"The time of our faculty and students is our most precious resource," says Deirdre Dow-Chase, administrative officer for the Center for Advanced Educational Services (CAES) at MIT. "As we move from the text-based classroom into interactive multimedia, our facilities can help us use that time in a smarter way."

New Learning Environments

MIT's first response to TEE was the remodel of the Triad, an underutilized lecture hall built in the 1960s. In the fall of 1997 the University spent $2.5 million (including $950,000 for the audio/visual package) to refurbish this steeply-tiered amphitheater. Two new rooms were carved out of the air space of the original 36'-high ceiling to yield 63 percent more usable space.

The resulting 2,900 sf is now split between two levels, both dedicated to supporting new teaching models spawned by high-tech capabilities like high-capacity network connections and broadcast-quality video production.

The first floor, the Linc, is a 40-seat, four-tiered amphitheater designed for on-site and distance learning. With 200 network outlets throughout the facility, every seat in the Linc has its own data port. Under CAES direction, any discipline on campus may rent the Linc as long as the technology is utilized effectively.

Upstairs are two new rooms, the Stephen P. Kaufman Family Classroom for Instruction in Teaching and the Ford Virtual Design Studio.

Created to help MIT faculty and teaching assistants refine their teaching styles, Kaufman is a 24-seat videotaping studio/classroom. Multiple cameras and microphones capture classroom dynamics accurately and realistically, generating tapes that can later be reviewed with a professional teaching consultant. As part of MIT's Teaching and Learning Laboratory, the classroom can also be utilized for teaching-related workshops and master classes, as well as distance-learning instruction.

The highly-networked, computer-intensive Ford classroom has been outfitted to serve as a versatile collaborative laboratory with the Ford Motor Company, primarily in the area of engineering design. The studio is equipped with room and desktop video-conferencing technologies in support of virtual engineering and education. Unitstrut grid lighting, projectors on wheels, and cameras on tripods or mounted on video projectors give the studio great flexibility. While its potential as a design facility has not yet been fully tapped, the space has proven ideal for video-conference meetings.

The high-tech equipment in all three classrooms can be operated from either of two control rooms also sandwiched into the building as part of the renovation. In this way, the Triad's classrooms are fully outfitted with the capability for slides, overheads, videos, student monitors, queuing systems, and audio feeds.

"We have 64 sources that can be input into any of the devices," says Dow-Chase. "Hopefully we can handle any request that faculty members throw at us."

Revolutionary Master Hub

The success of the Triad generated demand for a continued roll-out of TEE throughout the MIT campus. This proposition, however, posed a variety of "scale-up" challenges. With renovation costs for the Triad reaching $800/sf, comparable spending at 14 additional locations would be difficult to sustain.

"When we looked at upgrading classroom 1-390 for distance education, it would have cost $300,000 just to enlarge the existing projection booth at the back of the room," comments Larry Gallagher, director of MIT Video Productions.

Available classroom space for additional control rooms also became a pressing issue, as on-site facilities would have replaced valuable seating. Another concern was the desire to maximize the productivity of expensive capital resources, including video switchers, codecs, and recording equipment.

In 2000, with the assistance of Waveguide Consulting of Decatur, Ga., MIT implemented a central control hub to facilitate campus-wide access to TEE. Waveguide provided MIT not only with the do's and don'ts of classroom design; it also created the A/V design which enabled MIT to control all classroom technology required for distance learning from one remote master site.

"The master hub, which we located in our Building 9, has enabled us to overcome a major obstacle to growth: as we renovate new classroom spaces throughout campus, we no longer need to determine contiguous space for corresponding control rooms," says Gallagher.

Classroom 1-390, a 1,382-sf room with a 76-student seating capacity, is the first room tied into this central hub. Employing e-control technology from Crestron Electronics, technicians located in Building 9 one-third of a mile away can manipulate the equipment in the classroom as easily as the professor can. The Crestron system can be managed over a simple Web browser. However, in order to create a secure system MIT installed a dedicated optical fiber for the transmission of all video, audio, and control signals.

"With one Crestron TPS-5000 panel on the podium and a redundant one in Building 9's control room, we can manipulate and troubleshoot technology--including two SXGA projectors, multiple auto-tracking cameras, various A/V presentation technologies, and a three-chip document camera--from a remote site. Technicians in the master hub can also provide direct assistance to professors, even adjusting light levels and computer displays," Gallagher comments.

One central router, or brain, and one control pod are currently in place. During the summer of 2001 MIT will populate the router with two additional classrooms and build two more control pods. Ultimately, in addition to the on-site facilities at the Triad, MIT envisions 15 classrooms with TEE capabilities, supported by just nine control pods.

"The only limitation is that this set-up will allow us to deliver only nine distance learning courses simultaneously," Gallagher notes.

Technology Bets

One of the challenges of the shift to TEE is that technology itself is a moving target, constantly subject to modification and improvement. From the beginning, MIT invested in cutting-edge broadband capabilities.

Broadband transmission, which carries multiple signals simultaneously, allows MIT to deliver the rich digital content of streaming media. Instead of the significant time delays inherent in downloading large files to hard drives, streaming media loads files into a memory buffer and audio and video segments play as they arrive, with minimal delay.

"Flexibility remains the key," notes Dow-Chase. "Rather than plan within the limitations of today's technology, bandwidth will have to catch up with us. We are betting the house on broadband streaming media."

The backbone of the MIT system is its 100-megabyte dedicated connection to Internet II, an experimental, high-speed network formed in 1996 by a consortium of universities to bypass the congestion of regular Internet servers. Use of Internet II is restricted to scientific and educational purposes, affording MIT the ability to push its streaming media efficiently.

Customized broadcast-quality imaging is another MIT essential. Not content with basic cameras, PowerPoint slides reinforced with voice-overs, "talking heads," or telephone-line distribution of images typical of TEE programs, MIT is dedicated to maintaining production quality in line with its pedagogical reputation.

As Dow-Chase remarks, "We have the best faculty, and we want to give them the tools and delivery mechanisms to enable them to teach most effectively."

Programs and Faculty Response

Unlike its newly-announced OpenCourse Ware program, which will make materials for more than 2,000 classes across the entire MIT curriculum freely available over the Internet, MIT's distance learning degree programs are not designed for mass consumption. Five professional masters degree programs are now offered in partnership with two universities in Singapore, with an additional rollout planned with Cambridge University in England.

Singapore's 12-hour time difference poses unique challenges and opportunities to MIT faculty and students. Courses are taught at 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. EST. Faculty post PowerPoint presentations to a designated Web site before each lecture, allowing students on both continents to download them in advance. Students can also view a digitally streamed version of the class. Quizzes and tests are posted to a secure server, which a teaching assistant then easily downloads and distributes.

The University has found that monitor location and content are critical for helping MIT professors connect with Singapore students. Located within ten feet of the professor's podium, monitors feed professors close-ups of students rather than wide shots to encourage engagement in both classrooms.

"Students don't need any training," Dow-Chase remarks. "They expect this from us. After all, they were born with VCRs. They are tolerant because they realize the benefits."

Faculty response, on the other hand, has been mixed. To assist in the adjustment process, MIT does offer training. Instructional designers, production coordinators, and Web designers conduct sessions in the professors' actual classrooms, advising them on effective use of PowerPoint and lecturing on camera.

"In general, faculty are comfortable with their own teaching styles," notes Gallagher. "They want us to adjust to their teaching styles as much as possible rather than vice-versa."

Classroom Essentials

As in the design of any set, distance learning classrooms must consider camera angles, lighting, and acoustics. Shadows and ambient noise must be eliminated to enhance quality videotaping. Push-to-talk microphones allow students in the Singapore and MIT classrooms to communicate with each other with a simple push of a button.

At MIT, lecturers can handle all classroom technology from the podium. However, they still often rely on technicians in the control rooms to handle the technology interfaces.

MIT has also incorporated e-beam technology into its classrooms. E-beam converts standard white boards into electronic ones. When MIT faculty write on these boards, they are able to capture and store the material with the push of a button. This data is then application-shared real-time via net-meeting with students in Singapore.

MIT as Model

The economies of scale achieved by MIT's central control hub have generated some interest in the system from other universities. However, both Dow-Chase and Gallagher point out that the MIT model, crafted specifically for its strategic partnerships, is not ideally suited for mass consumption.

"We have taken the Cadillac approach," reflects Gallagher, "and it isn't always recommended or necessary for everyone considering TEE."

To learn more about CAES and MIT's TEE efforts, visit the center's Web site at www.caes.mit.edu.

By Lisa Weitzman

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