SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island has the most high-tech classrooms in New England, after 67 classrooms received digital media technology upgrades, the university announced last month.
The technology upgrades cost $2.4 million, pooled from federal, state and university sources, including a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, $1.2 million from URI’s budget and $700,000 from a state technology grant.
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The high-end tech rooms include audience response systems designed to increase student engagement, baseline student understanding and allow anonymous responses to sensitive questions.
Six of the new rooms include ceiling and wall-mounted cameras that have the ability to automatically film an instructor to facilitate rebroadcasting.
Fifteen of the rooms have been designated as experimental learning spaces, called Next Order Multimodal Advanced Design, to allow faculty to test the instructional technology, including touch screen controls and multiple flat screen monitors.
Fifty-two classrooms on the Kingston campus have Crestron digital media controls, high-definition mounted LCD projectors, Blu-ray players and video and audio inputs that allow for analog and digital connections.
All of the classrooms are monitored by a central server that collects data on usage, tracks projector bulb life and allow for remote assistance by the university’s media assistance team, URI said.
“This summer’s instruction technology investment … has positioned URI as a leader in digital media classrooms and created a catalyst to capture classroom content that can be used to support future classes and online learning,” said David Porter, director of media and technology services.
The Kingston campus has 1,300 wireless access points, the university added.
