Each year, most of our planned classroom technology upgrades are scheduled during the summer months. The AV Installations team identified the rooms receiving new equipment or maintenance work and with faculty input from the Academic Technology Council. Most rooms received significant improvements last summer in preparation for the SMUFlex experience. Therefore, this summer’s work included fewer major overhauls and more enhancements or maintenance repairs than usual, but still offered improvements in over 100 rooms.
Tag: classroom upgrades
Classroom Upgrade Project for Summer 2021 Launches
Over the past 12 months, our classrooms received a significant amount of technology and equipment upgrades and changes. During the summer months, work was done in 250 rooms to install the various components necessary to support SMUFlex. During the Winter break, we added more components and changes to approximately 93 rooms to deliver an enhanced SMUFlex course experience. As we prepare now for a fully in-person Fall semester, we will focus our classroom efforts on a variety of maintenance and repair requests with a smaller number of major upgrades than is typical. Continue reading Classroom Upgrade Project for Summer 2021 Launches
Classroom Technology Updates: Preparing for Fall
Each year, SMU leadership and the Academic Technology Council reviews and approves a collection of classroom upgrade projects to be funded by the University Technology Fund. Project requests are submitted by each school in addition to identified major maintenance/fixes based on the age or current state of each room. These are vetted and prioritized to ensure we are providing stability across classroom experiences while also modernizing the technology in as many spaces as possible. In addition to the classrooms funded by the University, several schools or departments independently fund additional upgrades that are critical to their environment. The majority of these projects are conducted during either the summer months or during winter break to minimize impact to teaching.
The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically altered this year’s original upgrade plans. Instead of the original proposal of work, Continue reading Classroom Technology Updates: Preparing for Fall
Teams pivot to support simultaneous in-person and online classes this fall
Classroom instruction has been turned upside down this year, shifting from 100% in-person to 100% online. As we return to the Hilltop for Summer 2, we are anticipating yet another transition where instruction occurs in both online and face-to-face modalities simultaneously. Pedagogically, this will require a good bit of flexibility for faculty. The classroom technology to support this hybridized approach is also very different and complex. Continue reading Teams pivot to support simultaneous in-person and online classes this fall
New Classroom Equipment Includes HD Lecture Capture Technology
This summer has certainly been a busy one when it comes to freshening up the campus. Many buildings are receiving intense renovations, and classroom technology improvements are of course part of the process. Over the past few months, some classrooms have received special new equipment, including long-lasting laser projectors, upgraded lectern PCs with quick solid-state storage, and even high-definition lecture recording systems. Continue reading New Classroom Equipment Includes HD Lecture Capture Technology
