Social science classrooms get Next upgrade

By Krisse Mansfield

In an effort to provide an upgraded educational environment, the College of the Social Sciences announced Monday it has have joined forces with Steelcase Inc. to bring New Education Extraordinaire Technology (NEXT) classrooms to Fresno State.

So far, the joint effort has produced one nearly completed NEXT classroom, Room 210, in the Social Sciences building. The room is scheduled to be complete by spring semester.

The NEXT classroom will have a “Copy Cam,” printers, floor outlets, a walk-and-talk white board, huddle boards, new tables, chairs, carpet, and window treatments.

The Copy Cam takes a digital picture of material written on a special white board, which is in turn stored in the machine. The professor can print the information, send it to a Web site, or send it to computers within the room.

Attached to the top of the white board are five smaller boards, called huddle boards, which serve a similar function. These smaller boards, however, can be taken off the board and reattached.

Printers for the copy cam, floor outlets and the walk-and-talk whiteboard, which allows Web sites to appear on the board with touch-screen capabilities, are also scheduled to be added to the room by spring semester.

“ Our understanding is that it enhances the faculty to utilize educational pedagogy to emphasize different aspects of the curriculum that they want to emphasize,” said Jeanette Ishii, director of development for the College of Social Sciences.

“Students can focus more on what’s being said, knowing that it can be downloaded and copied later. It gives them the opportunity to focus on what the faculty is saying.”

The room has also been outfitted with new chairs and tables that can fold up and be stacked against the walls. The additions to Room 210 were gifts from Steelcase.According to Ishii, the project evolved from the university’s continual relationship with the company.

“ We’ve been working with the local dealer, meeting with their director of research. They came on campus and met with faculty, students and staff to see what goes on in classrooms,” Ishii said. “We came up with NEXT as an example of a new learning environment that can accumulate a multitude of experiences.”

While professors were reluctant to talk about the recent advancements, students seem appreciate of them.

“ I really like the chairs,” said junior Lee Xiong. “They’re just plastic, but they bend back and they feel better than normal chairs.”

“ The university is very excited about this opportunity,” Ishii said, “and the College of Social Sciences is thrilled to be the first in the entire university to have this new learning environment.”

The cost and number of additional rooms has yet to be decided.

Social Sciences Dean Luz Gonzalez was unavailable for comment, despite repeated attempts by The Collegian.