NW/MET 2020

Applying design standards and user input in AV design for Distance Learning classrooms
Utah State University leads in the use of video conferencing for distance learning, and delivers to our statewide network of 600 video endpoints more than 400 hours of instruction weekly representing 40+ degree programs.
Cost savings and convenience are driving a major shift to soft codecs and web video, and while they simplify deployment and expansion of video, simple installation and budget hardware make it easy to neglect providing a quality user experience. Attention to audio, lighting, display sizes, and room environment are at least as important as ever. Standards and design considerations for traditional hardware installations can still be considered when deploying soft clients. User involvement is also crucial to designing and building spaces for teaching and learning at a distance.
We will discuss applying good design to distance learning rooms, regardless of the system. Attendees will learn from our experiences building, growing and improving a large video conferencing classroom network, and learn from our examples both good and bad. We will present our strategies for incorporating quality, and including user input and experience into our classroom design. We will introduce our classroom innovation lab which allows faculty to test and evaluate, and teach with new technologies.