Instructional Technology

North Carolina State University continues to integrate the use of computers and other technologies into the teaching and learning experience. By constantly taking advantage of and implementing these resources, the university is able to provide students with some of the best instructional resources available.

ClassTech

Classtech is the Information Technology Division’s support unit for classroom technologies on the NC State University campus. We offer a variety of services to everyone from architects and engineers to instructors and students. http://www.ncsu.edu/classtech/

Engineering Online Mediasite Studio

In cooperation with Engineering Online, WolfTech supports a MediaSite recording studio and advising office in 2090 EB2.

Distance Education Classrooms

NetMeeting is fine, if you are just trying to communicate and collaborate on a project involving only a few people. For something bigger, such as a class, professional video conferencing rooms will best suit your needs. Here at NC State there are eleven classrooms designatad as “teleclassrooms.” Distance education classes are taught out of these classrooms. DELTA, Distance Education and Learning Technologies Applications provides this service to students, faculty, and partners. For a full list of services provided by NC State, please goto the Services page of the Learning Teachnology Service website.

Classroom Recording

This summer, DELTA and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) invite instructors to record their courses in ClassTech classrooms that have Mediasite classroom capture recording systems.

While class session recordings are not intended as a substitute for attending class, the ability to rewatch or listen to classroom lectures and discussions provides students a useful way of reviewing course material. Revisiting course material can help students increase their retention and learning, such as while studying for tests.

Instructors can link recorded lectures directly from their course Moodle site for easy student access.  Lectures are restricted to students enrolled in the section, but instructors can add additional sections if they desire. Presentation viewing data is also available via weekly or monthly reports that can track individual student usage and evaluate correlations between student learning outcomes and use of the online materials.

Currently, all Mediasite-equipped classrooms operated by ClassTech have audio- and note- recording capabilities (such as presentation platforms and document cameras), and many of the classrooms have cameras. Many of our EB2 classrooms are available for this:

  • EB2 1021
  • EB2 1025
  • EB2 1220
  • EB2 1229
  • EB2 1230
  • EB2 1231

Instructors with moderate technical abilities tend to find operating Mediasite equipment for class recordings fairly simple. A brief equipment training session is provided, but the automated workflow makes recording your course reliable and user friendly. There is no charge for this service.

If you would like to record your course during the summer, please visit the Classroom Capture Portal to opt-in: https://apps.delta.ncsu.edu/classroom_capture/cc_portal/index.php

Flyspace

Please visit http://itd.ncsu.edu for official documentation.

Flyspace was designed for students, faculty and staff to promote group learning and collaboration. Two Flyspace rooms are located in the Talley Student Center basement, in the corner of the Wolves Den dining room. Each room can accommodate approximately six people; the rooms are small by design, but each comes equipped for every meeting need: table and chairs; phone and white boards; two computers with monitors mounted on articulating arms; connectivity for data, audio and video; connections for four laptops and wireless; a large flat-panel display and software productivity tools. The great location, comfort and technology make Flyspace the perfect place for academic or extracurricular collaboration. And with open scheduling, via the Web, you can reserve Flyspace — for whatever, whenever. Don’t mis this exciting opportunity to use this great collaborative workspace. Bring your laptop and your classmates and check out NCS State’s newest tool for technology-assisted collaborative learning! For more information about Flyspace, including scheduling, equipment and avialbility, see http://www.ncsu.edu/flyspace/ or http://www.ncsu.edu/student_center/. Flyspace was created through a collaborative partnership of Information Technology Division, LITRE, NCSU Libraries, and Talley Student Center. If you are interested in visiting other collaborative spaces on campus, learn about the NCSU Libraries Collaboratory at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/ads/dml/reserve.html.

Digital Media Lab

The Digital Media Lab provides assistance to NC State students, faculty, and staff in creating digital materials and converting all types of media to digital formats. The lab offers a diverse mix of scanners allowing the conversion of documents, slides, photographs, and microforms to digital format. Oversize posters and signs can be printed in color on the large-format plotter. Hardware and software for converting analog audio and video to digital and creating digital audio and video clips is available within a soundproofed Studio. Meanwhile, the Collaboratory is a room near the Digital Media Lab where small groups can practive and collaborate on projects at two workstations with large flat-panel screens. Both the Studio and Collaboratory may be reserved in advance for periods of four hours. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/ads/dml/. All of these resources are located on the second floor of the D.H. Library’s eas wing, in the Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age. For more information, call (919) 513-3855 or visit

Audience Response Systems

In Spring 2007 the Classroom Environment Committee (CEC) and the University IT Committee endorsed the recommendation that NC State adopt Turning Technologies’ TurningPoint product as the campus standard for classroom interactive response (“clicker”) systems. The TurningPoint 2008 software was released recently and is now available in all ClassTech classrooms. PAMS and CALS have purchased a number of clicker devices for use by students in specific courses. Students in other courses may need to purchase their own clicker. Instructors teaching in ClassTech classrooms who would like to use clickers systems should consult with ClassTech staff: classtech@ncsu.edu Instructors or staff who intend to implement clicker systems in classrooms not supported by ClassTech are strongly encouraged to use the TurningPoint 2008 system. The TurningPoint 2008 software is available on the campus NAL system, and the software can be downloaded for use on campus from the Turning Technologies web site http://www.turningtechnologies.com/groupresponsesystemsupport/downloads.cfm. The vendor also offers TurningPoint training online; DELTA has scheduled fall workshops on the use of student response systems in classrooms (http://delta.ncsu.edu/learn/workshops/ltw/). For more information visit http://www.ncsu.edu/classtech/clickers/

An Audience Response System (ARS), or Personal Response System (PRS), allows large groups of people to vote on a topic or answer a question. Each person has a remote control with which selections can be made. Each remote communicates with a computer via receivers located around the room. After a set time – or when all paticipants have answered – the system shuts off and tabulates the results. Typically, the results are instantly made available to the participants via a bar graph displayed on projector. In situations where tracking is required, the serial number of each remote control is entered beforehand in the control computer’s database or the students identity number. In this way the answer of each individual can later be identified. Audience response offers many benefits to those who use it in group settings. These are just a few of the potential benefits:

  • Improve attentiveness
  • Increase knowledge retention
  • Poll anonymously
  • Track individual responses
  • Display polling results immediately
  • Speed-up decision making
  • Foster individual ownership of group decisions
  • Create an interactive and fun learning environment
  • Gather data for reporting and analysis
  • Confirm audience understanding of key points immediately

Broadcasting

Video conferencing is the ability to connect with someone else, like a phone call. The catch here is that video converencing involves actual live feeds of video, meaning you can see and interact with either your audience or colleagues. In a professional or classroom environment, to effectively communicate over long distances, visual contact with each other is a must.

One-on-One

Here at NC State, Microsoft’s NetMeeting video conferencing client can be used to video conference with others. NetMeeting gives users the ability to connect visually; chat, or instant message; share files; share a whiteboard; and share Windows applications. After you have completed the installation and configuration of NetMeeting, you are ready to communicate with others. For more information on NetMeeting, please visit this Brief Introduction.

Real Media Web Services

Okay, so you don’t need video conferencing, but rather you want to be able to stream media off of your website. We can also help you there. NC State has Realserver G2, allowing for streaming Real Media content to be used on websites. Video Communications Services is able to archive video programs into AFS locker space. Then, you can be provided with the link to stream this presentation from your site. To add broadcast services to your website, e-mail ecehelp@ncsu.edu.

PodCasting

Podcasting is in its infancy at NC State but there are a few sources online. A pilot project can be found at the Wolfcast site. To hone our skills, the WolfTech WebTeam is currently seeking faculty and graduate students interested in creating a 10-20 minute audio offering of their current research for a weekly experimental podcast. For more information, contact wolftech-webmaster@ncsu.edu. NC state is currently in negotiation to become an “iTune University” similar to Stanford’s pilot program. The WolfTech WebTeam recommends Audacity as a free, open source software for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Please note that you will need to get the LAME encoder in order to export your finished files from Audacity to MP3 format.

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