Smart Classrooms for Smart Learners
by Bruce Rosenbloom 

The September 2002 issue of Syllabus magazine contains several articles on smart classroom usage in higher education. At Adelphi, we have over a dozen smart classrooms at Garden City distributed among several buildings. The University has made significant capital investments in these rooms (also called multimedia classrooms) in order to enhance the teaching tools available to faculty. This article will address the capabilities and usages of these classrooms, and offer suggestions for teaching with these tools.

What are Smart Classrooms and what equipment do they contain?

"The idea of a smart classroom is to have an instructor positioned at a central workstation from which he or she can use any and all equipment available to make presentations to students in the same room or at remote locations. Projectors, document cameras, VCR's, DVD's, CD players, digital recorders and computers can all be neatly tied into a control system at the instructor's workstation from which they can switch from one component to another." (Syllabus, September 2002, pp 43). These rooms are constantly adapting to both incorporate new technology like wireless networks, and satellite links, and also changing given the demands of faculty for reliability and ease-of-use.

A typical smart classroom configuration at Adelphi would include a ceiling-mounted room projector with instructor console containing a PC with Internet access, CD-ROM, VCR, cable TV, and Elmo ( for transparencies and paper documents). In addition, video-conferencing is available at a few smart classrooms on campus. It should be noted that there are variations from smart classroom to smart classroom, but that each console will have posted instructions applicable to that location. To further support faculty in learning how to use these rooms, The Faculty Center for Professional Excellence and the Customer Service and Training department have co-taught "how-to" classes in various smart classrooms rooms on campus.

Maintenance and Problem Resolution

Smart classrooms are among the rooms most in demand at Adelphi, and consequently, are in almost constant use. Invariably, then, there will be occasions when an instructor finds some equipment not working. It is hoped that a recent contract with an outside firm to maintain all multimedia rooms will go a long way to minimizing any disruptions. Several of the multimedia rooms will undergo equipment upgrades in the current Fall 2002 semester. However, if you encounter any problems with the equipment, please report it immediately to the Customer Services (X3333) so that a work ticket can be written, if the issue cannot be addressed over the phone.

Teaching in a Multimedia Room

The use of multimedia rooms in your teaching can enhance both the content and presentation of your materials. Students respond well to video clips illustrating a concept, or a PowerPoint presentation which reviews the major points of the lesson. With the computer's desktop being projected onto the screen, computer applications may be demonstrated, and relevant Internet sites can add variety to any lesson. These uses are fairly typical at Adelphi. Is there more than can be done? I believe so.

In the Technology for Teachers class that I teach, I like to empower students in a smart class by having them make a presentation in front of the class using the tools at their disposal. Most students will start with a PowerPoint presentation, show the website they developed, and survey other educational sites. This gives education students some real experience with some of the technology that they will use in their careers, and hopefully incorporate in their classrooms.

The power of the World Wide Web for accessing relevant content can be fully explored in a multimedia room. By touring various websites, a biology class taking a virtual field trip to marine institute; a political science class can explore ancient China; a science class can view local weather maps and project a storms impact on a region. Increasingly, websites are incorporating streaming video, which enable professors to show some current issue or event in a more visually engaging manner. The myriad applications are almost limitless. (See note below).

Another application of a multimedia room equipped for videoconferencing, would be to link that class with another site off campus. Although this will take some advance planning to account for firewalls on both sides of the conference, the benefits to teaching can be substantial. For example, using videoconferencing, an expert in the Civil War can enliven a history class, or an English class might connect with the author of poetry they are reading; a political science class can conduct a moot court competition with another school; education majors can observe teaching practices in K-12 classrooms; or social work or nursing students can interact with a professor from a field site or hospital. The advantage of interactivity with another site can pay real educational dividends for the students and professor.

In conclusion, smart classrooms may not necessarily make smart learners, but used intelligently and with planning, smart classrooms can lead to a more dynamic learning environment. Given the demand for these rooms on the Adelphi campus, a lot of professors agree. It is now up to us to more fully utilize these resources to maximize student achievement.

Editors Note: The Faculty Center for Professional Excellence will be conducting a workshop on "Teaching with Web Resources." and a Workshop on "Teaching with Videoconferencing". Please consult the Calendar for workshop dates.)

Sample Layout/Photos from Multimedia Rooms

Below are some sample multimedia rooms on campus, and links to a Word file containing and equipment list, room layout and other essential information for that specific room. Chris Toften, Customer Service and Training Manager prepared these files for each smart classroom and computer lab on campus. These will be available on their website in the near future (and the campus will be notified).

The links below will have photos and room layouts for these sample smart classrooms.

Science 321
Hy Weinberg 012
Business 108