Media Classrooms on the Cheap

A friend and I recently received a tour of a campus media classroom.   Wow, was it fancy!  A custom-built podium housed touchscreen remote controls, and hidden away in a closet were two six-foot-tall racks of impressive equipment.  I loved it---until I learned that it had cost nearly $100,000.  "What?!", I said.  "I could equip ten classrooms with most of these capabilities for that amount of money!"

My friend and I wrote a proposal to do that very thing.  Turns out that a few others had been thinking the same thing, too.  And surprisingly, administrators listened, monies were allocated, and now instead of a few ritzy media classrooms nearly every classroom on our campus is being equipped with a salvaged computer, a ceiling mounted lcd projector, and a lockable cabinet with a VCR and wireless keyboard/mouse.

What’s wrong with existing media classrooms?

In a word, money.  They use:
· Expensive CPUs (almost no one needs the fastest available processor)
· Expensive Podiums (one height adjustable podium was so expensive we could’ve saved money by buying several conventional podiums of different heights!)
· Expensive touch screen switching panels
· Expensive document cameras
· Expensive equipment racks
· Dedicated Amplifiers and Speakers
· Separate Cassette, CD, DVD, VCR, and laserdisc players
· High-end wireless sound systems
A lot of this money is spent on overkill. In the most ludicrous instance I know of, a university bought expensive laptop computers in lieu of inexpensive desktops and then bolted them down to the podiums (Dilbert lives!)

Even with all that money, the equipment is often hard to use properly: touch screens are tiny, with buttons hard to see or buried several layers deep in menus. Buttons and remote controls are next-to-impossible to operate in the dark.  The instructor is usually “tethered” to the podium, and that fancy podium still often has no place to put your teaching materials or no way to view them in dim light.   In one case, I went into a fabulous  media classroom, one with a video and sound system that rivaled many movie theatres, only to find a tiny VCR/TV cart parked in the middle of the room.  "Is the system broken?", I asked.  "No", came the reply.  Then why, with a twenty foot movie screen for videos, would anyone resort to a 19” television?  “Because I understand how to work it!” the professor said.

A “tightwad” point of view
I want to propose an alternative.  This alternative comes from a “tightwad” perspective.  Most people equate the word "tightwad" with adjectives like “stingy” or “cheap”.   Instead, try to think of it as "creative" and "pragmatic".

What will we be able to do in our “tightwad” media classroom?
In our case, a tightwad media classroom would still be able to do most of the things a very expensive media classroom could do:

* Show PowerPoint presentations
* Use application software and CD-ROMs
* Surf web sites
* Play audiocassettes and audio CDs
* Play digital movies, "streaming" audio & video, videotapes and DVDs
* Make spontaneous typed notes that can be saved (a word processing Template that uses large fonts)
* Make spontaneous handwritten notes that can be saved (like a digital whiteboard)
* Show transparencies

But our tightwad goal is to accomplish all that for less than a third of what the average media classroom costs.   And while we’re at it, we want our classroom to be easier to use than most of the fancy versions.  Tall order, no?

CHOICES
To accomplish our goals, however, we’ve got to make a couple of choices.

Choice One:  Should you use a computer-centered approach or use a computer along with additional equipment?

Computer: Desktop computers already play both audio CDs & computer CD-ROMs, but they can also be set up with a TV-tuner video card capable of playing TV and VCR signals over the computer ($100). You can also replace the standard CD drive with a DVD/CD drive for about $100, thereby turning the computer into your DVD player as well.

The main drawback to this approach is that it requires users who are more computer-literate.  Almost everyone can press a button and play a videotape on a VCR, but how many have used software where a click on a menu allows you to show a videotape in a VCR via the computer?  If you go the software route, you must allow the average non-technical person to accomplish all those tasks without a great deal of computer knowledge.  You can do that by a variety of methods: program shortcuts on the computer’s desktop, menu systems, custom “wizards”, or laminated “1-2-3” cards attached to the computer in a readable position.

Hardware: Alternately, you could limit the computer to showing “computer stuff” like web sites and PowerPoint presentations and depend on a hardware-based switch box to switch from among separate pieces of dedicated equipment—e.g., one clearly-labeled button engages the computer, a second button switches to a VCR, another a CD/Cassette boombox, and the fourth a DVD player.

Drawbacks to this approach are:
1) it tends to cost more to buy separate pieces of equipment: for example, a computer DVD player is about $100 whereas a separate DVD player is about $200; a computer can play audio CDs but a separate boombox-style CD player costs $100-200.
2) It may necessitate additional steps that are easy to overlook—for example, to show a videotape that is not hooked up to a computer, one usually has to both switch the lcd projector  from it's computer input to it’s “video” input.

Choice Two:  Should you use a permanently-mounted system or one contained on a mobile cart?
 
Personally, I prefer permanently-mounted systems---ones with a computer in a podium, a table next to the podium, and an LCD projector mounted in the ceiling.  In my experience, cart-mounted systems don't work as well.  That may be from the pounding the cart takes as it travels, or that the wiring on cart-mounted systems seems to be more exposed (thus inviting tinkering).  Also, what law of media services decrees that any piece of media equipment has to be bolted to a cart at least twice the necessary size?  I’m a big guy (6’4”) and it’s usually easier to park a semi in a loading dock than to wrestle a mammoth top-heavy equipment cart from one building to another.

How will we save money?
1) Buy the right computer
· Buy a desktop rather than laptop.
· Buy a system whose processor (CPU) is at best "price point" rather than the "hottest" model.
· Your desktop will probably come with a 3 & 1/2" floppy drive.  Spring for an extra ZIP drive,   CD-RW, and DVD.  I know, I know, we want to be tightwads, but tell that to an instructor who data is only on a zip (or a CD, or a DVD).  Besides, all these options add only about $300 to the cost of a computer.   While you're at it, make sure your desktop has a modem card ($30) or 10/100 network card ($30) so you can access the Internet.
· Buy a 17”CRT monitor (at less than $200, it's currently the best price point) and mount it inside the podium, flush with the top.  If you can afford it, buy a 15" flat panel monitor ($500)---a 15" screen is small, but the 17" ones currently cost three times as much.  Then mount that flat panel on a swing arm mounted to the podium so you can position it a variety of ways.

2) Buy the right projector
Another place not to scrimp is on the projector.  Use at least an 800 lumen projector.  You can get dimmer ones for less money, but with a bright projector you won’t have to dim the room lights, which reduces class interaction and makes people sleepy.

3) Build or adapt cheaper equipment instead of buying expensive dedicated equipment.
Now's the time to remember that stuff about "creative" and "pragmatic".  Here are some tips:
· If your system is portable, use a small cart purchased at an "Office Warehouse"-type store rather than a big one purchased from an educational supplier.  If your system is permanently mounted, first try to get the college’s wood shop or a crafty alumnus to take it on as a project; failing that, use standard “Office Warehouse” lockable office equipment rather than expensive dedicated multimedia podiums.
· Put small flexible-boom flashlight on cart or podium ($30, designed for sound mixing consoles)
· Use $100 computer sound system OR use $100-$200 remote-control boom box (cassette, cd, AM/FM) with audio in for A/B box sound output.
· Use a cheap $50-150 scanner.  Who needs 2400 hardware dpi in the classroom?  Even a cheap scanner has resolutions approaching those of a $6000 document camera.
· Even though you can scan transparencies with your scanner, consider using a standard $200 transparency projector.  As "digital" as I get in the classroom, it still seems that I have a few transparencies to show, and a $200 projector has resolution comparable to a $6000 document camera and is a lot faster than using a scanner.
· Buy an inexpensive "play only" Video Cassette deck (currently less than $60).  Who records on the VCRs used in classrooms?
· Use an inexpensive  $30-$100 digital computer camera.  Most of the ones used for computer conferencing can also take still shots at 640 x 480 dpi.  Mount the camera on an old desk lamp clamp-able arm so you can swing it around to a variety of angles and distances.
· In case you have audio tapes you need to play, either use your "boom box" or use a cheap AM/FM/cassette walkman ($30) with $5 cable to connect it to your computer or switcher.
· If you use a wireless microphone, get a low-end model for about $100.  Expensive UHF-band or "diversity" (i.e., two antenna) systems are made for musicians or folks who'll be far away from the receiver.
· Specialized  “whiteboards" allow you to save what you write on the board to a computer file, but tend to cost $2000 and up. If you use a small $100 computer writing tablet in addition to your standard mouse or other pointing device, your notes will show up just fine on your seven-foot projection screen and after class you can save the files and post them to the internet.

4) Get rid of the touch panels
There’s no denying it:  touch screens are cool!  They are also very, very expensive.  As of this writing, a standard TV-style computer monitor with a 17” screen costs as little as $200 at a computer store, whereas a 17” touch-screen model costs nearly TEN TIMES as much.  Part of our tightwad philosophy, remember, is to buy the minimum we need to still do the job at a reasonable level, and that means choosing the best price point.  Ten years from now we might all be using extremely cheap flat touch screen panels, but not now!  Touch screens are simply not at the best price point.   What do we use a touch screen for, anyway?

· Turning on various components.  A single switched outlet or a $10-50 power strip can turn all the equipment on with the flip of a single switch.   If you need to turn on pieces of equipment individually, go to a music store and buy a "DJ's" power strip for about $30, which will allow you to turn on up to eight pieces of gear individually.
· Choosing among computer, VCR, etc.  Instead of a touch panel , all switching can be done via computer (if computer has TV/VCR display card and second audio card), or a simple $30 A/B/C/D switcher.
· Dimming the lights:  use a $10 rheostat to dim the lights, or rewire lights to have multiple switches instead of a single switch (don't forget to mount those switches in a location accessible to the instructor).
· Controlling sound levels.  Since all our sound will be coming from our sound system, we’ll mount the controls for it in an accessible location.  Everyone knows how to use a volume knob, right?

5) Be Free!
Don't you hate being tied to a podium?  Let's escape!  Our desktop computer uses an RF wireless keyboard ($100) or $100 3D mouse.  Note that you want an "RF" (radio frequency) keyboard/mouse rather than the IF (infrared) kind; the RF versions have much better range.

6)  Make it Easy to Use
Here are some tips for usability:
· Choose equipment that is simple to operate.  A lot of equipment has tiny, unlit buttons that are especially hard to see in dim light.  Choose equipment with large backlit buttons for all main functions.
· Choose equipment that doesn’t need remote controls (some VCRs, in an attempt to save money or appear more elegant, can’t even be used without a remote!
· Use printed, cable-attached “How do I..” guides (with phone numbers for Help).
· Label equipment with bright yellow or glow-in-dark stickers with prominent lettering.
· If you have more than one remote control, use a programmable remote control to control all devices.
· Configure the computer to load the system’s volume control automatically on the menu bar.
· A cheap table should be placed next to the podium. Most podiums lack room for your teaching materials.

Additionally, ask the campus physical plant to:
· Put room lights on dimmers.  Too many rooms have just two settings---too bright to watch video vs. dark as the inside of a stomach!  Make sure the room's light dimmers are controllable from at or near the podium.
· Install a telephone in the room (somewhere where students won't be tempted to use it).
· Hide all wires (cable ties + cable runners, put all wires running across floor under “runners”).  It’s easy to trip in the dark!

7) Lock it Up!  This applies to both hardware and software.   However, who needs a fancy dedicated media cabinet?  Instead, buy a cheap, unfinished cabinet from a "Home Warehouse"-type store and install a good lock in it.

A Final Word: Some of the money we've saved can be used to accommodate students with disabilities.   For example,
if a class has hearing-impaired individuals:
· consider using monoraul (non-stereo) wireless headphones, about $50 each.  You only need one transmitter, which can be run from a "Y" cable attached to your wireless microphone's receiver.
· make sure your VCR or computer TV card  has SAP (second audio program) capability; most TVs have it, but you’ll probably be using your LCD projector for videos and most projectors lack SAP capabilities.
For visually impaired students, consider a few seats with jacks for headphones connected to “Jaws” (or equivalent) text-to-speech software.   Digitize your materials and place them on the web where special software can enlarge pictures and read text aloud.  Lastly, make sure your web sites are ADA compliant.

Well, that's it!  Look for another article soon.

Bob
 

©2001 Dr. Robert Bramucci

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