Classroom Technology Services is in the process of updating equipment in classrooms and hopes to have brand new equipment in all buildings by the end of summer.
CTS has installed new projectors, touch panels, control systems and other Extron Electronics technology equipment in nearly 100 classrooms in buildings such as the Education Building and East, Olscamp and Hayes halls, said Jodi Barnes, technology support specialist.
The new Extron equipment is an improvement because the touch screen panels are more user friendly for teachers than the old 12-button panel that Crestron Electronics used, she said. The new equipment also features a more advanced projector that filters itself, has a better lens shifter for focus and zoom and has a longer lasting lamp — about 5,000 hours, compared to 1,200 hours for the old projectors.
“We didn’t have a very big problem getting [the new Extron system] because everyone was very gung-ho on getting it in there,” Barnes said. “But budget is always a big thing. Another reason we didn’t get new computers — we had to skip a year or two — is because we had to pull that money to put this stuff in.”
The new equipment cost about $9,000 per room, which was about as much as CTS paid for the old system, she said. CTS also reused the same Dell computers from the old system, which saved on costs.
Overall the feedback has been very positive on the new technology, Barnes said. The only complaint she has heard addresses VCRs and DVD players not being available anymore.
“Now they just have to use the computer,” she said. “We can barely buy them anymore; they’re going out. So it was kind of rip the Band-Aid off. Other than that it’s been very positive.”
The biggest issue CTS has had with the new equipment is the new switcher, which has all of the video and audio inputs, Barnes said. Some glitches are expected with the new switcher, but other than that, it is an improvement from the old system.
CTS offers training sessions and instructions for instructors who aren’t as tech savvy, according to its website. Training services are offered at any time and instructors can set up a time at 118 Olscamp, the CTS distribution office.
CTS has a rack of the classroom equipment set up in the office. Instructors can train on the old system or the new system, Barnes said.
“Training on this new setup is so much easier,” she said. “People walk in and we don’t even go through a class, we just say ‘go ahead and make it work.’ They just start pushing buttons and they find within five minutes they’re like, ‘This is so easy.’”
There is also a step-by-step instruction manual available the CTS website.
Some professors and instructors take advantage of the training CTS offers but would still like to see more, Barnes said.
One instructor who has trained with the new system is James Bachman.
Bachman, who has taught criminal justice classes at the University for 16 years, describes himself as a “novice” with technology.
“I’m a guy who is 75 years old, so I have not grown up with the fancy gadgets that [younger people] have grown up with,” Bachman said. “Trying to figure these new gadgets out, sometimes is very, very trying. [The CTS] staff [is] excellent help. They gave me good instructions several times as I tried to work my way through it.”
Bachman said he spent a couple Sundays practicing on the new system before using it in the classroom.
“What I like about it is that it’s so much simpler than the system we had before,” he said. “Less buttons to push, less instructions to follow, so I really like it.”
Even though he is not the greatest with technology, Bachman said he still understands its importance.
“If you don’t keep learning, you just fall farther and farther behind,” he said. “Each of us got to try and keep up with the technology the best we can.”
