Beam Me Up, City

As the TV series Star Trek presented future possibilities for travel and life in space, the new Educational Technology Center at City College will demonstrate what is possible in high tech instruction and communication.

Plans are that technology companies will use this facility as a demonstration site for the latest and most sophisticated telecommunications equipment, according to Ron Manzoni, vice president of instruction.

On the receiving end will be students who will learn in “smart” classrooms equipped with a central control board for multimedia presentations, Internet access and powerful projectors that eliminate the need to darken the room for viewing. For example, an art history class could take a “virtual reality” tour of the Smithsonian or the Louvre via websites. A multimedia presentation, consisting of slides, video and/or film could be handled by one computer rather than a different projector for each medium.

The classrooms will also be wired so that students can interact with the professor via laptop computers, such as for test taking and instant answers to questions in the lectures.
Every room in the two-story building will be equipped with teleconferencing capabilities, enabling interactive audio and video for meetings and classes from across campus to across town to around the world. While most conferences will be one-way video with no interaction with viewers in the City College building, it will be possible with multiple links for viewers at each site to see and hear each other and provide audience participation. The center will be wired to other buildings on campus, including the 280-seat theater allowing for a larger audience to view teleconferences.

The 8,000-square-foot building will contain three, 50-seat classrooms on the second floor with removable partitions and a 65-seat teleconferencing room on the first floor along with a small meeting room. The lobby of the ground floor will also have space for a small gallery to display student work. When rooms are not being used for instruction, they may be rented by business and industry and community groups.
The building is located off of 12th Avenue, but the entrance to classrooms is on the second floor, which is connected by a ramp to the main level of the campus or the Gorton Quad area.

Completion is targeted for fall 2000. For information about the facility, contact Manzoni, 619-230-2523. For rental details, call Joyce Thurman in the City College Business Office, 619-230-2428.