Digitalization of Teaching Venues
Starting from 2013/14, teaching venues on the Main Campus are being remodeled gradually using a new A/V setup based on digital A/V technologies and intelligent control systems. Besides quite a few medium-sized and small classrooms, most Lecture Theatres on Main Campus have been revamped, including:
| LT-A |
LT-B |
LT-D |
LT-E |
| LT-F |
LT-H |
LT-K |
These venues are equipped with:
- 3 High-Definition (HD) projectors that can simultaneously display different video sources (LT-K will be upgraded to 3-projector setup in the next round)
- multiple projection sources including: Lectern PC, Notebook (HDMI/VGA), HD Visualizer, Blu-ray/DVD Player, AUX (HMDI / Composite Video / iPad Mirroring)
In addition, we have introduced the following new functions during the summer:
- "Freeze-Display" function for instructor to freeze the video output whenever there is a pedagogical need
- "Inter-Lecture-Theater Live Casting" function for broadcasting video signal in multiple Lecture Theatres concurrently during special events such as Congregation, etc.
We will continue to revamp the remaining LT-C, LT-G and LT-J in the coming year.
Personal Wireless Microphone for Teaching
Currently, the wireless microphone used in central teaching venues is either on loan from ITSC Service Desk (Main Campus), or placed in the teaching venues for shared use (LSK Campus). Many users find such arrangements less than ideal.
The wireless microphones on loan are tuned to specific frequencies to avoid interferences between neighboring venues. As such, instructors teaching in multiple venues will have to borrow multiple wireless microphones from ITSC and remember to bring the right one to the right place. For venues with shared wireless microphones, there is a common risk that the wireless microphone might be accidentally taken away by a previous user of the venue.
Thanks to advances in digital A/V technologies, more intelligent solutions are becoming possible. We are working on a Personal Wireless Microphone Scheme that provides each instructor one personal wireless microphone that can be easily tuned to work in any centrally managed teaching venues. While the instructor will need to learn some simple procedure to perform this tuning, we believe many may still prefer the flexibility of this new scheme.
Right now we are still in the very early stage. We are now working on a pilot trial with some "pioneering" faculty members who are tolerant of possible teething issues. We hope this effort can help simplify the use as well as improve reliability of wireless microphones in teaching venues in the long run. |
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| New Design of Control Panel |
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| High Definition Visualizer |
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| Use of Multiple Visualizer for Lively Illustration |
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