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by Marty Zimerman
Students often get their first impressions of the LaGuardia Library when they attend introductory instruction sessions in the Electronic Classroom. Until recently, we had an antiquated overhead projector that worked with an old, low resolution LCD screen. While we could project needed classroom material onto a pull-down screen, we had to dim, or turn off, the lights in the classroom in order for the students to see presentations. This was distracting and made note taking almost impossible.
This situation has been rectified this semester with several technological additions to the classroom. A new ceiling-mounted multimedia projector has improved viewing during class presentations. New monitor control software has been installed on our local area network, allowing the instructor to broadcast his/her console's screen to all the terminals in the class, as well as projecting those images to the big screen in front of the room and the ceiling mounted TV monitors. The instructor can also
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control students' terminals to assist them through a demonstration or point out pertinent areas of a search screen. It is also possible to disable terminal screens and keyboards, encouraging students to pay attention during important points of a class lesson.
We are also in the process of installing a Smart Board to facilitate program instruction. The Smart Board is touch sensitive, allowing the instructor to show, in large scale, what menu items to click to make things work in software applications and web pages.
In the planning stages now is the installation of cable television access in the classroom. We hope that you will come to see and use our improved Electronic Classroom. If you have questions, please contact Marty Zimerman at x5435.
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