50 % * of our teaching rooms in the University have been improved – with a new DALI teaching Pod

The Designing Active Learning Initiative (DALI) project, spent the Summer busily focussing on our fourth year of works, to deliver updated educational technology in 31 learning spaces, including 10 existing and 21 new spaces at Whiskin Street, in time for the start of the new academic year 2019/20. These improved spaces, now with DALI aligned teaching equipment, have been spread out across the campus.

*Looking at an overview of the City campus we can see the DALI project has passed its 50% tipping point with more rooms reached by this project than not.

City University Podium Guides September 2019

DALI brings a brand new Pod to all these spaces, which is height adjustable, has an A3 Visualiser, HDMI & VGA laptop connections and controls for lecture capture,  the writing surfaces are expanded across the teaching wall and the teaching zone has been made ready for lecture capture with additional microphones, in some spaces visibility has been improved by supplying two projection screens.

A whistle-stop tour of the spaces that have been enhanced

Our flagship venue, The Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre has had its audiovisual technology for teaching and events completely upgraded including the projection screen. There are Roaming Microphones on the Pod for use with lecture capture and the panel desk has new microphones and monitor screens – so the panel can view the presentation. In Tait , a further 6 rooms on the 3^rdFloor have been improved, C300, C301, C304, C305, C323, C324.

One room each in College and Drysdale, here lecture theatres A130 and ELG03 have been improved.

In Whiskin Street you will find 21 new spaces of which 5 are centrally timetabled and also the City 125 suite and City 125 committee room (formerly the Northampton suite). This building has been completely refurbished and has flexible furniture in all rooms, a modern colour scheme and state of the art group study spaces.

New features on the Control Panel – help improve lecture capture

An improvement in all 96 DALI rooms has been rolled out this summer. The DALI Version 2 Crestron code brings the following enhancements that are based on feedback from the DALI staff survey.

• A top-level status indicator for Lecture capture, you can see at a glance if the recording is paused
• Easier control for the camera angles and ability to see what sources you are recording
• The ability to pair a roaming microphone in any room with lecture capture. To complement this new feature a pilot is taking place with 20 staff this Autumn to give staff their own microphone, we hope to add this as a City service from January 2020.

DALI moving forward

This winter, we are planning to update rooms in Franklin, College and the University.

Thanks 

A big thanks to City staff for contributing your feedback each year and to the professional services teams involved in delivering the DALI project over 4 years now in Information Technology, LEaD and Property and Facilities.

Photo credits – thanks to the City University Press Office and the 11th International Conference on Compressors and their Systems for the first photos of the Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre as it reopened to host the conference this September.