Lenovo Remodels the Virtual Classroom with AirClass

Today at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), we announced AirClass – our answer to a better virtual learning experience for corporate training to distance education. Virtual learning continues to grow at staggering rates: The number of students participating in online or blended learning rose 80 percent1 in the past five years, and 74 percent of companies use virtual learning for employee training.2

We designed AirClass around a simple-to-use dashboard for both instructors and students, with tiles for documents, photos and videos sharing, and a live chat. Unlike virtual meeting solutions, AirClass lets you play back an entire class or training session in the sequence in which it occurred, and the emotions analytics feature tracks student engagement by capturing and analyzing video from their personal webcams.

Analysts predict the market for emotion-analyzing software to reach as high as $10 billion worldwide in five years,3 and AirClass is among the first to bring this capability to virtual learning. Here’s how it works: Students can opt in to let their laptop camera capture video of them during the class, which is combined with other students’ data and analyzed to produce a report of the student’s attention and engagement during the presentation. AirClass provides the analysis to the instructor as part of the AirClass Replay. Then it’s up to the instructor to make any adjustments to his or her presentation style and content in future sessions.

“From studying people in virtual learning environments, we know they want to interact with their instructor and peers in a way that mimics a live classroom,” said George He, senior vice president and president, Ecosystem and Cloud Services Business Group, Lenovo. “AirClass from Stoneware, now a part of Lenovo Software, makes the experience that much more engaging with emotion analytics and immersive playback options.”

Pricing & Availability4

AirClass will be sold on a subscription model based on number of instructors and number of classrooms per instructor. Starting at $600 (USD) per year for one instructor and one classroom, pricing goes as low as $12 per classroom for up to 10 classrooms. Each classroom has an unlimited number of sessions. Full pricing detail is available at airclass.com.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 0992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $46 billion global Fortune 500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and multimode YOGA brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Moto brand), tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@Lenovo) or visit us at www.lenovo.com.

1 Connections Academy: Infographic: Growth of K-12 Digital Learning – 2015

2 eLearning Industry statistics – 2014

3 Crone Consulting – 2015

4 Prices do not include tax or shipping or options and are subject to change without notice; additional terms and conditions apply. Reseller prices may vary. On-shelf dates may vary by geography and products may only be available in selected markets. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings, features and specifications at any time without notice.

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