Technology updates further innovative learning

Lehigh expanded the Center for Innovation in Technology and Learning this summer with the creation of four state-of-the-art classrooms in an attempt to provide students and teachers with an environment that will help them learn and grow.

The classrooms are designed to help students engage in group discussions or utilize technology while they work. These rooms benefit a variety of students, such as Lehigh Technology, Research and Communication writing fellows, who use the space to edit student’s papers and to meet with the students with whom they are working.

The fellows specifically use the CITL-TRAC program house, which holds multiple tables and chairs designed to facilitate group communication. The TRAC 100 seminar is held in this room and the walls are covered in whiteboard paint so that the students can express their ideas freely.

This room is also used for faculty when they hold luncheons or need additional space when holding conferences.

Jeanne Tong, ’17, studies in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) in Fairchild-Martindale Library on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. The CITL offers multiple work stations including a seminar room available for student use. (Nadine Elsayed/B&W photo)

TRAC fellows and students alike are also able to use the CITL Commons, which is a more laid back room that has tables that can be used for student study. The room also has an 80-inch laptop-ready screen, a digital bulletin board and a public printer. Students have access to all of these resources and are able to project their work onto the large screen or use the digital bulletin board to develop their ideas regarding different projects.

Sanjana Chintalapudi, ’17, has been a TRAC fellow for two years. She said that before having a designated space, she rarely saw her other TRAC fellow peers unless they were holding a writing conference in the same place.

“It’s more concrete and a space designed for what we need,” she said. Chintalapudi also emphasized that the new space makes the program more united and feel like more of a community.

The space consists of a section that is open to anyone and can be used for conferencing, as well as an area that can be used just by TRAC fellows.

The room also provides students with four 48-inch displays that they can connect to wirelessly. The students are then able to present their work to the class via these boards or to collaborate with other students on projects.

Professor Ziad Munson uses the room with his political sociology class during their lab period on Wednesdays.

“We use the technology room for a lab where students get hands-on experience applying the concepts they are learning in class and synthesizing class ideas to understand real world situations and issues,” he said.

Munson also said that the room’s highly configurable tables and chairs allow the students to set up their own learning space and that it helps them adapt to different lab requirements.

The room also has whiteboard paint on all of the walls and can be a place for people to get together and work on projects for different classes and events. The room can also be used for various events that require additional cameras or mics.

The fourth room is called the CITL Seminar Room and can be used for videoconferencing at a distance. The room is equipped with a computer that has dual screen capability and an 86-inch touchscreen videoconference MondoPod. The classroom can be beneficial to groups or classes who need projection or videoconferencing tools for interviews or presentations.

These classrooms were funded by LTS and from an Adaptive Reuse Grant which was given to the department by the University Space Committee/Facilities Services/Campus Planning and Projects.