Michael J. Pasquale, of the Center's Teleconference and Network Services Unit, demonstrates the capabilities of the new instructional studio/classroom at a recent open house for Georgia Center employees.
Center Completes Installation of New Instructional Studio/Classroom
The Georgia Center for Continuing Education has completed installation of a new instructional studio/classroom, which among other distance-education functions, will link to the Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System (GSAMS) network of two-way, compressed video sites. The Center remodeled its "Conference Room H," transforming it from a standard classroom to one with state-of-the-art video and audio equipment, presentation technologies, and ergonomically sound desks, chairs, and other furnishings.
At present, the facility allows the Center to "link" with up to seven other locations throughout the state for two-way interactive audio and video exchange. The linkage is provided by the state Department of Administrative Services through telephone lines and fiber optic cables. The State of Georgia plans to add to the network, eventually installing 220 such sites at colleges, public schools, vocational/ technical centers, medical facilities, and state offices. Network completion is expected by the middle of 1995.
Through funds provided by the efforts of University of Georgia President Charles B. Knapp and UGA Vice President for Services S. Eugene Younts, the Georgia Center was able to tailor a special facility that supports enriched presentations by instructors in the regular conferences and workshops held at the Center. Room H will also expand Georgia Center activities in a number of ways electronically.
According to Georgia Center director Edward G. Simpson, Jr., the new classroom will provide a vital outreach capability for UGA. "The addition of this instructional studio extends the Georgia Center's educational resources to the citizens of the state in new and meaningful ways," said Simpson. "No longer will any of the state's citizens be denied access to the programs of the Center by an accident of geography!"
The Electronic Classroom
Room H design permits operation by a presenter or by an operator from an adjacent control room, or through combinations thereof. With a fairly typical electronic classroom design, Room H has special features that permit it to send and receive signals from anywhere in the Center's meeting or production spaces, from the University Campus Cable System, to or from the Center's C-band Uplink, and, of course, to the state's GSAMS network.
Instructors have the option of using a variety of support materials that, through video presentation, can provide "front row" seating to each participant in the room or at an extended site. Options include videotape, slides, overheads, printed materials, an "electronic blackboard," and computer-generated materials. Live shots of the professor and/or students in the studio can also be incorporated into presentations and classroom sessions.
The room has seen heavy use since it officially came into operation this past summer. It has been booked on a regular basis for the production of instructional videotapes, administrative meetings, extended class instruction, staff and faculty training, and as an "enriched" presentation venue.
A project recently finalized through the facility was the videotaping of a complete instruction sequence in history for an independent study course. The professor employed visuals more extensively than is possible in a traditional classroom.
The staff of the Center's Division of Communication Services is working with UGA's Office of Instructional Development to plan a sequence of orientation sessions for University faculty in the room as an introduction to the distance-education experience.
Distance Education for the Future
Since the State of Georgia has made a significant investment in infrastructure during the last two years, more and more electronic outreach opportunities will be possible for the member institutions of the University System of Georgia. The state will have in place more than 2,000 downlink sites that will receive information and educational activities from the state-owned transponder on a new TelStar IV satellite. The 220 two-way video sites mentioned above will comprise the GSAMS network. When comprehensive planning is complete for the coordinated efforts to maximize this potential, faculty members at The University of Georgia and other institutions will be regularly called on to share their courses with locations throughout the state.
Jerry L. Hargis, associate director for communication services at the Georgia Center, has been named as the staff resource for the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia to assist in the work of the committee charged with development of a state plan for the system's interface with these new technologies. Hargis was responsible for the development, construction, programming and operation of the Oklahoma Televised Instruction System, the nation's first state-owned and state-operated system of televised instruction in the early 1970s.
For More Information
Individuals desiring more information or technical specifications of the instructional studio may contact Jerry L. Hargis (hargisj@gactr.uga.edu) or James F. Shehane (shehanej@gactr.uga.edu), Division of Communication Services, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3603, 706-542-1226.
These pages and their contents copyright 1995 University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. All rights reserved.
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