Ostrander

Ostrander Meeting 2-11-2009
We met for an hour and a half today to discuss two things.

1. The house lighting, theatrical lighting, and their control systems.
2. The ducting, HVAC units, and radiation.

These are very important aspects of a large presentation venue because they can have such dramatic effect on all other aspects of the room. The lighting system can make or break a presentation, movie, or show. We have to make sure that the lighting systems are versatile and easily adjustable. In fact the plan is to have preset lighting set up. This would make it very easy for a presenter. If they choose to watch a movie as soon as they turn on the system and select movie the lights would automatically adjust to the ideal setting. Placement of lighting is also a critical factor because the placing of the lights will determine the acoustical design of the ceiling.

The ducting and HVAC system are important not only because they can be exceptionally loud but they can also cause discomfort in the room if they are not set properly. We always attempt to have the HVAC system be as passive as possible. The faster the air moves the louder it is. Our target for any room is less than 30 db. We don’t always get there… but we try. The room temperature is very important because if people are not comfortable they are not in the best shape to learn and pay attention.

This project seems very hurried at this point in time. We haven’t even defined all of the infrastructure yet and they want to start work right away in May. I am a little worried about the timelines.

Epiphany!

I had a kind of epiphany today. I think we should start looking at the idea that a wiki could be used as a text book. If a few teachers worked together with a class to create a wiki in their subject field they could continuously update the information and not have to purchase books. Students, faculty, staff, even parents, and local businesses could contribute if they had knowledge in a specific area. This would save the students significant amounts of money and prepare them for a world where online resources are the norm. These wikis could contain pictures, sound, video… all more powerful learning tools than a book alone.

An article in Campus Technology about wiki's in instruction:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/02/11/3-challenges-to-wiki-use-in-instruction.aspx

Another article about free lecture capture system from Campus Technology:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/02/11/free-lecture-capture-system-adds-desktop-broadcasting-analytics.aspx

Today's News

This link was shared by a classmate. It discusses many uses for Twitter.
http://cooper-taylor.com/blog/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/

I also just saw that Smart Technology now has a multi-touch table available for sale. This looks really neat. I saw the information here:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5151144/smart-educational-multitouch-table-will-learn-yer-kids-real-good

Smart Technologies website is:
http://smarttech.com/

Classroom Technology Publications

I have added a list of the publications that I subscribe to for work. These are all recieved for free. Please take a look at them, I hope you find something that you are interested in.

Ostrander Brainstorming

This is a description of the beginning of my brainstorm process for planning the technology for the Ostrander Auditorium remodel.

A brief overview of the project:


Here is a copy of my brain storming notes: Notes