How can future-facing classrooms enable next-generation learning experiences? At least part of the answer could lie in ensuring that students have options for spending less time physically in a classroom, while giving them more time to explore career-related opportunities or discover the many rich experiential learning prospects available in a metropolitan area like Atlanta.
So, how can classrooms and teaching methods evolve to best support this? Robinson College of Business and Instructional Innovation and Technology recently held a Technology Showcase highlighting trends in simulcast to discuss and explore these issues. Simulcast classrooms allow a combination of students to simultaneously attend class in-person and remotely with comparable real-time interaction using tools like video conferencing, multiple in-room screens and engagement methods that encourage discussion between virtual and in-person participants. Simulcast allows for a hybrid attendance model that can expand student access to courses and provide students choices for adapting how they learn depending on changing circumstances.
The Technology Showcase modeled simulcast classroom technology prototypes and best practices and included sessions on topics such as available classroom technology, assessment tools, and student engagement activities across teaching modalities. Faculty who are currently teaching using simulcast offered insights on their experiences, while technologists gathered information on what faculty see as important aspects of next-generation classrooms to support new learning models.
Among other uses, Robinson College of Business uses simulcast to offer select graduate programs through tools such as Robinson Anywhere and members of their faculty also participate in a pilot study led by IIT that is exploring use of simulcast at the university.