by Randy Hollowell, IT Services

It is hard to believe that July is already two-thirds over, and August will be here before we know it. It has been an especially busy last couple of months for the groups responsible for upgrading Miami’s learning spaces.

As we have noted in several updates, the last being on July 13, IT Services, along with the Office of the Provost, academic deans, eLearning Miami, eCampus and the Academic Directors of Technology (ADoTs), are continuing to work on enhancing many of the learning spaces at Miami to successfully support face-to-face and remote instruction during the fall.

The good news is we are on track to be ready for the start of school. At this point 205 of 420 traditional classrooms have been enhanced with expanded audio capabilities, which include a wireless microphone as part of the instructor workstation, and the ability to project and record what is shown on the screens in the room to all students that are attending class remotely through one of Miami’s current video conferencing tools.

To see an updated list of the enhanced classrooms, please visit ClassTech: Learning spaces upgraded for flexible hybrid capabilities, Fall 2020. If you would like to schedule time to practice in one of the enhanced classrooms, please contact your local ADoT.

eLearning Miami has also been hard at work creating training and materials for the enhanced learning spaces.

• To learn about and register for training sessions, visit the Classroom Technology webpage.
• To learn more about the capabilities of the enhanced learning spaces, visit ClassTech / Set up for flexible instruction.

eLearning Miami, in conjunction with CTE and eCampus, are also aiding in the move to multi-modal instruction by offering training for faculty on using the new classroom capabilities. To see all of the training opportunities being offered by eLearning, and to register for sessions, please visit their Events webpage. 

eLearning Miami is also a tremendous resource for assisting with all types of educational technology. Visit their Learning Technology and Support website for additional tools and resources.