Collaborative Instructor Hub
The Collaborative Instructor Hub is the system used in Active Learning Classrooms to present materials and enable students to display and share content from their tables. The Hub is the latest version of the Digital Classroom Podium, designed to reflect the flexibility, mobility, and collaboration that occurs in active learning classrooms. Instructors who have used Digital Classroom Podiums will find much of the same functionality and ease of use. Hubs enable instructors to display images from a Mac Computer, their own personal devices, Blu-ray or DVD discs, and a high definition document camera. Images from these sources can be sent to any in-room display by selecting options on the Hub's touchscreen monitor.
In Active Learning Classrooms, students sit in groups and are able to send images from their laptops, phones, or tablets to a group monitor. The Hub gives the instructor the ability to control these monitors and share images that students are displaying with the rest of the class. The Hub is also equipped with Mersive screen sharing, through which anyone can wirelessly share images from their laptop, phone, or tablet without connecting any wires.
Because Active Learning Classrooms are designed for interaction, Collaborative Instructor Hubs are located in the center of the room. The Hub includes an instructor table that can be electronically raised for those who wish to stand while teaching and lowered for sitting. A moveable touchscreen monitor can be used to control the system and use the computer while a second moveable monitor can be used to preview and view images from other displayed sources. A second table serves as a "student bar" where instructors can interact with students apart from the larger class.
For more information on the Collaborative Instructor Hub, please view the sections below.
Features
- Mac computer, including:
- a dedicated Internet connection
- USB ports
- keyboard and mouse
- Whiteboard-Annotation software
- Additional software (see "Podium Computer Apps" below for full list of software)
- Document camera capable of projecting:
- books, documents, and other objects
- transparencies
- Connections and cables for projecting laptops, phones, or tablets:
- HDMI port and cable
- VGA port and cable
- Solstice wireless display sharing for both instructor and student laptops, phones, and tablets
- Multiple displays, allowing display of one source on multiple screens or different sources on each screen
- Wireless microphone
- Ethernet port and cable, for connecting laptops to the Internet
- Preview monitor, enabling presenters to view projected images on the podium without having to turn around
- Control of images displayed at student tables via VGA or HDMI
- Control of student table microphones
- 35mm slide projector
- Air Mouse
- Blu-ray player capable of playing:
- Blu-ray discs
- DVDs
- audio CDs
- CatchBox throwable microphone
- iClicker base
- Hand-held trackball mouse
- USB hub, allowing users to connect more than three USB devices to the podium
- VCR or international VCR
- Wacom Bamboo Pad
- Webcam and tripod
- Wireless pen mouse
- Wireless presenter, used to advance slides or control the mouse
Visit the Equipment Request Page for more information and to reserve this equipment.
Videos, Tutorials, and Instructions
- Workshops
- For hand-on training, consider attending a DCS Technology Training session.
- To learn more about using the hub's Mac computer, look for our Intro to Macs session.
- Images of Rutgers Room Control:
- Apple Adapter Cheat Sheet
Classrooms
Software
The DCP computer is equipped with over forty applications. Apps may be opened by selecting them in the dock or by clicking on the blue applications folder and choosing the app from the list. If the DCP does not have software you would like to use in your class, contact us.
| Helps molecular biologists visualize and edit DNA sequence files | |
| Adium | An instant messenger application that allows users to chat via a variety of different instant messaging services including AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more |
| Adobe Acrobat X Pro | A PDF creator and viewer designed for use with video, audio, and other interactive content |
| Adobe Creative Suite 6 | A collection of software designed for creating content. Includes: Bridge, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Media Encoder, and Photoshop. |
| AIM | AOL’s instant messenger |
| Android SDK | Tool for building, testing, and debugging apps for Android |
| Audacity 1.2.5* | For editing and recording sounds |
| BaiBoard | A virtual whiteboard app that can be used to draw and annotate. |
| Camino | Web browser |
| CN3D 4.3 | Helper application that allows users to view 3-dimensional structures from NCBI's Entrez Structure database |
| Comic Life Magiq | For creating photo based comics |
| Cyberduck | Cloud storage browser |
| Dreamweaver | For making and editing HTML web sites and mobile apps |
| Eclipse | Web-development tools |
| Excel 2011 | A spreadsheet program used to manage, analyze, and organize data |
| FaceTime* | For video chat |
| Firefox | Web browser |
| Fireworks | Helps you create designs for web sites and mobile apps, without coding |
| Flash Professional CS6 | Used to create animation and multimedia content |
| GarageBand | A recording studio tailored to making music |
| GeoGebra | GeoGebra is an interactive geometry, algebra, statistics and calculus application, intended for learning and teaching mathematics and science. |
| Google Chrome | Web browser |
| Google Earth | A 3D, interactive map of the world |
| Google SketchUp 8 | 3D modeling program designed for architects, civil engineers, filmmakers, game developers, and related professions |
| iMovie | For making and sharing movies |
| iPhoto | For editing, organizing, sharing, and presenting photos |
| iTunes | For playing music |
| iWeb | For creating web sites |
| iWorks | An Apple productivy suite, including Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. |
| jEdit | A text editor for web programming |
| Illustrator | A vector graphics editor |
| Image Capture | Used to upload pictures from digital cameras or scanners which are connected directly to the podium or via the network |
| InDesign | Used to create design work such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers and books |
| Jing | A way to capture images and short vides of your screen |
| Keynote | Keynote is Mac's version of PowerPoint, used to create and give slide presentations. |
| Kurzweil 3000 | A literacy tool |
| MacSpice | Simulates and analyses electronic circuits that can range in complexity from a single resistor to an integrated circuit comprising tens-of-thousands of devices |
| Maple 17 | A tool for learning, teaching, and doing math |
| Mathematica | Computational program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing |
| Matlab 2014 | Lets you explore and visualize ideas and collaborate across disciplines including signal and image processing, communications, control systems, and computational finance. |
| Messages | Used for text chatting and sharing photos and files |
| Microsoft Communicator* | A communication server designed for collaboration through instant messaging, presence, Web conferencing, and audio/video conferencing |
| Microsoft Office 2011 | A software bundle that includes Word (for word processing), PowerPoint (for slide presentations), Excel (for spreadsheets), and Outlook (for email) |
| Microsoft Silverlight | A development tool for creating engaging, interactive user experiences for Web and mobile applications |
| NetBeans | For developing mobile and web applications with Java, HTML5, PHP, C/C++ and more |
| Open-Sankoré | A whiteboard and annotation app that allows users to annotate computer images. |
| Panopto | A lecture capture tool that can be used to record in-class videos. A Panopto account is required to access this software. |
| Photoshop | A graphics editing program |
| PollEv Presenter App | This app enables instructors with Poll Everywhere acounts to use Poll Everywhere with PowerPoint. |
| PowerPoint 2011 | Helps you build and present slide show presentations |
| Processing | An open source programming language and environment for people who want to create images, animations, and interactions |
| Preview | A view used to open PDFs and image files such as jpeg, tiff, and png |
| QuickTime Player | For playing videos |
| R & R Studio | R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. R Studio is a tool that makes it easier to use R. |
| REEF | REEF polling is iClicker's solution mobile-based polling solution. This can be used by instructor to administer polls. Please note, students must still have licenses to participate. |
| Remote Desktop Connection | Used to access computers running Windows connected to the same network |
| Safari | Web browser |
| Scratch 1.4 | For creating and sharing interactive stories, games, music, and art |
| ScreenFlow | Screencasting and video editing software that can capture audio and video from the computer |
| SeaMonkey | Web-browser, advanced e-mail, newsgroup and feed client, IRC chat, and HTML editing portal |
| Second Life Viewer | Enables users to explore, communicate, and connect in Second Life - a 3D, virtual world where people can interact and build |
| Skype* | An application for video, voice, and text chatting |
| Soundslides Plus 898 | Allows you to share your slide-shows on the Web or convert them to video for YouTube and Vimeo |
| SPSS | A software package used for statistical analysis |
| Stata | Data analysis and statistical software |
| StatTransfer12 | Used to move data between worksheets, databases, and statistical packages |
| Stickies | Use stickies to jot notes, write reminders, create lists, or store frequently used text |
| TextEdit | Lets you create all types of text documents |
| Top Hat Monocle | Used to poll students from their mobile device. Instructors must already have a Top Hat account to use this application. |
| TurningPoint | TurningPoint is a hardware-based option for polling students. Use of TurningPoint requires that students purchase "clickers." |
| VLC | Multimedia player. View our article on YouTube for more info on using VLC. |
| Xcode | A development environment used to create apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad |
| Word 2011 | Word processor and document viewer |
| *use of many core features of this app requires additional hardware. Please contact DCS for more information. |