Prior to their Aug. 23 meeting at Normal Community West High School, members of Normal-based Unit 5 School Board and District Superintendent Dr. Mark Daniel were given a chance to have a classroom experience not many students, teachers, or administrators have an opportunity to encounter regularly. They sat in Room 223 and got a first-hand opportunity to experience being in a virtual classroom.
In this room, there are two large viewing screens which 30 students face and a large one located behind them which a teacher can use to continue conducting a session without having to look over their shoulder.
The room was set up by Normal-based zdi, an audio-visual company. The equipment needed in the room is set up for a two-way hook-up so that someone off Normal West premises and class members can interact. All that takes is a computer with a microphone and an iPhone. Cameras mounted on the room’s walls follow the room so that they can instantly pick up on a student or teacher speaking. A camera in the back of the room is trained on the instructor.
The demonstration Daniel and Board members sat in on involved interacting with Aaron McArdle, chief executive officer of zdi. He was in his van driving to a location in town when the demo began but parked so he could carry on a conversation with the group. That, in itself, was the point of the demonstration — that teachers could bring experts into the classroom to kids directly using this technology.
Facial recognition technology in the room picks up on how many people are in the room, explained Christine Street, an account executive with zdi. Street stood at the front of the class, as a teacher might, during the demonstration.
Unit 5 spent roughly $750,000 on the technology, Street said. Teachers applied for licenses with zdi which allows them to conduct meetings. Some 900 licenses were applied for and obtained, with each teacher being able to use their own personal logon to enter the system.
The money used for the purchase came from what money remained from the district’s $96.7 million fund used to construct Cedar Ridge Elementary School and Benjamin Elementary School, and George L. Evans Junior High School, Daniel said. Voters in 2008 approved a referendum for construction of those schools.
Daniel said because of the capability this system provides, school administrators will be able to save travel time to and from certain large group meetings. They can now hook in and be present from their own office when needed. “More experts will come talk to these kids because of this,” Street told Board members.
Board Member Barry Hitchins mentioned to the gathering he’d like to see the school keep track of how much use the equipment gets – that is, how often teachers and administrators book the room. Daniel explained Normal West’s administrative staff has responsibility for bookings.
This appears to be the latest way to bring the real world kids will soon inherit into their lives. They are clearly exposed to technological advances which means this sort of communication can only increase their desire for knowledge. Getting it this way appears to add to that.