The seven-story building incorporates a unique centralized audio-visual (A/V) and classroom control system that encourages interactive discussions and gives professors access to the latest technology with minimal hands-on involvement. Widespread Internet access facilitates Web-based legal research conducted by both students and faculty.

Located in the heart of downtown Boston where land is at a premium, Sargent Hall was constructed as a vertical campus. The first four levels house the school's 18 classrooms, 12 meeting rooms, seven computer labs, three moot courtrooms, and administrative offices, with the law library occupying the top three floors.

Although students are not required to arrive on campus with a laptop, the majority do. More than 3,000 data ports throughout the building accommodate them--at every classroom desk, in every library study carrel, even adjacent to easy chairs in the lounge areas. Computer labs with approximately 300 Pentium II PCs offer access to the law school's network, the Internet, and the two most commonly used legal databases, Westlaw and Lexis.

Centralizing the Technology

"Ironically, one way to give faculty access to the most advanced technology is to actually remove the technology from their hands," says Midge Wilcke, director of University Media and Creative Services. "To do this, we integrated access to the technology throughout the building with the source and control equipment housed in centralized locations that are controlled by the Media Services department. This gives professors access to the capabilities of the latest technology in a very intuitive, transparent way."

Key to Suffolk's technology vision is a centralized integrated media retrieval system that includes high-tech, high-touch teacher stations, which virtually eliminate a professor's need to physically interact with the A/V equipment. The stations, and all other A/V components, are linked to the centralized system by hardware and software customized for Suffolk by AMX Corporation. The customized software controls the teacher station and all other elements of Sargent Hall's educational technology system.

"AMX has worked with other customers to create similar central systems that are known in the industry by the brand name Synergy," says Wilcke. "We decided to change the name of our system to 'Res Nova,' a legal term that means a new matter or something not yet ruled upon by the courts--a play on words our faculty have really enjoyed."

Mission Control

Sargent Hall has four head ends that serve as "mission control" centers for the building's technology. The primary head end, located in the Media Services Department, houses the majority of the equipment used to receive, send, or record programming and can control every installed space in the building. Three mini head ends, in the library, the collaborative classroom, and the moot courtroom, provide individual control over their respective areas but can also be controlled by the head end in Media Services.

Each classroom has a teacher station with a Pentium III PC and wireless mouse, LAN and Internet access, and an interface for a laptop computer. The classrooms also have a video/data projector, document camera, electric screen, sound system, hearing assistance (where required by ADA regulations), and window shade control.

All the technology at the station is controlled through a touch panel, which has a 15" flat screen that includes a "confidence monitor" built into the middle of the screen. Similar to a "picture-in-picture" feature on a television set, the confidence monitor allows professors to see the same image that the class is viewing, without having to turn their backs to the students.

The cost for educational technology within the new facility, including all A/V equipment, software, and cabling that connects the equipment, was nearly $3 million. The A/V equipment includes 10 VHS decks, 18 cassette decks (allowing for simultaneous taping in every classroom), and three video-conferencing units or Codecs (which refers to the equipment's ability to Compress and Decompress the video signal). One Codec is installed in the main head end, which allows for distance learning to and from any classroom. A portable unit serves the conference areas, and the third device supports the collaborative learning classroom.

From Sneaker-Net to High-Tech

Sargent Hall's new technology capabilities effectively brought an end to what Media Services used to call its "sneaker-net." According to Wilcke, in the past, the sneaker-net team would respond to professors' requests for presentation support by running down the hall with carts filled with VCRs, monitors, microphones, overhead projectors, or whatever else was needed.

"We still meet these special requests from professors, but now we do it by logging that request into our central system," says Wilcke.

For example, if a professor wants to show a tape on torts during his Friday morning class, before the class he gives it to Media Services, which programs the tape and time needed into the central system. Back in the classroom, when the professor wants to run the tape, he simply pushes the play button on the teacher station at his desk. With one touch, a projector screen comes down, the window shades close, the lights dim, and the video begins to play.

The central system also gives Suffolk's faculty many new capabilities--including the ability to use Microsoft PowerPoint on a regular basis. Instructors can create presentations in their office, post them to the server, and access them through the PC in the teacher station. A survey of professors conducted two semesters after occupancy confirmed that nearly half of the respondents were using the presentation software, and approximately one-third were regularly accessing databases, the World Wide Web, and the media retrieval system for playing videos and taping classroom activities.

"A year before, not a single faculty member was using PowerPoint or the Internet because there was no ability to do so," Wilcke says.

Preparing for Technology

Suffolk faculty played an active role in decisions on the use of technology within the new building. Prior to construction, faculty members and representatives from Media Services worked together on the Technology and Legal Education Committee to review the set-up in other law schools, raise overall faculty awareness of the project, and draft a technology implementation plan.

"Our faculty members really served as our voice for the acquisition of technology," says Wilcke. "This was an extremely helpful way to convince the administration that the new technology was necessary and not just something that our department wanted. We went to great lengths to make sure that each and every acquisition would serve a useful purpose."

When the project started, the University did not have a facilities management group so Media Services was responsible for working with the faculty and outside vendors on decision-making and implementation of the technology elements for Sargent Hall.

"Since our department was brought into the building process at the very beginning of the project, we were also able to contribute to decisions regarding physical subsystems, issues like ceiling heights to allow for ceiling-mounted video projectors and locations for equipment closets," says Wilcke. "This was very helpful since it is often impossible, or extremely costly, to add technology elements after construction."

Technology Within the Classrooms

While each of Sargent Hall's 18 classrooms has the capability to offer distance learning with cameras and video-conferencing equipment, only one is dedicated to collaborative learning, which Wilcke describes as a sophisticated iteration of distance learning.

"Distance learning gives our faculty the ability to access experts through video-conferencing technology, but collaborative learning gives our faculty and students the ability to truly interact with these experts," says Wilcke.

Among the features in the 60-seat collaborative learning classroom are 30 push-to-talk microphones positioned among the desks, three broadcast-quality cameras, and complex A/V, acoustical, and lighting controls that allow for two-way interaction during video-conferencing. While the equipment could be operated by the faculty, it is typically supported by a technician from Media Services because it represents a new way of teaching.

"A few months after Sargent Hall opened, our collaborative learning classroom was put to the test and performed beyond our expectations," says Wilcke. "A highly respected professor from the University of Southern California lectured via video-conferencing regarding his report on a recent landmark case. Thanks to the two-way video capabilities within the room, he was also able to respond instantly to our students' questions. The students fully understood the value of having direct contact with the lead attorney in this situation. Since that time, we have hosted numerous lectures with legal experts throughout the country."

High-Tech Moot Courtrooms

Suffolk's three moot courtrooms are considered to be among the most technologically advanced in Massachusetts, with the result that they are occasionally used for real trials and proceedings. Technology in the large courtroom includes six broadcast-quality cameras that can be controlled from the judge's bench, or by the head ends in the moot courtroom or Media Services.

The plaintiff and defendant tables, judges' benches, and bailiffs' boxes are wired for Internet and multimedia access. Flat panel plasma monitors allow the gallery the opportunity to see the proceedings from the judge's perspective. In addition, the courtrooms are equipped to handle distance depositions through ISDN lines, and mock trials and jury deliberations can be videotaped as well.

Lessons Learned

According to Wilcke, introducing new technology to faculty is much easier if there is good collaboration from the onset of the project. Media services and facilities planning groups should also be involved early to ensure that the infrastructure supports technology.

It is also important to define common goals. One of the tactics that worked for her department was the creation of a metaphor to describe the role of technology in the classroom, which she refers to as the Pedagogical Square.

"The four corners, which balance the square, include the traditional elements of learning: the faculty and students," she says. "The other two corners are information technology--anything related to computers and MIS--and educational technology or audio-visual technology. This was extremely helpful because we wanted to show our faculty that all four areas could converge in theory and that it could also happen in practice within the new facility."

Wilcke also stresses that every classroom should be outfitted with the same capabilities, even if it means eliminating some technology features. The uniformity not only simplifies scheduling but also assures faculty that they will not have to learn--or prepare for--different equipment configurations.

Finally, she points out that during Sargent Hall planning the focus stayed on making the technology scalable, integrated, transparent, and intuitive, factors that have been instrumental in its success.

"The pedagogical shift happened because of the building," she says. "We created a space where people could walk in and teach easily in a different style, without being technologists. Sargent Hall combines the best faculty with the most sophisticated technology to create a new pedagogical style for legal education in the 21st century."

By Amy Cammell