Connecting Classrooms with the World

This semester, DCS helped connect students in Tillett Hall Room 257 with leading medical experts at the United Nations. Using the Digital Classroom Podium and video chat equipment, Prof. Francis Barchi's "Global Health Perspectives" class was joined by three special guest speakers as part of the Rutgers-U.N. program. Connecting via Skype, these global leaders in health working out of the U.N. headquarters in New York were able to discuss their fields of expertise and answer questions from students. For more information about these classes, check out the Rutgers Today Feature.

Working with the "Global Health Perspectives" class to connect Tillett 257 to the U.N. is part of DCS's efforts to develop video conferencing solutions that can be used to bring in remote guest lecturers, enable students to attend class from a distance, and connect classrooms on different campuses. DCS has installed permanent video conferencing equipment in Tillett 232 and the DCS Training Center. Furthermore, instructors teaching in any Digital Classroom Podium classroom can request a web camera and use video chat software installed on the podium computers, including Skype, Adobe Connect, and Google Hangouts. We will continue to work with these and other solutions to find quick, easy, and high quality ways to bring video conferencing to our classrooms. If you are interested in using video chat, look for our "Video Chat in the Classroom" workshop or contact us. We are eager to partner with faculty to help extend Rutgers classes beyond the classroom.