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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

Qwaqwa campus upgrade begins

2005-06-23

Academic facilities, including lecture halls and the library, on the Qwaqwa campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) will be upgraded to the tune of R1,4-million.

An extra R100 000,00 has also been made available for the upgrading of four staff houses on campus.

The tender for this project was awarded to a local business in the Qwaqwa region, Mguni Enterprises. This phase is expected to be completed next month - July 2005.

This is the second phase of upgrading of the Qwaqwa campus, following the earlier upgrading of student residences to the tune of R6,2-million.

“The total capital injection to improve the infrastructure on the campus is R7,7 -million. The aim of the upgrading is to improve the infrastructure of the campus in order to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning, “said Prof Peter Mbati, Qwaqawa Campus Head.

The first phase of the upgrading - amounting to R6,2 million - comprised of the upgrading of the five student residences and mainly dealt with the maintenance backlog. Residences were painted, old furniture replaced, electricity rewired and the necessary alterations made to ensure sufficient hot water supply as well as a new look to the face of the residences.

According to Prof Mbati the student visiting areas, reception areas and rooms were also improved by the changes in the first phase. The renovated residences now also boast facilities such as kitchenettes, washing machines and tumble driers and computers rooms.

There are currently 754 students staying in the residences. Three residences accommodate female students and the other two are for male students. Students who are not accommodated on campus stay at the former Tshiya College of Education, approximately 5 kilometers from the campus. These students are bussed in to the campus on a daily basis.

“All these developments are a major step forward for the Qwaqwa campus as it once again shows our commitment to the campus to make it an attractive site of higher education in the Eastern Free State,” said Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

Media release

Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

23 June 2005

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