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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

Two UFS campuses work together on a Ph.D.

2007-04-24

Dr George Thamae, lecturer in Sesotho Education at the National University of Lesotho, this week became the first student in ten years to receive a doctor's degree during the University of the Free State's (UFS) autumn graduation ceremony from the Department of African Studies. It was also the first time that staff from this department on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein and the department on the Qwaqwa Campus worked together to produce a Ph.D. Dr Thamae's thesis, entitled: Standardising the Sesotho orthography: A clinical investigation, serves as the basis for the proposed standardisation of the Sesotho orthography with a view to achieve a uniform system of writing for all speakers of Sesotho, both in Lesotho as well as in South Africa.

During the ceremony were, from the left: Dr Elias Malete (acting head of the Qwaqwa Campus, from the Department of African Studies at the Qwaqwa Campus and co-promoter), Dr Thamae and Prof. Mohlomi Moleleki (Departmental Chairperson of the Department of African Studies on the Main Campus and promoter of Dr Thamae).
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

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