How do you scale classroom technology when students and faculty are spread across cities, rural communities, and dozens of campus locations?
In this UC Today interview from InfoComm 2026, we speak with Kevin Reeve, Academic Technology Officer at Utah State University. They discuss how the university is using Zoom Rooms to support distance education across the state.
Utah State University serves around 30,000 students across 30 locations. Faculty teach from multiple sites, while students join from the main campus, regional centers, or home. Kevin explains that the university now delivers more than 300 academic courses through video technology each semester.
Why Utah State Chose Zoom Rooms
The move to Zoom Rooms began with faculty demand during the pandemic. Instructors wanted Zoom, which pushed the university to adopt the platform. It later modernized classrooms with dedicated room technology, rather than relying only on desktop clients.
Kevin says one major benefit is the flexibility of the Zoom Rooms ecosystem. Multiple hardware vendors now support the platform, giving Utah State University more choice. That has helped the university simplify classroom deployments and reduce costs.
According to Kevin, Utah State University has cut room deployment costs by 30 percent to 50 percent compared with previous approaches. That fits a wider InfoComm 2026 trend, with UC Today reporting on AV moving from rooms to smarter workplace experiences.
Canvas, AI Companion, and Faculty Adoption
The interview also explores how Canvas LTI has improved adoption. By embedding Zoom directly into the learning management system, faculty and students can access key tools without extra logins.
Those tools include whiteboarding, chat, class rosters, and AI Companion. Zoom also provides support for using Canvas with AI Companion and Zoom Virtual Agent, which can help institutions simplify access for educators and students.
Kevin shares examples of faculty using AI Companion to help students review class content and ask follow-up questions. Adoption is not universal, but he says entrepreneurial faculty have embraced the tools. Student feedback has also been very positive.
The discussion reflects a broader industry shift. UC Today has also covered how AI is moving beyond note-taking in UC.
What Comes Next for Classroom AV
Looking ahead, Utah State University is focused on self-healing classrooms. Kevin describes a future where classroom systems detect and resolve common issues before faculty need support.
That matters for a university with locations spread across Utah. In some areas, technical staff may be hours away.
For universities, AV teams, and technology leaders, this interview offers a practical look at the future of education technology. It shows how networked AV, software-led infrastructure, and AI-assisted learning tools are reshaping higher education.
More Content from InfoComm 2026
For more from the show, explore UC Today’s wider InfoComm 2026 coverage:
