Predicting the future ain’t easy
Steve Gibbs Jr.
If only we knew what was going to transpire in one year. Only one year has passed since COVID-19 started ravaging the world, but it seems like a lot longer. Everything has changed, and it continues to change. Change is what makes working in AV a lot of fun, in my opinion, but I don’t think anyone was ready for all of this upheaval to happen so quickly. Has our standard classroom been changed forever? I believe so. The change I see for us in the immediate future is to fine-tune what has been done and keep the pieces working well for our users. We want to provide an avenue to do “hybrid” teaching, but we also want to make sure that we give them tools that they use and don’t just waste money on fancy tech.
What tools can we give faculty that will work at their home/office and in the classroom? Based on either sickness or the weather on any given day where the learning happens can be different. With this reality in mind, how do we decide which pieces need improving? We are looking very closely at the low-hanging fruit that can upgrade some rooms even more. In the discussion are items like adding sound paneling to rooms where audio can be improved, adding a second monitor at the podium in larger spaces to help manage Zoom participants, and purchasing some iPads with pencils so that faculty have another option for annotating during class and don’t have to rely completely on whiteboards. We believe these are improvements that will get used and will benefit us even beyond the pandemic. There are still other changes that will need to be made long-term since responding to an emergency. The goal is to find reliable and easy-to-use solutions and support as much as the other pieces that are already in our room designs.
Another question that I want to consider, at least for schools that are smaller and closer to our size, is what adds all this tech mean in terms of the next time additional items need to be life cycled? Also, can doing “hybrid” teaching increase our support and training costs? How much can we integrate this into what we are already doing? We want to make sure that we have these talks with the administration so that we don’t corner ourselves into supporting something that we will not keep giving folks later down the road. Finding products that are mature and that will last as long as the rest of the equipment inside of our podiums is key as well. Support can be tough since there are so many new options that can be used. Our efforts should be focused on what we as a school have decided to use. We need to be friendly and polite, but it is also our job to prioritize the core services we offer. This can get dicey quick, but I believe your users will understand that they are being cared for in the long run.
Finally, how do we help faculty and students continue finding value from the equipment when they are not forced to use it? My experience has been that it is important to tell our story about what we can do to help and what options there are. It can be tiring, but the more people hear about what is offered, the better. This has been the case for us, and lecture capture with Panopto on campus. We have been using this solution for over three years, but some people are still coming on board after seeing the value of providing this for their students. Showing how this can help their workflow and providing better access to students are places to start. It is also always good to start by saying, “What are your current pain points?” instead of telling them what they need to do. This will allow you to listen to what their struggles are in their day-to-day teaching. We can then shape what we do and the training that we provide based on their needs instead of assuming we know.
The hardest thing about all the changes for me has been not seeing other AV folks at events and not being able to see and touch the equipment physically. A school of our size relies on those chances to figure out what will work for us. Virtual events are great, but this year has been tough, and at times, the decisions can feel like they are coming a mile a minute and don’t stop. Please reach out to others and join groups like the AVIXA Tech Managers Council, HETMA, CCUMC, or the HigherEd_AVIT Slack group to stay connected and learn about products. Education plays a vital role as well. In my role of mentoring others, I find that when I give someone the tools and resources, they need that is what helps them the most. Pass along a good talk or a helpful whitepaper. This does wonders to help with productivity and team engagement. Learning can never stop since tech will not stop changing for us.
As we remember the start of this disease that started last March, may we cling to the changes that have been for the good and improve on the solutions that will allow our campus to be ready for this new future!
Steve gibbs jr
author
Stephen Gibbs, Jr. is a Senior Educational Technology Engineer at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA. He enjoys spending time with his three young kids and interests outside of AV include disc golf and soccer.