This fall, UC Riverside welcomed 26,000 new and returning students back to campus. In preparation for the quarter, ITS worked with the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, and The Office of the Registrar to upgrade the technology in several highly utilized campus spaces.
This initiative is in line with RISE: Generation Zoom, one of UCR’s Digital Transformation projects. With the help and support of ITS’ key campus partners, five new rooms have been equipped with the latest Zoom Rooms technology.
Earlier this year, ITS launched a pilot program for RISE: Generation Zoom, which endeavored to update more than 25 spaces on campus, including a boardroom in the UCR Palm Desert Center. ITS also collaborated with Facilities Services to update Hinderaker B154, a high-profile conference room often utilized by campus leadership.
Aside from these, newly built spaces on campus, such as the problem-based learning (PBL) rooms in the new School of Medicine Education Building II, are provisioned with core Zoom Room functions. These include wireless content sharing, people-tracking cameras, and digital signage.
These technological advancements enable the University to meet the demand for flexible working and learning environments. For this reason, more spaces on campus are being upgraded and turned into Zoom Rooms.
The College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) is ITS’ pilot partner for RISE: Generation Zoom. Part of the pilot program is INTN 3023, a room managed by the CHASS Dean’s Office. It was transformed into a Zoom Room, equipped with new hardware and features such as wireless content sharing, people-tracking cameras, and a digital whiteboard.
Currently, CHASS INTN 3023 is being used for another pilot program that focuses on technology-assisted teaching methods. The pilot involves a cohort of graduate student instructors who participated in the 2022 summer residency program at the National Humanities Center (NHC), "Meaningful Teaching and Learning in the Humanities Classroom."
During the residency, students focused on matching pedagogical best practices with new instructional technologies to develop effective strategies that bridge in-person, virtual, and hybrid classroom modalities. Back on campus, they joined the CHASS INTN 3023 pilot program to translate what they learned in the NHC program for the Zoom Room classrooms, experimenting with the technology and devising effective ways to utilize it for teaching.
The pilot program also provides a way for ITS to learn which Zoom Room features are most beneficial to faculty and students and which ones need improvement. In turn, this will help us develop the features that we’ll roll out to the rest of campus, as ITS works to upgrade general assignment classrooms and other department-owned rooms.
In partnership with the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), ITS upgraded Genomics 1102 to function as a Zoom Room. Modernizing the room’s technology was vital, as it serves multiple purposes not only for CNAS, but also the campus at large.
“It is important to acknowledge the many ways in which we communicate today and [to] capitalize on the technology available. The upgrades in Genomics 1102 foster more versatile interaction and audience participation. [They also] improved noise reduction and [the] speaker’s [audio], and [enhanced the] ease of use for presentations. This seamless experience enhances guest speakers’ time with us, [as well as] student learning and faculty involvement,” said Sabrina Schuster, CNAS Facilities Liaison.
Highlanders conducting classes, meetings, or events in Genomics 1102 now have the ability to wirelessly share content from any device through the Zoom application. This ensures presentations are seamless and eliminates the need for physical wires and adapters, which can cause connectivity issues and delays.
Cameras, speakers, and microphones were upgraded and strategically placed around the room to capture both the speaker and the participants. Coupled with the ease of bringing in remote participants via Zoom, Genomics 1102 is now well-equipped to host hybrid meetings.
Since upgrading the room’s features, the demand for Genomics 1102 has increased. Attendance on the events held in the room also spiked, CNAS Facilities Liaison Sabrina Schuster shared.
In preparation for the fall quarter, ITS worked with The Office of the Registrar to update the technology in three general assignment classrooms. Sproul 1358, Sproul 2344, and Humanities and Social Sciences 1502 are all equipped with the latest Zoom Rooms technology.
Most notably, instructors can now wirelessly project their lectures using the Zoom application and utilize the digital whiteboard available. The general assignment classrooms also support remote and hybrid learning.
To learn more about Zoom Rooms and the RISE: Generation Zoom initiative, get in touch with the ITS Multimedia & Classroom Technology team via email at multimedia@ucr.edu. You may also contact the team to request a Zoom Room demo and training, or an upgrade for a classroom or conference room.