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Immerse yourself in our DfE-approved AV agreement

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By Ashley Cox

***Please note, this feature refers to a previous iteration of the Audio Visual Equipment & Installation Services framework - a new version has now launched and is available here***

CPC's DfE-approved Audio Visual Equipment & Installation Services framework has caught our imagination for its inclusion of an 'immersive space' offering. But what exactly are 'immersive spaces' and what exactly do they offer? This special feature looks at the technology, some of its educational uses and how to procure with CPC.

CPC is one of the UK’s leading procurement powerhouses, with more than 10,000 registered members and a host of compliant purchasing frameworks, including 17 that come recommended by the Department for Education.

From ICT solutions to synthetic sports pitches, CPC is able to link institutions to approved and appropriate suppliers, facilitating the purchase of everything from standard classroom items to innovative and advanced technologies, enhancing and supporting education through its own work.

Among the most exciting additions to CPC’s procurement catalogue, the introduction of immersive spaces, as obtainable via the Audio Visual Equipment and Installation Services framework, has caught our imagination.

But what exactly are immersive spaces - and how can they help you?

Simply put, immersive spaces are interactive learning environments that make effective use of virtual/digital display technology to create a superior, shared educational experience for pupils.

Imagine being able to put these pupils right in the heart of the action, immersed in a space of contemporary, collaborative learning, as you initiate interactivity and evoke a variety of senses.

A stimulating and simulating approach to group learning, the introduction of immersive spaces to education establishments is opening up new methods of connecting with and enthusing the class.

From vibrant lesson presentations to dynamic brainstorming sessions, immersive learning is where space and tech resources meet, combining to create an accessible and effective education platform. 

Allowing our educators to illustrate and demonstrate with unprecedented levels of multifaceted resource, immersive spaces allow you to move around a digital landscape, creating a fuller, more complete lesson experience and allowing students to absorb your words and material in synergy.

While a virtual reality headset might produce a solitary experience when employed in a classroom setting, immersive spaces can offer an appealing alternative, allowing full groups to partake in fun, effective lessons, as the technology augments your message in an active and present environment.

In bringing the wall-to-wall wonder to your institution, the possibilities for lessons are near-endless. Perhaps you could bring an ancient scene to life for your history class, or transport pupils to a far-off land in support of their geography studies, or even take biology students deep into the human body!

Immersive spaces also allow you to free more conventional apps from the constraints of a computer screen or tablet, infusing them into the walls to fuel group discussion, presentations and illustration.

Leading lessons with lessened constraint through use of immersive spaces, teachers can control their learning landscape via phone, hand, wand or voice command, or even through touchscreen facilities, with immersive spaces able to be outfitted to the requirements and budgets of differing institutions.

Such immersive spaces can be routinely installed into existing classrooms, transforming your plain, blank walls into modernised, wireless canvasses, for interactive education and learning innovations.

In invoking these highly visual canvasses, multiple teaching levers can be effectively employed at once, while specialist software allows users to make the most of their comprehensive technology.

Whether simulating scenarios or outside settings, or utilising their vast display capabilities for copy, statistics, graphs or other whiteboard resources, immersive spaces can help engage and innovate, activating imagination and demystifying advanced equipment, by way of user-friendly interfaces.

As well as making pupils participants, aiding engagement and potential retention of information, immersive spaces also offer a gateway to remote/hybrid connection, opening up a new world of visiting virtual guests, or bringing external educators to life in your class, wherever they may be.

Most of all, immersive spaces in classrooms are designed to be fun, breaking down barriers to make a lesson more enjoyable, memorable and successful, while making technology a communal concern.

The technology of our future is here today, and immersive spaces look destined to be a big part of it. So, how can CPC help you introduce immersive space technology to your institution? Look no further than the Audio Visual Equipment and Installation Services framework, as recommended by the DfE.

This time-saving purchasing agreement provides a compliant route to market, allowing schools and academies to engage experienced and vetted suppliers across two lots; one exclusively covering the supply of audiovisual equipment and the other encompassing additional installation service options.

Immersive spaces fall under Lot 2, which is home to a healthy selection of eight sanctioned suppliers.

With CPC membership accessible free of charge, registered CPC members can make use of the CPC Quote Tool or CPC Sourcing Cloud when employing this buying framework, while a user guide and expert procurement professional support are included within the agreement’s overarching remit.

Of additional note, CPC administer a flagship charitable initiative, known as ‘Giving Back’, where surplus funds are reinvested into worthy projects and purchases across the UK education sector.

Adding real social value to the group’s operations, around £750,000 has been spent across 134 institutions, with a total of more than £1.56m designated for Giving Back reinvestment to date.

Institutions requiring further assistance may wish to consider the services offered through Crescent Consultancy, from managed procurement to on demand tender support and contract management.

Finally, CPC’s in-house Crescent Learning wing can provide training and development, as education readies for the implementation of the new public procurement laws, via the Procurement Act 2023.

With these new regulations becoming active in October 2024, CPC’s Learning & Development Lead, Mark Pearson, is heading up a specialist procurement taskforce that can inform, advise and support.

These adjacent CPC services ensure a comprehensive array of options are at institutions’ disposal, supplementing the frameworks that have assisted so many members across the education sector.

To learn more about this Audio Visual Equipment and Installation Services framework and how it can help you procure immersive spaces in 2024-25 contact Procurement Manager, Jane Edwards

As well as immersive spaces, the agreement covers the provision of projector equipment, speakers and amplification, camcorder devices, digital signage, relevant fixtures and fittings and much more.

***Please note, this feature refers to a previous iteration of the Audio Visual Equipment & Installation Services framework - a new version has now launched and is available here***

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