By: Carol Emmens

Lecture hall seats are often empty now as college and universities increase or initiate “flipped learning” or “inverted” classrooms.  In a flipped classroom what is normally done in class e.g. lectures and what is normally done as homework are switched or flipped. In a flipped classroom, students read materials or listen to audio and view video podcasts before coming to class.

Using capture systems and video conferencing, lectures and PowerPoint presentations are stored remotely in a “cloud” and made available online, generally through the Internet. Homework such as problem solving and essay writing is done in class with both professors and peers guiding the students.

Now scores of classrooms resemble corporate huddle rooms or medical and scientific labs. Class time is reserved for hands on learning, discussions in small groups and collaboration instead of note taking. Flipped classrooms provide an opportunity for students to ask questions and to apply what they learned in the online lecture. It also provides students with more time to use scientific equipment in class and to utilize healthcare simulation labs which prepare them for real life health problems and emergencies.

There are two aspects to the “flipped classroom:” online learning and classrooms with the audiovisual equipment to allow content sharing and analysis. Professors usually create their own video lectures.  Although it takes time and skill to do a video, it is becoming easier as manufacturers bring new equipment for video capture and dissemination to the market.  The equipment is becoming easier to use and numerous, affordable storage solutions are readily available. In addition to their own videos, videos by publishers, and professional use apps;  course materials are often posted to YouTube or managements systems like Blackboard.

Retrofitting classrooms for the digital world is likewise becoming easier. There are products that make it possible to connect devices with different signals and connectors, multiple control options, and interactive flat screen devices and whiteboards.

Video podcasts or video courses are audiovisual files distributed via the Internet. They are not the sole source of instruction and differ from MOOCs or massive open online courses. MOOC’s such as those offered by MIT are often open to anyone not just enrolled students.

Because clouds based storage makes it easy to store and share information, many universities are members of consortiums such as Unizen which includes the University of Michigan, Indiana University, Colorado State University, Penn State, the University of Florida and others. They share lectures, lesson plans and research and make course materials and information available from the best minds in education, organizations and corporations. The authorships are noted.

The Open Cloud Consortium (OCC), which is one of many worldwide, operates a cloud to support scientific, medical and health care research; it members include the University of California (Berkeley),  Florida International University, Johns Hopkins, NASA,  international universities and organization such as AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology).  OCC, in turn, has joined Matter, a workspace in Chicago with all types of rooms and AV/IT resources. Matter is a partner with the American Medical Association, and shares the same goal: to bring entrepreneurs and physicians together to “collaborate and test new technologies, services and products.”  Research universities are among those that benefit the most from flipped classrooms.

Technology, used effectively, is not a mindless way to teach but a way to open minds and to create paths to success. When flipped classrooms are introduced, both professors and students are often skeptical but not for long. They often flip their opinions on flipped classrooms once they have experienced the positive results:  grades and attendance go up, retention increases, team skills improve and applications of the course materials are discussed, analyzed and demonstrated.

Zeo Systems expertly trained technicians can assist you in determining the equipment you need to adjust today’s classroom to today’s technology. Flat panel displays, video and projection systems, microphone and voice systems, or complete control systems; No matter if we are integrating new technology to an existing system or building a new one from scratch, you can count on Zeo Systems to help you capture or record lectures and to design the audiovisual systems needed for your institution to successfully implement flipped classrooms.

We at Zeo Systems pride ourselves on being at the forefront of changes in the AV world. At the start of the 2014-2015 academic year, new educational standards known as Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were launched nationwide. Because of the wide discrepancies in educational standards from state to state, educators across the country established Common Core as a national set of standards and testing for math, science, and English for grades K-12. Pennsylvania is one of 44 states to voluntarily adopt the standards.

Common Core’s main objectives for students set the bar high:

1. To Be Prepared for College or Work
2. To Succeed in a Global Economy
3. To Develop Critical Thinking
4. To Solve Problems

To achieve those goals, schools everywhere are instituting new methods of teaching or “blended learning”, which involves using technology including the Internet effectively. Technology, at its best, enables students to use information to compare, contrast, and analyze data to help develop lifelong skills.

As early as 4^th grade, schools are expected to supplement their face-to-face instruction with online delivery of information which will be incorporated into student projects whether they are research papers, audio and/or video presentations or demonstrations.

Besides robust IT networks, classrooms, conference rooms, and libraries need the audiovisual technology equipment to support the new teaching techniques. Common Core encourages students to not only do research but to share digital and print information through presentations displayed on a large screen. Both students and teachers are encouraged to display information from online courses, to participate in video conferences with students across the country or across the world, or to demonstrate student projects – preferably all interactively.

As the curriculum changes, projectors or flat screens are becoming more and more necessary; they allow content sharing and collaboration by teachers and students both within in the classroom and the classroom and outside the classroom with students or experts in libraries, museums, and colleges. IT/AV systems are growing in sophistication every day, frequently including multiple displays, audio and recording systems. In addition, control systems are often necessary to ensure the technologies work together seamlessly and to make them easier to use.

Increasingly, students will collaborate or brainstorm in small groups in “huddle” rooms equipped with multiple data inputs and a large flat screen. Students often bring their own tablets or laptops into schools and that trend will only continue to grow. Schools will need to be prepared for the onslaught of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) by purchasing a wide assortment of connectors as there is no “standard” connection. The need to connect multiple devices to save time and inconvenience when changing sources will increase. Like corporations and universities, schools will need to automate the schedules of huddle rooms through a combination of software and digital signage (displays) outside the rooms.

Hands-on learning, building and modeling are encouraged by Common Core and will require capture or recording devices ranging from cell phones and tablets to video cameras. Small TV studios will be necessary for more than would-be film producers or directors. Students will not only utilize technology to write research papers and book reports but to present this information through well researched, written and edited audio and/or video presentations.

Common Core essentially requires schools to have all types of rooms and technology. Zeo Systems designs and installs AV systems to fit each environment whether it is a classroom, auditorium, huddle room or studio. The physical space, however, is only one challenge. There are difficult challenges ahead for teachers, parents and community leaders alike. The transition to Common Core will require teachers to alter their styles of instruction to incorporate diverse types of media, websites, and online courses into their lesson plans. This will require a commitment by the schools and school districts themselves to fund the expansion of AV technology in the schools. Through this commitment, and the assistance of the AV experts like those at Zeo Systems, the goals of Common Core can be achieved.