NAVIGATION

To Succeed, Technology Must “Disappear”

For distance learning to deliver its full potential requires a smartly designed, well-crafted, and perfectly coordinated technology-plus-environment system that succeeds in creating the illusion that everyone is in the same room. Paradoxically, to succeed, the technology must "disappear".

Inside Out or Outside In?

For teaching with technology to work, it must provide the necessary functions, be easy to use, and be reliable, foremost as perceived by the teachers and students who use it. What makes Montgomery's approach so successful is that design is driven by the perceptions of users, coupled with empirical evidence of what works. He takes as the starting point the point of view of a student in a space without boundaries, and then methodically applies psychometric and pedagogical principles appropriate to the purpose and users. This leads to an understanding of what is required of the learning space and the technology in order for learners to learn and teachers to teach. With further development, the concepts become specifications that enable the space-technology system to be built and fulfill its mission.

Shouvlin Hall

Wittenberg University’s Shouvlin Hall Distance Learning Center

Wittenberg University needed to build a new distance learning facility for business executives to participate in classes from the Wharton school of business. Director of Audiovisual Services Lyndon McCurdy was put in charge of overseeing the creation of the quarter-million dollar facility. McCurdy recognized the need for a top-notch system that would meet the high standards to which Wittenberg and its demanding clients were accustomed. He chose Malcolm Montgomery, EduTech’s founder and president, to design the system and environment from concept to completion. Together, they established the following goals:

The videoconferencing technology would have to be so reliable and function so smoothly that it would seem to almost disappear; no matter how far apart participants might actually be, they would feel as though they were talking face-to-face in the same room.

When not in use for videoconferencing, the room would have to serve double-duty as an electronic classroom. It needed to have the same look and feel and be as easy to operate as Wittenberg's other electronic classrooms, despite its considerable complexity.
When not in use for classes, it would need to function as a small movie theater for students to enjoy in the evening. This required an alternate control scheme that was easy to use without training, blocked access to videoconferencing and other unnecessary functions, limited the sound level to protect both ears and speakers from damage, and used a different, dedicated projector and screen configuration. Montgomery worked closely with McCurdy and the facilities staff that included Wittenberg's talented master craftsmen, who remodeled the room to meet perfectly the stringent specifications. The result of that collaboration is this stunning distance learning facility that performs as well as its looks impress.

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Unusual Features That Make Shouvlin Hall a Success

Students see clear, bright images full of detail on two front projection screens (near site/far site, people/content, etc.).
The instructor remains well lit for the camera as she walks from her workstation across the room and in front of the screens without having the videoconferencing lights wash out the projectors. Videoconference lighting needs to be quite bright to enable the cameras and codec to send out high quality images, nearly always requiring large expensive rear-screen projection systems. There was no room for them in Shouvlin Hall. The solution required precise lighting design and a new linear fixture unknown to the AV world (Benya Lighting Design).
Every one of the 34 students enjoys an excellent, unobstructed view of both screens, due to their size and placement, even as the instructor crosses in front of them.
Increased interaction leading to improved learning outcome for students, due to improved eye contact from the seats' arrangement in concentric arcs.
Crisp, clear sound throughout the room because of very effective acoustic treatment and a sophisticated 8-channel audio system using DSP (digital signal processing).
The powerhouse twin projectors are tucked into a custom-made soffit that swallows their blower noise, with the added benefit of clearing sightlines from the back row.
Two PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) student cameras automatically zero in on participating students, enabling viewers at other sites to see who is talking to them. This increases understanding through nonverbal communication, which is an essential value-add of videoconferencing. Too many distance learning classrooms can only show the instructor, but not students, sufficiently well to be useful.
The cameras are programmed so that one camera holds a steady shot, while the other one zeros in on the active student participant. Only after the camera motion ends does it go live. The value of this is that it prevents "visual whiplash" which is both distracting and unpleasant to watch, effectively disrupting the "same room" illusion.
Two wireless instructor microphones and an auto-follow camera free up the instructor to move about the room, engaging students in the room and increasing visual interest as viewed from other sites.
Eye contact with the far site works well for the instructor because her camera is located close to a large confidence image projectedon a big back-wall screen. A pair of confidence monitors are customarily provided either as small screens on the instructor workstation or as small size flat panels located close to the instructor camera. Both methods have problems: in the first case, the instructor must look down at the monitors instead of up at the camera. Since the camera is in effect the "eyes" of everyone at the far site, the instructor loses eye contact because she is no longer looking into the camera to create the face-to-face "connection". A second monitor shows her what image she is sending out, which she needs to keep an eye on as she selects from many options (instructor camera, document camera, student camera, etc.). The only way to solve the eye contact problem is to locate the monitors and the camera close together. The problem is that the camera is usually so far away that the monitors are too small to be seen. The big screens on the back wall of Shouvlin Hall provided the perfect solution.
Eye contact works well for the local students because the student cameras are located on the front wall next to the image of the far site. As explained above, this gives the illusion that the students are looking into the eyes of the people at the far site, with the consequent improvement in engagement and communication.