UConn Classroom Technology Explained

Owned by Dan Jakubiak
Last updated: Feb 13, 2023
3 min read

This page is a plain-English explanation of how our classrooms operate. Links to more specific guides will be at the bottom.

Terms to know

  • UConn classrooms have a central audio-visual (AV) system containing many devices located in a desk, podium, or display stand. We call this conglomerate the Teaching Station.

  • In the teaching stations, you will find (possibly behind doors) a literal stack of devices bolted into vertical metal rails. This is a rack. In our rooms, they range anywhere from 10 to 42 devices tall.

  • The user-interface, how users control the classroom equipment, is a 7” or 10” touch panel mounted on the teaching station. The panel may be bolted down, installed in the wall, or resting on a surface. On the touch panel, use your finger to tap on buttons to operate the room.

  • When talking about screens in rooms, we use “displays” to avoid the distinction/confusion of a “monitor” vs. a “television”. Classrooms rarely contain TVs. A “monitor”, even though very large (the size of consumer TVs), is only a monitor unless it has a TV-tuner built into it. Without a TV-tuner, you cannot plug in a coaxial cable to browse TV channels; there will only be HDMI inputs. Expect to find a monitor if a TV was not specifically requested.

  • Many classrooms contain a camera that faces the instructor or the students, but every classroom will have a document camera on the teaching station.

How do the devices in the rack work together?

The touch panel is actually the user-interface for a larger controller inside the rack and only that. The touch panel is not similar to a monitor or TV; it has preloaded graphics and simply tells the controller when you tap on buttons. Buttons have unique identifiers that tell the controller what you are trying to do. In classrooms, the controller is connected to all displays, speakers, projectors, projector screens, and more. Using the touch panel, you can control multiple devices with a single tap of your finger.

There are multiple video devices in the rack; we call these Sources. These include, but are not limited to, the Classroom PC, your laptop, the wireless presentation device and the document camera. Using the touch panel, you choose which of these devices is shown on the classroom displays. Inside the rack is a video switcher, this device takes many video inputs (sources) and chooses which one to send out a single output. This single output is then duplicated and sent to every display in the room. In rare cases, the classroom has a more complex video switcher that can send different sources to different displays simultaneously.

Within the rack is a lecture recorder. This recorder receives one of those duplicated video outputs and also receives a feed from all the microphones in the room. In this setup, the recorder receives a full-quality (uncompressed) video feed straight from your chosen source. If there is a camera in the room, you also have the choice of recording yourself or the students in the room. When you press Record, the recorder begins to save your video and voice to an internal storage drive. Once you finish recording, the resulting file begins uploading to your account on kaltura.uconn.edu. Once the recorder’s internal storage is nearly full, the unit automatically deletes recordings previously uploaded to Kaltura, starting with the oldest recordings, until there is enough free space on the disk.
In certain rooms, this device is also capable of livestreaming your lecture to a remote audience. Recording and livestreaming is chosen in the moment on the classroom touch panel, you do not need to complete any pre-class setup. Simply choose “Kaltura Live Lecture Capture” as your Source. If you choose not to record or livestream, the recorder will remain dormant and not capture any of your class; you must use the touch panel to command it to record.
Please remember to wear the microphone in order to have your voice in the recording.

What Source options do I have?

  • The built-in Windows11 computer.

  • You may bring your laptop and connect it to our AV system using the cables sticking out of the teaching station.

    • Be sure to plug in the USB-A cable as well if you want to send the cameras/microphones to your laptop.

  • Wireless Presentation device that uses AirPlay, GoogleCast, and MirrorCast.

  • Document Camera that points down to papers/objects resting on the teaching station.

Links to other guides