Classroom Special Equipment
Some single-content, dual-content, and collaboration classrooms have special equipment allowing you to better record lectures, teach online and blended courses, or share computer screens.
Lecture capture-enhanced classrooms
MSU equips all of our classrooms with, at minimum, a webcam and microphone on the podium and Panopto software that you can use to record your lectures. However, webcams and microphones can only pick up video and audio at the podium. Lecture capture-enhanced classrooms have more dynamic A/V equipment so you can record the entire classroom.
What’s in a lecture capture-enhanced classroom?
- A video camera at the back of the classroom facing the podium
- A microphone to capture audio at the podium and additional microphones around the room
- Panopto lecture recording software
What can you do in a lecture capture-enhanced classroom?
You can use the Panopto application on the podium PC to record video, audio, and your computer screen during your lectures. You can use the remote on the podium to zoom and focus the camera anywhere in the room or leave it focused on the instructor area.
Who should use lecture capture-enhanced classrooms?
Instructors who lecture with both the podium PC and a traditional whiteboard and want to record their lectures and share them with students in D2L/Brightspace.
Distance learning-enhanced classrooms
Distance learning-enhanced classrooms are for teaching courses where either the instructor or students are not physically present in the classroom.
What’s in a distance learning-enhanced classroom?
- One or more video cameras at the back of the classroom facing the instructor
- One or more video cameras at the front of the classroom, facing the students
- Microphones are positioned around the room to capture audio from the instructor as well as the students
- Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams videoconferencing software
What can you do in a distance learning-enhanced classroom?
There are three different ways that you can use a distance learning-enhanced classroom:
- Distance learning - Using the videoconferencing software on the podium computer, you can launch a live class session and teach using the podium and whiteboard, with room microphones and the back camera capturing audio and video from the instructor area. Your students can connect to the session from anywhere and engage with you through the videoconferencing software.
- Distance instruction - Using the videoconferencing software on the podium computer, a teaching assistant can launch a class session for a remote instructor. With the room microphones and front camera capturing audio and video from the audience area, the instructor can lecture from anywhere and hear and see students asking questions in the room.
- Blended learning - Using the videoconferencing software on the podium computer, you can teach a blended class session with some students in the classroom and others connecting online. Online students will be able to view the instructor area and hear both the instructor as well as students in the classroom through the room microphones. They can engage with the instructor through the videoconferncing software. Classroom students will experience the lecture as they would in a typical classroom, but they will also hear any contributions from online students through the room speakers.
Who should use distance learning-enhanced classrooms?
Distance learning-enhanced classrooms are for instructors teaching a blended or fully online course. Instructors also use these rooms to teach courses with remote instructors or guest lecturers calling in, as they can see raised hands in the classroom and hear the questions.
Screen-casting equipment
Classrooms may also have a Sharelink screen-casting tool, which enables instructors and students to cast their screens on the classroom displays.
What’s in a casting-enabled classroom?
An Extron ShareLink screen-casting tool.
What can you do in a casting-enabled classroom?
The ShareLink tool can cast content from any device - laptop, mobile, or tablet - to the classroom displays. Any user in the classroom, student, or instructor, can use a ShareLink to cast content from their devices.
Who should use casting-enabled classrooms?
Instructors who want to be able to share content from their phones or tablets to the classroom displays, or to have their students easily share their device screens on the classroom displays without plugging their devices in at the podium.