Proposal

The purpose of this Tech Fee is to upgrade the conference/seminar room 249 in the Culture and Society Building, CU #97 to what has become the FAU smart-classroom standard. This room is used by the Department of Sociology.  We are requesting a total of $18653.40 based on quotes received from OIT (via Glen Campbell), Worx Electrical  and JADE communications.

Background Context:  

The technology in the room has not been updated since the building was constructed in 2010. 

(1)              The room was badly designed for teaching.   The presenter has to sit next to the computer to control the projector.   So, because the computer connections are at the north end of the room and the screen is at the south, students cannot look at the professor and the screen simultaneously.   That makes it hard to use images while teaching.   This is a real problem in sociology, as we frequently project and then discuss single slides (such as data analytics).

(2)             The technology in the room is inadequate.  The computer in the room was an afterthought.    It is an antiquated (about eight years old) Dell.   It is impossibly slow in its internet access.    It is difficult to control the projector through the computer unless one uses the keyboard – but the keyboard doesn’t reach many seats at the table and, when it is in use, its cord stretches across the pathway that students use to seat themselves along the western wall of the room.    To control the projector remotely, one has to add a piece of retrofitting technology to the computer:   this tends to get lost, misplaced, and is frequently impossible for a novice user to manage.   Additionally, whenever someone disconnects the Dell and connects a laptop, the projection system has to be resynched.   This is often too complicated to be done without the assistance of someone from College Computing.    Additionally, the projection system is analog, and we are asking for an upgrade to digital. 

(3)             There is no teaching station in the room.   That means that there is no easy way for an instructor to choose different inputs for the projector.  If an instructor wishes to use his or her own laptop to project a Powerpoint presentation, for instance, the connection from the computer to the projector must be removed and then connected to the laptop.  Given that the instructors who use these rooms are often not especially tech savvy, having faculty or GTA’s “connect” and “disconnect” various types of equipment is problematic, and potentially dangerous for student and instructor alike.

Details of the Request:

Sociology is requesting the installation of a standard teaching station.   On the teaching station, the presentation system will control the input for the projectors without necessitating the plugging and unplugging of equipment.   Additional, the new teaching station will be proximate to the screen.   So, this will make it possible for instructor (or student presenter) to control the computer (moving from thumb drive to internet resources, as needed) and point out relevant information on the screen/projector at the same time.  The podium, presentation system, and associated equipment are necessary for exemplary instruction.  Their insertion will also require some electrical wiring work, included in the request. 

Benefit to FAU Students through Implementation of Project: ?

Classes are taught every day (except Fridays, which is reserved for workshops) in this room.    Faculty (and other presenters) struggle with the existing technology, and we have had several instances in which non-tech-savvy faculty have been unable to implement a lesson plan because they were unable to (for example) figure out how to connect their own laptop (especially a problem with Macs) or how to switch to the DVD player from another source.  

In most of the classes taught in this room, students have to give presentations.   They are expected to use internet resources, Powerpoint, etc.    They are already nervous, and it is a truly dreadful experience for them to have to figure out how to disconnect wires, connect laptops, synch with the projector, etc.    It is also not a good presentation experience because the other people in the room are either looking at the presenter (and therefore not at the screen) or at the screen (and therefore not at the presenter).    The department also uses this classroom for students to practice their presentations for professional conferences.    As the presenter needs to be able to stand next to the screen and point and talk, we  have resorted to a system in which the student stands next to the screen and, as if they were directing a 1970’s slide carousel, says “next” when their friends is supposed to tap on the keyboard (at the other end of the room) to change the slide.   Not a great way to rehearse!