Our main goal for installing Smart-Way was to have power in the tables we installed in our media center,” Limoncelli said. “The power would allow students to plug in their Chromebooks, tablets, etc. and work on projects together or independently. The power provided by the Smart-Way system also allowed teachers to conduct small group lessons with the ability to stream in video, use videoconferencing, and provide demonstrations on a large monitor that was connected to the tables. An added bonus we found was an additional meeting space with the ability to use the large monitor and go over documents and data with teachers, parents, therapists, etc. Overall, the Smart-Way system has enhanced our instruction and accessibility to in- formation by making the use of technology seamless.
“The Smart-Way system has allowed teachers to pull small groups of students for individualized instruction and still have access to the same technology that their peers are using in the classroom. The Smart-Way system enables our students to work with technology collaboratively by sharing research, coding solutions, web-based learning, and interactive videos, without the inconvenience of being confined to the classroom charging cart.”
