The Linked Classroom returned to ISE 2026 in Barcelona with a transparent message: schooling know-how is now not about selecting between codecs. It’s about supporting synchronous and asynchronous, in-person and distant, lecture and lively studying, usually concurrently, whereas retaining it easy sufficient that any teacher can stroll in and train with no technical diploma.
Powered and sponsored by Logitech, the Linked Classroom showcased how lecture seize, lively studying software program, and AI-powered cameras are converging to deal with a actuality greater schooling establishments face day by day: college students count on content material delivered in no matter format suits their schedule, and school count on know-how that doesn’t require laminated instruction sheets.
From HyFlex Hype to “Studying In all places”
The terminology round versatile studying is evolving, in keeping with Jay Lyons from Logitech.
“The time period HyFlex was such a heavy phrase the previous few years, whereas everyone has a distinct model of it now,” Lyons defined.
“We’re seeing it as alternative ways of studying in all places. The largest factor over the subsequent 12 months goes to be how nicely institutes—and even Okay-12—adapt to this Studying In all places idea.”
That shift from standardized HyFlex fashions to institution-specific approaches displays what current analysis exhibits: there’s no one-size-fits-all resolution. The problem, Lyons famous, is that adaptation differs dramatically between college students and instructors.
The Retention Drawback: Why Colleges Are Reconsidering Hybrid
One of many extra stunning revelations got here from Ian Wright of T1V, who defined why some establishments are reconsidering their hybrid investments.
“Quite a lot of colleges, much like firms, are beginning to transfer away from that hybrid providing,” Wright stated.
“One buyer instructed me that one of many disadvantages of hybrid is that college students can transfer from college to high school very simply, so retention is misplaced. Once they come into the classroom and have an excellent expertise, retention goes up they usually’re in a position to hold these college students.”
This creates a pressure schooling know-how suppliers are navigating: college students demand extra know-how and adaptability, however establishments acknowledge that limitless flexibility can undermine the cohort expertise and institutional loyalty that drive completion charges.
The answer isn’t abandoning know-how—it’s utilizing it to make in-person experiences compelling sufficient that college students select to indicate up.
AI Transforms Content material Manufacturing, Not Simply Seize
The know-how enabling versatile studying is more and more AI-driven, however not within the methods many anticipated. Pam Taggart, VP of Content material Creation at AVIXA, described how greater schooling establishments are utilizing AI to compress content material manufacturing cycles.
“They’re taking video snippets, something you’ll be able to create quick on info that’s present proper now, and utilizing instruments to rapidly make it obtainable in a lot of totally different codecs,” Taggart defined.
“We’re taking transcripts through AI, making them into summaries, making them obtainable to folks, making them into spinoff content material to be delivered by podcasts or AI interviews. They’re doing the identical factor in greater ed.”
This “create as soon as, publish in all places” strategy addresses a elementary problem: college students count on content material in a number of codecs—video, transcript, abstract, podcast—delivered rapidly. AI transcription and summarization instruments are making that economically possible for the primary time.
The shift transforms school rooms into content material manufacturing environments the place workflow issues as a lot as seize high quality.
Simplicity Wins: Preset Buttons Over AI Auto-Monitoring
The Linked Classroom showcased Logitech’s Rally Digicam Streamline Package with a function that sounds nearly too easy to matter: preset buttons.
In response to Lyons:
“In environments like schooling, they don’t need the digicam following robotically. It’s too dizzy for folks on the far finish.”
“It’s higher for the trainer. They are often positive: ‘I’m going to maneuver to the whiteboard, I click on the button, now it’s solely going to be on the whiteboard.’ They’ve the boldness that they don’t should hold wanting on the monitor.”
The preset strategy—supporting as much as 5 digicam positions—addresses a elementary downside: instructors want predictable management, not AI which may guess incorrect throughout a lesson.
T1V’s Wright emphasised the identical precept from a software program perspective. T1V delivers interactive show software program for lively studying areas, integrating with Groups, Zoom, Webex, and Google Meet so distant college students can contribute content material and management components moderately than simply watching.
“We match nicely in lively studying areas the place you’re making an attempt to get college students to collaborate and work collectively in teams, but additionally permit the professor to simply handle what’s happening at every desk and with every scholar.”
The Hidden Driver: Cybersecurity Forcing Upgrades
Training establishments face a much less seen stress: cybersecurity necessities are forcing know-how refreshes even on comparatively new techniques.
“In the case of schooling now, you’ve gotten so many alternative attainable inputs and what that does to your community and safety,” Taggart stated. “There’s plenty of upgrades taking place due to this. We’re seeing lots of people improve simply on cybersecurity causes alone—even one thing you place in three years in the past.”
The proliferation of linked units, cloud companies, and AI-powered instruments expands the assault floor in methods older AV installations weren’t designed to deal with. For establishments, cybersecurity is more and more a capital expenditure driver alongside pedagogical enhancements.
What This Means for Training Expertise
The Linked Classroom at ISE 2026 demonstrated three strategic instructions:
Multi-modal by default. Expertise should help synchronous and asynchronous, in-person and distant, lecture and lively studying—usually concurrently.
Simplicity as a function. Probably the most subtle techniques really feel easy to make use of. Preset buttons and one-touch seize matter greater than function lists.
Content material as infrastructure. Lecture seize isn’t a particular venture anymore—it’s baseline infrastructure. The query isn’t whether or not to seize, however how rapidly content material may be transcribed, summarized, and redistributed.
The know-how is prepared. The remaining problem, as Lyons famous, is making it “efficient and straightforward to do for each” college students and lecturers. That’s the dialog schooling know-how will likely be having over the subsequent 12 months—not what’s attainable, however what really works when actual instructors and actual college students use it each day.
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