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1 Collection Users can Collect posts into a printable, sortable format Collections are a good way to organize posts for quick reading A Collection must be created to tag posts More Help Edited Date: December 12, :36 PM February 8, :38 PM Most of the feedback from faculty has been positive regarding the proposed standards for learning space technology As anticipated, there have been a few faculty expressing concerns about a lack of VHS players, although there were others who indicated they agreed with this decision Some of the faculty expressed support for moveable podiums and questioned why we had decided on the fixed podiums I'll reply with specific comments following this post, grouped by subject Attachment: learning_space_standardsdoc (33 KB) General summary of responses December 12, :06 PM Out of the 34 faculty that responded to the request for feedback, 10 simply replied that the proposal looked good and 12 others replied that it looked good and offered some more specific comments about things they especially liked or suggestions they had 8 other faculty didn't really comment about how they felt overall, and just offered suggestions/questions 2 faculty didn't comment on the proposal and instead raised questions about the technology in specific rooms they teach in Many faculty thanked the committee for working on this, and also thanked us for giving them a chance to give feedback Video playback Edited Date: December 12, :19 PM December 12, :22 PM Here are the comments regarding VHS players: 1 "I understand wanting to look forward If they are not getting rid of the VCRs that they have now, the Fremont campus has enough It would be nice to have 1 that we can order at Newark I have about a dozen tapes that I use, and I cannot use them at Newark It seems more $ efficient to me to purshase one TV & VCR than to replace everyone's tapes" 2 "No VCR? I know this is outdated equipment, but a great deal of our library s collection is still VHS It doesn t make sense to not have VHS available, unless there is money to purchase DVD versions of our VHS collection" 3 "Will classrooms still have TVs with VHS? I ask because I know there isn't money to replace the 1&course_id=_5448_1&nav=db_thread_list_entry&isSearch=N&type=print Page 1 of 5

2 instructional VHS with DVDs and until we can replace them with DVDs it's important to have TV/VHS access" 4 "Can't imagine that an instructor would insist on having VHS available I know that I have some good VHS training tapes for students, but I've had to move over to modern technology" Here are the comments regarding DVD players: 1 "Why bother with a separate DVD player? It seems redundant and wasteful" 2 "Though is it necessary to have 2 DVD players (one in the computer and one in the podium?) Seems a bit redundant and I cannot think of a time when 2 are necessary The most important thing is that the materials and equipment are high quality At Newark they went cheap on the DVD players and none of them play DVDs I am not kidding when I say, every DVD player in the computers at Newark have never been used or used only once (without success)" 3 "I guess the only thing I'd point out is that some DVD players make it very hard to use important features (like turning captions on) without the use of the remote As you may or may not know, remotes (at least for rooms on the upper campus) are kept in the Media Center and one has to go and pick it up and arrange to take it back I have no problem doing this, but this might be an issue for people teaching at night or at times when Yu-Pui is not around It might be a greater challenge for adjuncts, who often are not on campus for long periods of time before and/or after their classes I know that in the rooms I teach in on the second floor of Hyman Hall, the remote/s are often left on the instructor's desk and none (to my knowledge) have disappeared, but I don't know if fear of theft is the reason remotes aren't kept in the rooms somewhere, like in that box area at the top of the podium So I guess what I'd recommend is that as equipment is being considered, having a DVD player whose features can be utilized without a remote (if available) would be ideal" Here is a comment about online video: "I play a lot of videos from internet sources such as YouTube or Pearson MyBizLab components that come with my textbooks The computers in the classroom cannot support the full-screen mode of online videos The videos become choppy and have to be downsized to the regular size of the video within the webpage on YouTube As you can imagine, when displaying a video in class it is best for everyone to see it full-screen and not 1/4 of the size I think this may be a graphics card issue, but you'd have to check with the tech team I would love to see some of the budget earmarked for this simply upgrade since it will enhance what we already have at a cheaper rate than creating new smart rooms (although I think we need those too) In order to encourage more faculty to be 'tech-savy' we need to be able to support some of the typical things that instructors may use" Audio December 13, :56 PM There were a couple of audio-related comments: 1 "The speakers in the classrooms that I use never seem to perform well at the maximum volume level They crackle and sound bad at times depending on the tone of the audio I recommend changing the brand of speakers to something that is more reliable in performance" 2 "Maybe add availability of portable or clip microphones (with working battery, of course) for the soft spoken instructors" 1&course_id=_5448_1&nav=db_thread_list_entry&isSearch=N&type=print Page 2 of 5

3 Power outlets December 13, :08 PM There were a bunch of comments about power outlets (an aspect of our document that we left a little vague): 1 "I also wanted to mention that outlets positioned throughout the classrooms need to be well thought out The ones on the floors at Newark have become a safety hazard" 2 "Speaking of plug access in the floors, use the sliding lid kind rather than the popup lid kind to avoid severed power cords and possible student electrocution" 3 "The outlets for student laptop charges is great - this was an issue last summer" 4 "Would like to suggest that there be one outlet for each student position I am teaching in Newark and the back two rows have NO outlets available Every testing session requires me to bring in surge protectors so that everyone has an outlet Wires criss cross throughout the room and it can be quite dangerous" 5 There should be "outlets in the podium or close to the podium where instructor laptops can draw power" The podium December 13, :14 PM Here are the comments relating to the podium: 1 "In Newark, the podiums have wheels so you can move around" 2 "Why a fixed podium? Is it not possible to get the moveable podiums that Newark and 1402/1406 have? They re pretty awesome At least I LOVE them" 3 "At Newark we have a fixed wall unit for computer/projector controls and a moving podium that is great for flexibility I strongly recommend moving podiums for teacher comfort I put my laptop on it and plug into the wall unit" 4 "I would also suggest having some sort of storage area either in/near the podiums for charging the keyboards (if they are portable)" Projector & screen December 13, :26 PM A couple of concerns about the projectors: 1 "I'll be really happy if the projectors are high enough resolution/quality to project accurate color" 2 Try to position the screen in a way that the projected image is entirely visible throughout the class (no blind spots) And lots of thanks on what we wrote about the screen: 1&course_id=_5448_1&nav=db_thread_list_entry&isSearch=N&type=print Page 3 of 5

4 1 "This looks good to me, especially 'The screen will be electric with independent control and will be positioned in a way that allows for whiteboards/chalkboards to be used simultaneously' " 2 "Love the idea that white boards should be situated so that they can be used in conjunction with the projection screen" 3 "I especially like the specification that the projector screen doesn't block the whiteboard - that's the most important thing as far as I'm concerned" 4 "Mainly I don't like [what we currently have on the Fremont campus with] the whiteboards being covered by the screens and the inability to control the lighting well enough to make the projection easily viewable Once I taught in Newark, and found the projection there improved; however an important thing missing from that room was that there was no monitor for the instructors, so everything had to be shown on the projector not allowing for any private viewing (eg grades or s)" 5 "I like that the positioning of the projector screens and whiteboards will allow simultaneous use of both In some classrooms this is currently not the case which limits media augmented discussions/activities" 6 "Also, this semester it was an issue for me to have the chalkboard covered by the screen so I'm glad you specified that as well" Miscellaneous other comments December 13, :36 PM There were a couple of comments about the wireless access: 1 "We learned the hard way at Newark that the wireless system frequently crashes or gets jammed when too many students get on it at once Having hardwire internet access for students has been vital for exams or essential Blackboard access during class The internet access ports can fit alongside the plug access in the floors" 2 "THANK YOU FOR MAKING WIFI AVAILABLE IN ALL CLASSROOMS!" One comment about laptop carts: 1 "I didn t see anything in the document about classrooms having carts of laptops for student use is that a possibility? We have them at Newark" One comment about web browsers: 1 "My only comment would be to add that the web browsers be up to date For example, the computers in HH-210 have Firefox but the Flash plug-in is not up to date Also, is it possible to install web browsers so that they never ask the standard web browser questions like remembering passwords, default browsers, etc?" One request for tech support and documentation: 1 "Also, technology support should be available (phone number, name, alternate contact, etc) along with clear, visual operating instructions and trouble-shooting guidelines" Lastly, there was one request that our room scheduling be more efficient with regard to ensuring that the technology needs of the class/faculty matching the actual resources in the room (ie, not putting a class in a high-tech room if they're not using the tech, and not putting a class in a low-tech room if 1&course_id=_5448_1&nav=db_thread_list_entry&isSearch=N&type=print Page 4 of 5

5 they need/want the tech) Additional feedback February 24, :12 PM Some more comments ed after the initial review: 1 "This coming semester I will again be teaching in 1405A, which has one of those wall-mounted computers with a VERY loud fan It is so loud and distracting that this feature in itself often causes me to avoid using the computer in my teaching It is hard for the students and I to hear one another over this fan noise The computer also has no monitor of its own (only what the projector puts on the wall), making it impossible to face my class while putting/changing anything on the screen The cordless keyboard with built-in mouse don t work very well either, so to use the computer, I often have to stand at the side of the room by the wall-mounted computer itself, using a corded mouse It s definitely a bad situation" 2 "The only other thing the tech group may want to consider is an auto shutoff system I still come in rooms where the PCs have been left running Usually it is not the projector though" OK 1&course_id=_5448_1&nav=db_thread_list_entry&isSearch=N&type=print Page 5 of 5