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One-room magic: UFS' immersive classrooms redefine learning

29 August 2025 | Story Igno van Niekerk | Photo Stephen Collett

The university is transforming education across its Bloemfontein, Qwaqwa, and South campuses with its pioneering one-room spaces, mirrored across all three locations to deliver cutting-edge, immersive learning. Research for these innovative spaces began in 2023, sparked by a photo from the University of Leuven in Belgium, which the university identified as showcasing Leuven’s advanced classroom setup. Prof Philippe Burger, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, leveraging a connection there, led a team to explore this technology globally, collaborating with Canada’s X2O OneRoom to make the UFS the first in South Africa – and one of (as far as we know) two in Africa, alongside Kenya – to offer such immersive classrooms.

Unlike Zoom or Blackboard, where online students were often overlooked as small icons, one-room spaces ensure that everyone feels included. Designed for postgraduate training and PhD interactions, these rooms accommodate up to 40 in-person and 40 online participants, with large video camera feeds on screens, reminiscent of the TV programme Small Talk, where children’s faces lined the wall for engagement. Directional audio and personal cameras create a sensory experience, with sound coming from the speaker’s direction and eye contact feeling natural. Angelique Carson-Porter from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics shared her excitement about a postgraduate session led by Prof Aletta Olivier, Lecturer in the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies: “It feels like you’re right there, even from Pretoria or Ghana. You see everyone, interact, and never miss a beat.”

Gavin Coetzer at ICT Services, a key project leader, highlighted how lecturers struggled with older platforms’ limitations, often only addressing online questions at the end, disrupting the flow. The UFS’ one-room spaces, implemented in the UFS Business School, the Clinical Skills Unit, South Campus teacher training, and Qwaqwa, solve this with breakout sessions and global conference support. While other universities rely on Teams, the UFS’ user-friendly tech, with around 24 screens and ceiling microphones, allows lecturers to focus on teaching.

Staying ahead of tech trends is challenging, but the university is excelling, making education inclusive, engaging, and truly global.

News Archive

Learners show how they built model racing car for international competition

2009-11-10

The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) has sponsored a group of learners from Afrikaans Secondary School in Sasolburg to participate in the international round of the F1 in Schools Competition in London in the United Kingdom in September 2009. The F1 in Schools is a competition where schools are challenged to build compact, gas cylinder-driven model racing cars. The team, who competed with a team of Germany against the national winners of other countries, recently did a presentation for the Faculty to tell about the competition and to thank the Faculty for its sponsorship. Here are, from the left: Mr Eugene Wilsenach from F1 in Schools; Heleen van Greunen, Afrikaans Secondary School Sasolburg; Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; and Prof. Neil Heideman, Vice-Dean of the Faculty; back: Chacques van der Vyfer, goods manager; Rohan Laas, graphic designer; Wynand Holtzhausen, design manager; Scholtz Thiart, manufacturing manager; Dekker Coetsee, financial manager; and Helgaard Janse van Rensburg, team manager
Photo: Stephen Collett

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