As I made my way back to campus following Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2025 in Barcelona, I found myself reflecting on the event’s timely theme: “Connection Restored.” After years of digital transformation accelerated by global disruptions, this year’s focus on human-centered technology integration couldn’t have been more relevant to our higher education landscape.
For me, a special highlight was seeing the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA) with its first-ever booth at ISE. While the official theme was “Connection Restored,” for us higher ed AV folks, it felt more like “Connection Made.” Having a dedicated space where college and university technology managers could gather amid the enormous exhibition created a welcome sense of community and shared purpose.
After four days of wandering the massive Fira exhibition halls, attending sessions, and connecting with peers from around the world, I’m returning to campus with fresh insights about how we might approach our technology strategy. Here are a few things that stood out…
Beyond the Pandemic Response
Remember 2020-2021? The scramble to implement remote learning solutions? The emergency purchases? The faculty training marathons?
While those days are (thankfully) behind us, higher education hasn’t simply reverted to pre-pandemic norms. Instead, we’ve entered a new era where digital and physical learning environments need to coexist seamlessly. Students expect flexibility, faculty want reliability, and administrators demand efficiency.
What impressed me at ISE was seeing technology designed specifically for this new paradigm rather than hastily repurposed solutions. Manufacturers are moving beyond “pandemic response” to thoughtful integration that enhances human connection rather than merely enabling distance. Walking the show floor, I was drawn to solutions focused on amplifying human interaction.
Tech That Enhances Learning
The “Connection Restored” theme truly came to life in the Connected Classroom exhibit—an impressive 120sqm showcase that quickly became one of my favorite spots at ISE 2025. This hands-on environment integrated over 30 products across four distinct zones, each addressing specific educational challenges we face daily on campus.
In the Social Learning Zone, one could test furniture designed specifically for collaboration, with built-in technology that facilitated group work without becoming a distraction. The Teachers’ Zone featured classroom management systems that actually seemed designed by people who understand teaching—with intuitive lesson planning tools and interactive displays that responded naturally to both touch and digital pens.
The Hybrid Learning Zone addressed our ongoing challenge of creating equity between in-person and remote participants through thoughtfully integrated digital whiteboards, intelligent camera systems, and audio solutions. Then there was the Streamers and Creators’ Zone, which showcased
how relatively affordable podcast equipment, streaming tools, and editing software can transform students from content consumers to creators.
What stood out wasn’t necessarily the individual technologies but how seamlessly they worked together to support teaching and learning rather than demanding attention themselves. This integration offered a compelling vision of what our campus learning spaces could become.
Key Technology Trends for Higher Education
- Immersive Collaboration Environments – Several vendors showcased advanced immersive spaces. These “digital twins” of physical spaces allow students to learn in a way that is more captivating than a traditional classroom.
- Sustainable Technology Infrastructure – Energy efficiency and sustainability were prominent themes throughout the exhibition. With campuses increasingly setting ambitious carbon neutrality goals, the emphasis on reducing technology-related energy consumption resonated strongly.
- Accessibility and Universal Design – Perhaps the most encouraging development was the prominence of universal design principles across product categories. Vendors are increasingly recognizing that accessibility features benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. Accessibility should be part of the standard, not an add-on.
Bringing It Home: Next Steps for Our Campus
As I start to think about what the next phase of classroom might look like on my campus, several actionable recommendations stand out:
- Invest in flexible infrastructure. Choose software-defined systems that can evolve without hardware replacement.
- Prioritize standards over proprietary solutions. Closed systems might offer short-term convenience but create long-term limitations.
- Center accessibility from the start. Build it into procurement rather than treating it as an afterthought.
- Strengthen cross-campus partnerships. The most successful implementations bridge IT, instructional design, and academic departments.
- Cultivate faculty technology champions. Identify early adopters who can showcase possibilities to their peers.
Restoring Connection, Building New Ones
Since I’ve been home from Barcelona, I reflected on how ISE’s “Connection Restored” theme applies to our campus technology strategy. The pandemic forced us to find ways to maintain connections through technology. Now, we have an opportunity to strengthen those connections and build new ones that weren’t possible before.
The most valuable technologies I saw weren’t those with the flashiest specs but those designed with deep understanding of educational contexts and human needs. By focusing on these human connections—between students and faculty, between learners and ideas, between theory and practice—we can ensure our technology investments truly serve our educational mission.
Erin Maher-Moran is the IT Manager – Classroom Technology at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). She manages the Classroom/Audiovisual Technology Services team. Her team designs, installs, supports and maintains the classroom technology in general pool classrooms, as well as supports events, on the Homewood Campus in Baltimore, MD. She is also the Vice Chair of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA.org) and the host of AVNation’s EDTech podcast. With 25+ years in Higher Education AV, Erin has been programming Crestron control systems since the early 2000’s and an AVIXA Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) since 2008.
- Erin Maher-Moranhttps://www.avnation.tv/author/emaher2/
