Classroom Upgrades Summer 2019

Posted August 7, 2019 by Academic and Institutional Technology
Tags: Department News

Which classrooms were updated this summer?

Great question!  Summer is the best time to get into the classrooms and perform maintenance and upgrades.  AIT was working on some large projects and some smaller ones.   There’s an astonishing amount of work that goes into each of these projects: faculty are consulted with, plans are drawn up, vendors bid for the opportunity to do the work, purchase orders are written,  workers are supervised, and the end result is an improved classroom experience for our students and faculty. 

When we met with you to discuss the needs for the classrooms, here is what we heard:We are grateful for the money that has been provided for the technology refresh cycles in our classrooms.  With the limited resources we have, we did this:
Teaching desks are too big and clunky; need to simplify teaching stations Purchased smaller, lighter, height-adjustable teaching desks
Need to connect wirelessly to the projector from a wide variety of devices Installed wireless connection platform that works for a variety of devices (learn more about Via Connect Pro here)
Need to be more consistent in refresh cycles Similar button panels in all new rooms
Need to be able to easily connect faculty laptops Ability to easily connect laptops and external DVD/CD drives with adaptors
CD/DVD drives are rarely used, and more faculty are digitizing content and including links in Schoology Installed smaller, less expensive in-room computers with no DVD/CD drives. Contact AIT to learn more about how to digitize media you need for your class. 
Desire to preserve the center white board space Installed monitors on each side of the central white board

Major renovations, including help from Facilities, was done on five classrooms.  New flat panels were hung, and there are now lighter, smaller, height-adjustable desks for the professors (in response to requests from faculty members.)  We have emailed the faculty who teach in these rooms to share more information about the changes there.  These classrooms with major renovations are the following:

  • BGC 012
  • BLA 322
  • MEY 217
  • MEY 302
  • MEY 357

Minor renovations which may not be immediately obvious when you walk in the room, were performed on six classrooms.  These technology upgrades will provide higher resolution on the screens, more brightness, and more reliability of the system overall. We have emailed the faculty who teach in these rooms to share more information about the changes there.  These classrooms with minor renovations are the following:

  • ADAMS 207
  • BLA 124
  • BLA 339
  • MEY 021
  • MEY 111
  • MEY 129

We upgraded the wireless presentation access in over 40 classrooms so that you can project from any device (Windows, Mac, Surface, iPad, iPhone, or Android) using the new Via Connect Pro.  This replaces the Apple TVs we had, which did not work with all devices.  This upgrade also offers a higher level of reliability.  You can learn more about Via Connect Pro here

We encourage you to schedule a personal orientation session in your classroom to familiarize yourself with the technology by contacting the AIT Service Desk

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Academic and Institutional Technology at 630.752.4357 (HELP) or by email at ait.service.desk@wheaton.edu