In a partnership with DELTA staff and NC State Facilities Division, a team transformed Poe 202, an aging DELTA classroom, into NC State’s first all-digital DELTA classroom. The vision for the Poe 202 Collaborative Classroom was to make an entirely flexible, unique teaching environment that encouraged peer-to-peer interaction, instructor facilitation and remote participation. Responsible for planning every detail from the rolling tables to the microphones hanging from the ceiling, the team produced a successful proof-of-concept that an all-digital classroom can be effectively and efficiently built and managed.
Challenges
- Successfully designing the first all-digital DELTA classroom at NC State
- Increasing the seating capacity of the room while opening the teaching format up to a more flexible, collaborative teaching and learning style
- Seamlessly integrating multiple software systems, some of which were new to DELTA
- Enabling multiple groups of students to work on shared smart boards simultaneously
- Allowing remote students to participate in two-way conversation and interact with smart boards for group work
Solutions
- Using Crestron DigitalMedia HD as the backbone for the operation, the team integrated software systems that allowed videoconferencing, smart board sharing and classroom capture.
- The classroom is fully flexible and reconfigurable. All tables and chairs are on wheels and can be set up based on instructor preferences or the needs of students as they work in groups.
- Students can participate remotely by watching the instructor video feed and the smart boards that the instructor remotely shares with them. Remote students can also draw on smart boards and have their work appear on the screen in Poe Hall.
- Faculty can easily control the entire classroom with minimal training. Using Meeting Pro, they can determine what displays on monitors during the class and determine which smart boards to share with the group.
For more information about DELTA services, please contact LearnTech.