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As if taken from a science fiction story, what once seemed impossible is now a reality: Teach a class projecting the teacher’s full-body image in real-time, simultaneously in different parts of the world. The project “Professor Hologram” of Tecnológico de Monterrey, designed and implemented since 2016, has received numerous citations and international awards. The most exciting project aspect is that it can replicate in educational institutions with moderate investment and training. Would you like to know how? In this article, we explain step by step.
This innovative educational experience uses telepresence and an active learning strategy. The main benefit is this way of teaching enriches students’ learning experience. The students themselves have expressed their pleasure and surprise to undergo learning rich in content, experiences, and values.
The teacher’s projected image is so real that students “feel” as if they are interacting in the same room.
The unique experience of the “Professor Hologram”
The emulation of the teacher in distant locations is achieved through a projection system with a unique hologram effect: Although the teacher is physically located in a transmitting classroom, they seem to be present in the different receiving classrooms, in actual size, on a full-body vertical screen that allows interacting with students in real-time. This learning experience provides students with greater closeness and warmth when communicating with their peers and teachers as they interact and perform individual or group activities through a modern system of cameras, screens, and monitors.
Such a class can have up to 30 students per classroom on different campuses. The teacher in the transmitting room observes, teaches, and interacts with all students remotely, just as if they were in a face-to-face class. The projected image of the teacher looks so real that seeing their teachers in actual anatomical proportions, students “feel” that they are in the same room. They receive immediate information and feedback and review their support material and other content on large monitors inside the classroom. At the same time, on different screens, they can see and interact with their peers located on other campuses.
This learning experience provides students with greater closeness and warmth in communication with their teachers and classmates through a modern system of cameras, screens, and monitoring.
Five steps to implement this innovation in your institution
This initiative was born in 2016 with pilot tests focused on point-to-point classes given by Tec de Monterrey teachers Eduardo Luévano and Eduardo González Mendivil. In 2018, a multipoint educational model was designed that evolved with technology and incorporated pedagogical strategies over the years. Today it is an innovative, successful, and replicable model. It can simplify its adoption and implementation in the following steps.
1. Get institutional support to train the technical and teaching team.
As in any educational innovation, the support of several areas of your institution is necessary. Form a team with IT staff to configure and equip the reception and transmission rooms. Pedagogical support is also required to teach teachers how to use the spaces.
2. Prepare the transmitting room.
The professor teaches the class in a room with a black background; it has two monitors – one to see the course materials and another to see the students in the reception rooms. It also requires a computer with the preferred video conferencing application, and an ordinary video and audio system (camera, microphone, speakers), preferably with good quality.
3. Prepare the receiving classrooms
In these classrooms, students enter and settle as they would in a face-to-face class. The holographic screen shows a real-size image of the teacher as if he were there. On other screens, they can see the class content and their classmates in other classrooms. They need a computer with the preferred video conferencing application and a standard video and audio system (camera, microphone, speakers), preferably of good quality. Creating these spaces is an investment in the convenience of having practical, modern rooms with multiple uses for face-to-face, hybrid, and distance classes.
4. Assign roles to the operational team
A broadcast coordinator ensures that all connected classrooms receive video and audio signals correctly and supports the teacher in keeping track of what is happening with all their students. A facilitator also assists the teacher with teamwork activities, experiments, and other learning, applying tests, monitoring, and moderating group participation.
5. Prepare the teaching and operational team with the new dynamics
The professor teaches class actively while behaving the same as in a face-to-face class. However, instead of a traditional whiteboard or interactive whiteboard, the teachers use a touchscreen or tablet to explain lesson content, solve problems, display videos, and more. Teaching must be very dynamic. Teachers can design activities to engage all connected students in the different locations.
A successful model with a promising future
This experience is just a glimpse of the possibilities of educational innovation’s potential in the future. Can we simulate a face-to-face environment without the physical assistance of the teacher? The answer is: Yes. Below we share the four main components of the model “Technology Ecosystem for Telepresence with a Hologram effect.”
- Active learning as a pedagogical strategy: Students undertake various contextual activities to build their knowledge. They are committed to learning through classroom activities and discussions rather than passively listening to an expert.
- Technology. In addition to the technology of transmitting holograms, the teacher uses a learning management system (in our case, Canvas) and interactive educational tools such as Miro, Menti, Kahoot, Quizzis, chatbots, and augmented reality applications.
- Educational resources. Students access a variety of content in different formats. These resources help students understand lessons and content.
- Interaction through live sessions. Students raise their hands naturally for agile, real-time participation. The teacher communicates with them using their names as if they were physically in the classroom, which helps create an emotional bond and engages students to enjoy the class.
The results we have obtained to date are encouraging and promising. The potential of this model is extensive, and we are still exploring more applications. We hope that other teachers and institutions can benefit from the documentation of this institutional initiative shared in this article. Also, you can find more information on our website Innovación Educativa (Educational Innovation).
At Tecnológico de Monterrey, the goal will always be to satisfy the needs of our students in the best way and provide them with experiences to make their learning memorable.
About the authors
Carla Victoria Ramírez López (carla.ramirez@tec.mx) is a leader in Educational Innovation. She has more than 25 years of experience in Education, Educational Technology, UI/UX Web Portal Design, Classroom Development with Advanced Technology, and Design and Management of Educational Innovation Projects. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Administrative Computer Systems and a Master’s degree in Information Technology Management. Since 2021, she has been a member of the IEEE Future Directions Telepresence Steering Committee. She has been a judge of the QS Reimagine Education Awards in the Artificial Intelligence in Education category.
Leticia Castaño Sánchez (lcs@tec.mx) is a leader in Educational Innovation, having experience in the Design, Planning, and Production of Online Academic and Business Courses and Instructional Design and Academic Administration of Educational Programs for more than 24 years. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and a Master’s Degree in Educational Institution Administration and is certified in Innovation Management. She has been a judge of the QS Reimagine Education Awards in the categories of ICT Tools for Teaching and Learning, Best ICT Tools, and Hybrid Learning.
Patricia Aldape Valdés (patricia.aldape@tec.mx) is the Director of Learning Experience Innovation. Has more than 26 years of experience developing models for Distance Education and Blended, Corporate Universities and Instructional Design. She has dedicated herself to promoting Educational Innovation, which has allowed her to participate in strategic initiatives. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Science and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
Laura Patricia Zepeda Orantes (laura.zepeda@tec.mx) is a functional leader of Innovative Pedagogical Models, specializing in the design of innovative educational models supported by technology. She guides and leads the team that generates new teaching-learning models and provides pedagogical accompaniment in educational innovation projects in the Directorate of Educational Innovation and Digital Learning within Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Special collaborationPerla Téllez Garza (perla.tellez@tec.mx) has a degree in Communication Sciences from Tecnológico de Monterrey. She has worked as an author and editor of articles related to educational innovation and is currently a digital content designer in the Directorate of Educational Innovation and Digital Learning.
Edition by Rubí Román (rubi.roman@tec.mx) – Edu bits and Webinars Editor – “Learning that inspires” – Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education of Tec de Monterrey.
Translation by Daniel Wetta.
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
