Teaching Space of Tomorrow

LEARNING SPACES DESIGN TEAM

Brian Shanks, Director and Atkins Fleming, Assistant Director

REQUIREMENTS

Provide a technical solution to facilitate online synchronous classes in a way that makes the faculty experience as close to face-to-face as possible. Additionally, fit this solution into a space similar to a faculty office so it becomes scalable.

APPROACH

Support the instructor’s user experience through a continuous cycle of feedback, adjustment, and field testing.

COMPONENTS AND CONFIGURATION

• A Zoom Room features three (3) displays and a touchscreen control panel:

  • Two (2) Samsung 65” displays show a Zoom Gallery View of up to 98 participants in individual squares.

  • One (1) Planar 24” display in the middle shows the Shared Content from the Zoom meeting.

• Supplemental displays connect to the presenter’s computer and provide more screen real estate for organizing the online meeting:

  • Two (2) Samsung 50” displays in portrait (vertical) orientation allow the presenter to break out the chat and participant windows from Zoom onto their own screens for easier access and visibility.

  • One (1) Planar 24” display allows for additional content or notes to be placed directly below the camera for reference by the Presenter

• A Microsoft Surface Studio serves as a presentation computer or a companion whiteboard for the Zoom Room, allowing the presenter to interact with content, annotate, or handwrite on a digital whiteboard.

• A Logitech meetup video conferencing camera, microphone, and speaker are located in the front center of the room to provide communications with online students

• Studio lighting to improve the clarity of the video and improve the green screen functionality

• An optional green screen is provided to allow for virtual backgrounds.