need help? call the av tech squad. - visualizer document camera

Imagine a smart classroom full of projectors, PDAs and various technologies in.
At the helm is a new professor who fiddled with the controls, pressing every button on every gadget, desperately trying to get the PC to "talk" to the whiteboard ".
Some students are restless, some are surfing the Internet, or I am a friend.
After a few minutes of speculation from the professor, the multimedia device is up and running.
The video clip is playing and the notes of the note are fully visible on the screen.
The students are still following suit.
Once their ideas are linked to topics outside the classroom, it's hard to win back the crowd.
It's not necessarily the case.
Multimedia professionals-
Call them AV Tech team or campus geek if you want-
The task of multimedia teaching lecturer is being undertaken.
They can also relieve nervous nerves and troubleshoot them.
Is there a problem opening the projector?
Let the amplifier work?
Call the AV Tech team.
Their expertise is to deal with problems.
These AV support teams are sometimes responsible for academic computing by the IT department.
On other campuses, they are part of the television or multimedia department and are supervised by library staff.
To help teachers and students reach the full potential of new multimedia technologies on campus, many of these service teams are newly established.
New ways of working for Bill Anderson, chief information officer, St. Michael's College (Vt. )
After the reorganization of the IT department, the AV team was formed in January 2003.
"One of the tasks is to provide better support," he said . ".
At the same time, Anderson was used to help develop a multi-year classroom renovation plan with the ultimate goal of installing new technologies on a system-based basis.
The college has enrolled 1,900 students and currently 50% of the 90 classrooms are equipped with at least overhead machines, personal computers, DVD/video recorders, visualization tools and AV built into the podium
Part of the classroom also has interactive whiteboards.
Final plan: Three-year, $3.
Anderson explained that the 5 million program requires that the classroom be upgraded as much as possible.
AV upgrades are important to align with improved support;
Otherwise, these changes can be frustrating for teachers and employees, rather than helping them get the job done better.
The service desk of the college, previously located in the library, now also offers AV support.
As Anderson says, "threads are merged into a new it department.
"The people in this newly reorganized department were selected to become an academic support group.
At the same time, at the University of the state of orakaho about 18 months ago, Marshall Allen's multimedia support team was promoted, because the vice president of academic affairs of the institution has made a significant commitment to its Institute of excellence in teaching.
The university is investing more in the institute, which currently employs 32 professionals, from problem solving to training to producing AV lectures and presentations.
Allen said the institute's goals are multifaceted.
In addition to helping new teachers who are learning how to write basic knowledge such as curriculum outlines, it also helps more experienced educators, while improving what OSU Provost calls "technology for teaching ".
"For this, OSU will spend $400,000 this summer to upgrade the designated classroom with AV equipment.
These classrooms will be connected to dozens of other smart classrooms and lecture halls on campus.
It's a huge investment, not an investment that universities want to waste, so teachers will be trained before the start of next semester.
Most of the work of the training provider AV tech team is to provide training for all types of users-
Teaching newcomers who need basic information, as well as experienced professionals who need to keep up with software changes.
Anderson said St. Michael imitated the project after the University of Arizona laptop seminar.
"Every summer, we hold a one-week technical teaching seminar.
The show focuses on different aspects of AV every day.
One day may be about building a web page, and another day may focus on Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation software.
Over the weekend, each participating faculty member gave a presentation on how to use multimedia technology to enhance upcoming course materials.
"We gave them a lot of good food," Anderson said . " He explained that the allowance given to the faculty was the driving force for them to come to the campus a week in advance to attend. (
The most recent rewards are digital cameras and images.
Processing software. )
Each workshop can accommodate 12 participants and so far 50 of the 150 faculty members of the college have participated in this training.
Team of Phoenix Academy (Ariz. )
Focus more on one-to-
Conduct a training in your own demo studio.
Media Service director Mike fusilk rented technical equipment from the supplier, who filled a training area with the same equipment used in most classrooms of the community college.
The studio is equipped with Hitachi projectors, Elmo document cameras and visualization tools, a variety of computers and DVD/VCR players.
The Ml is connected to the Extron control panel so that the trained faculty and staff can turn the device on and off and play Program media broadcasts from the touch screen.
The silk discovery demo studio is the best way to teach teachers, as there is no need to schedule the training time for the classrooms used at different times of the day.
The demo studio is open 70 hours a week and the staff are always there to greet the faculty and staff, train them and solve the problem.
"Part of the problem with training in the past was part-time teachers.
They are on the road and have no time to learn how to use these devices.
"They may be willing to come early, but usually others will use their classrooms," Poplin said . ".
The new teacher received information about the demo lab at the department meeting held at the beginning of the school year.
"Someone in the staff may be asked to quickly describe the lab," he added . ".
Team of Drew University (N. J. )
Provide three types of training-
One is a teacher, the other is a staff member, and the third is 2,500 students.
Richard lank, director of teaching technology services, said since 2004 that structured workshops and forums are the cornerstone of this effort.
Frank brings some content to the training and support program he helped create at East Tennessee State University.
There he taught and motivated faculty members to use AV technology and documented his best practices in EDUCAUSE's white paper. (
The organization's website includes "360-
"Degree support services in multimedia classrooms ". )
The key components of Ranker's project at Drew are: * building "ownership" of faculty through forums, open days and surveys ".
* Build a user-centric smart classroom.
* Train all users and follow up on extended courses.
* Provide support.
* Get feedback-
Online in person.
* Notify users at any time.
Ranker constantly monitors the success of the program and even conducts regular data mining of the software programs used by the Drew service desk.
He reviewed the type of calls received.
In this way, he can always understand the problems that multimedia users often encounter.
"We also use this process to help identify the equipment that needs to be replaced and to decide which classrooms to work in next," he said . ".
Nancy Whitehouse, technical coordinator of courses at the University of Southern Maine-
About 10 years ago, Auburn began to help teachers and managers learn technical skills.
"Then the biggest thing is to use email
"Mailing and making distribution lists," she recalls . ".
"It took me 90% of my time to teach to make attachments.
"Everyone has gone a long way.
A recent assignment at the White House is to teach nursing students how to use PDAs.
Her Campus is small, one of the newer campuses in the Maine System, with 24 full campuses
Time faculty and 40 teaching assistants.
The size of the White House makes it a bit informal in training.
It also forced her to learn about a variety of projects and systems.
She handles everything from instructing novice Microsoft PowerPoint users on how to create slide shows, classroom AV settings, to website design on Macromedia's Dreamweaver software.
She also teaches teachers how to use Blackboard's learning management system, which includes modules for publishing lectures, grades, and multimedia presentations.
"When people start working, they are very anxious at times.
It's not work to eliminate fear, "she said.
Given her years of experience, she is not worried about the faculty of technical fear.
Very few faculty members are completely resistant to change, she said.
Not only does she work slowly to introduce new technologies to users in simple steps, but she also shows them what their colleagues are doing to handle temporary users. "I'll say, 'So-and-
"So use the blackboard in your department, maybe you want to do something like release the syllabus," she explains . ".
Once this is mastered, she will move them to another step, such as using a discussion board instead of a separate email
Student's mail.
After a while, teachers don't need much urging to see the benefits of using various technologies.
Her duties also include training students.
She came to class occasionally at the request of the lecturer.
Other technical training is completed at one time. on-
It's one for those who come with specific questions.
Immediate response from Frankthe-
Work observation and advanced education research have led him to several conclusions about the need to successfully implement the support program.
Appropriate funding for the completion of this work is necessary.
The other is to have clear authority and responsibility.
Whether the program is stored in the IT, academic computing, or separate AV areas, those responsible must know what they should do and who they should report.
The person they serve must also know who is responsible for what, so that they can turn to the right person when they need help.
At drew, professors and students can contact Lanke's department by phone installed in each classroom.
The on-call assistant responds immediately.
Anderson responded that the AV technical team needs to have clear priorities to be efficient.
At St. Michael, if possible, phone calls for teachers and students to use classrooms, labs and IT networks will be resolved in a matter of minutes.
Almost all other calls are on the same-
Daily service basis.
He explained that the latter type of call may include requests to help prepare multimedia presentations for future lectures.
Drew's classroom is equipped with Crestron's room landscape monitoring system.
The system can show AV technicians the machines and peripherals used in various classrooms.
It can also show the service desk if the machine is on or if the bulb in the projector needs to be replaced.
Technicians can even turn the machine on and off remotely, saving time and labor.
This connection will only help you so much, Frank admits.
The remote help screen can basically display the machine in use.
One day, the webcam trained on the projector screen will also show the assistant what is used in class.
This view will help determine if there is a problem, say, on the PC of the projector--
Or by the quality of the slides prepared by the professor.
However, Ranker added that faculty members were concerned about such visits.
There must be controls, he said, and only when there is a problem can the AV technical team peep.
The best candidate for the AV technical team usually consists of several complete people
Time-focused professionals.
Some handle the additional duties of classroom design and equipment upgrade.
Student workers are part, but not all, of many teams.
Anderson believes that of all the skills required to provide AV support, the most important thing is to have a customer service attitude.
In the past, employees in the IT department were known for "providing" services.
They act like they're protecting the IT department, not working for the benefit of the end user.
Some technical knowledge is helpful but not necessary.
St. Michael's team includes several professionals and student workers.
While some students are IT majors, some are from French literature and others that are far away from technology.
She said he hired the best people in relationships.
His community college, which enrolled 25,000 students, is part of the larger system of the Maricopa Community College (Ariz. ).
The team of the silk deal with many different people in a given week-
Many are new to AV and technology.
"This is beyond the scope of pushing the TV into the classroom," he added . ".
Therefore, he needs staff who can reduce the frustration of teaching without responding or dealing with things in person.
"On one occasion, I took an emergency call and found that the device was not plugged in," she recalled . ".
The professor may be modest about the situation.
"Instead, he said, 'You are lucky, it's the only thing wrong. '.
He was reluctant to hire student workers for these reasons.
"They may know how to use computers, but they don't always know how to interact with teachers.
"AV technical tips * Post emergency help numbers in each classroom.
Thunder State University has set up a branch in the AV support center, which is provided by trained employees and students.
* Provide ongoing workshops such as a seminar at the University of Southern Maine in LeighonAuburn.
Nancy Whitehouse provides guidance on various programs and AV settings at the beginning of each semester.
If a professor or a team wants some extra training, she can provide it soon.
Sometimes she is asked to come to class and teach students how to use software programs and run projectors.
Those who want to check out her instructions can find the tutorial online.
* Include podcasts in the technical overview.
There are now thousands of these MP3 files available.
Suppliers, including Apple and Sonic Foundry, are helping to classify existing products.
"Faculty members who want to create podcasts need the appropriate mouse and settings to play clearly," said Brian vandiville, network demonstration technology coordinator at Kansas State University . ".
Many teachers have taken the technology one step forward by creating dynamic podcasts including slides and video clips.
This means that teachers and students must understand the basic MP3 player and the functions of each player.
Vandiviere pointed out that a simple playback device will not be able to accommodate graphics.
* Also includes webcast.
Standard smart classrooms now include projectors, laptops, PCs, DVD/VCR and visualization tools, says Richard Lanke, director of teaching technology services at Drew University, the next wave of fully equipped classrooms will allow any professor to "capture" the materials that are played online (N. J. ).
Resources AMX, www. amx.
Com Crestron, www. crestron.
Com EDUCAUSE, www. educause.
The Edu is normal, www. extron.