NSC classroom updates offer dynamic learning environment

Transformational changes are taking shape in the Natural Sciences Complex, where cutting-edge classroom technology is serving up a learning and teaching experience unlike any other on campus.

NSC’s largest lecture halls (201 and 225), each of which seat up to 350 students, have been fully redesigned around technology that makes teaching more fluid and learning more immersive. Among the upgrades:

• A 30-foot-wide video wall displays up to two inputs at once, side-by-side, on a revolutionary backlit display visible to everyone in the room at any ambient light level.
• Microphones at every other seat provide a direct way for students — when enabled by the instructor — to ask questions or provide responses that can be heard by everyone in the room and anyone joining online.
• A chalkboard camera projects the instructor’s work at the front of the classroom to all students. It also makes it possible for instructors to share their chalkboard with students virtually on Zoom.

“These new spaces are truly dynamic learning environments, complete with the ability to display document cameras, PowerPoints, content-sharing from personal devices, etc.,” says Chris Clune, director of IT customer service, whose team oversaw the transformation. “With the faculty’s chalkboard content on the screen, it’s as if a student in the back row were at the front of the class.”

UBIT designed the latest technology enhancements in the NSC classrooms around one goal: to provide an immersive and equitable experience to every student who attends class there, whether in person or virtually.

With more powerful networks and audiovisual tools making collaboration possible in new ways, UBIT had been laying the groundwork for the teaching technology revolution for the past decade. When the pandemic hit, UBIT leveraged that groundwork to help UB faculty transition rapidly to remote teaching, all the while learning from their challenges and success stories.

Critically, faculty told UBIT that the challenges of remote teaching were not that different from teaching in large lecture halls: specifically, finding ways to engage students despite the distance — whether physical or virtual — between instructors and students.

So when it came time to update the NSC classrooms, UBIT focused on removing barriers to teaching effectively in a large room of students, while also providing flexibility for hybrid and HyFlex models of course delivery.

To Brice Bible, vice president and chief information officer, these classrooms are more than just highly effective learning and teaching environments: They’re also a powerful symbol of the potential of the UB community.

“[The 30-foot, dual displays] are showpiece installations for the university and are a key stop for prospective student tours,” Bible notes. “The reaction from those prospective students and parents is always ‘Wow — that is awesome!’ It’s really great to be able to showcase the quality education we offer here at the University at Buffalo.”

UB faculty and instructors can visit the UBIT website for detailed guides, along with step-by-step videos, that walk instructors through every aspect of teaching technology at UB, from unlocking teaching stations to incorporating live, virtual guests into in-person lectures.

UBIT also offers one-on-one, hands-on support for classroom technology. UB instructors can request a consultation online, or call 716-645-3542 (press “2” for classroom support) to schedule a session with a classroom technology expert.