Colleague Connection – Keeping the Campus Connected
The following article is the first in a multi-part series highlighting the work of teams who provide in-person, on-demand IT support across Northwestern campuses. Up first, Ken Panko, director of Media and Technology Innovation, details the work of the group’s three teams: Academic Software Development, Media and Event Services, and AV Design and Support.
Exploring Emerging Technologies
One of the most exciting things about working at Northwestern is witnessing the ingenuity of our faculty and students. Scholars interested in exploring novel applications of technology in research, teaching, and learning work with the Academic Software Development team to design and build custom applications, mobile applications, websites, and platforms to support their academic work.
We recently set up an Emerging Technologies Lab in the University Library as a place for the university community to experiment with new technologies and methods. Current projects include helping the Pritzker School of Law create an AI-powered attorney-client interaction simulator, digital preservation of physical objects and structures using photogrammetry, and building immersive learning experiences for virtual and augmented reality environments.
Highlighting Academic Excellence
Media and Event Services works with faculty members to create high-quality digital media to communicate their research in visually engaging ways and produce content for online courses. Recent projects include helping a Kellogg professor create an immersive case study using 360-degree video, training students in an archaeology class to conduct drone-based site studies, and filming open educational resources for an undergraduate neuroscience class. The team also creates promotional media. Recently, we worked with the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science to produce several videos for their different departments to help them attract undergraduate and graduate students into their programs and attract faculty to the school.
You will often find a Media and Event Services team member behind the scenes, working with external vendors and the Office of Global Marketing and Communications to ensure campus-wide events are recorded or streamed smoothly. Events such as graduation, department symposiums, and others require a certain level of sophistication and technical project management. The team helps produce an event run of show and are on-site at events to help coordinate everything for a successful outcome.
Providing On-Demand Room Support
Designers on the AV Design and Support team meet with departments on capital projects to assess AV equipment needs for new or renovated department space, such as classrooms, labs, and conference rooms. They produce technical specifications, select equipment, and provide project management for AV installation projects.
Instructors with technical issues in the classroom can reach the AV Support team for just-in-time support. The team answers calls to the 7-ROOM hotline and are dispatched using two-way radios to provide technical support for around 400 spaces across the Evanston and Chicago campuses, which includes 136 general-purpose classrooms scheduled by the Office of the Registrar. Our AV specialists and AV student associates also perform quality checks on equipment in rooms during morning and evening walk-throughs when the classrooms aren't in use.
What is the most common support request?
Many of the requests we receive are related to the rooms' Zoom and lecture-capture capabilities. During the pandemic, we installed cameras and microphones in more rooms to accommodate remote learning and record class sessions, which worked well, but adding that technology also increased complexity in the rooms: more buttons to push, etc.
The AV Support team responded by partnering with the Office of the Registrar to offer room orientations for individuals and groups at the beginning of each quarter to get instructors comfortable with classroom technology before classes begin.
Learn More
Visit the Media and Technology Innovation website and meet the individuals behind the exciting work they do to keep the campus connected. You can also scroll through the media and application portfolio, and read their blog to gain insight into special projects.