During J-term and February we built three new smart classrooms in McCardell Bicentennial Hall:
– MBH309
– MBH405
– MBH467
Rooms 309 and 405 have the regular assortment of technology (projector, 60×80 screen, laptop projection input, a multistandard DVD/VHS combo and a standard sound system).
By the way, the documentation for using these spaces is also online.
Room 467 has a similar setup as 309 and 405, however it also features a Hitachi short-throw projector and a Hitachi smart board. This semester, the Biology department is making use of the smart board. Hitachi has provided a nice tutorial for the smart board and we’ve put together a basic guide for using this classroom. I’ve also updated this post with two videos for the smartboard in use in 467. See the bottom of the post for the videos.
The new smart classrooms will also benefit the language schools, since we’ve equipped them with multistandard VHS and DVD players.
Kudos go to the Media Services crew – we designed and programmed the system on our own and Facilities Services assisted with the installation. We’ve had no support requests for 309 and 405 spaces, which attests to the quality of the design and programming of the system (the one adjustment we do need to make is provide a longer VGA cable). We also worked with the faculty that use the smart board in 467. I should note that the faculty were able to come up with some good modifications to our basic guide (it involved a digital tablet). The space offers lots of possibilities and needs some adjustments due to the HVAC vibrations but overall the projection is functional.
Next week I’ll post about the upgrade to the technology in Dana and the Old Chapel Boardroom. I promise to have pictures, too!
Update:
Here are the smartboard videos (show and tell from Hitachi).
Starboard part 1
Starboard part 2
Great news! Thanks for the pointer to the docs, too. It’s added to my “watch” list. Recommend other liaisons do the same.
Good work. You’ll have to do a show and tell for us so we can see all the features of our particular smart boards. My memory is a little foggy about what you can do with them because I’ve seen various things over the years and I imagine things have evolved since.
I just updated the post with two “show and tell” videos about the smartboard. Courtesy of Hitachi (they did a decent job at introducing the board and its features).
Very nice!
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I am not in any way a technophobe…BUT…I (and my colleagues) have been begging for decent chalk for as long as I have been here (25 YEARS), and we are told that it is too expensive. Add to that, the fact that boards are only cleaned every other day, again for cost reasons. How about seeing that the low tech stuff gets fixed first?
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for commenting on the post.
As far as I know, LIS does not choose or install the chalk boards so I’m afraid I can’t provide an answer why the low tech stuff was not addressed. I’m sure there were good reasons why we were asked to install the technology in MBH 309, 405 and 467.
Sincerely,
Petar