I Can See Clearly Now
Announcing the participants of the Campus Technology high-resolution projection study.
Not too long ago, the editors of
this publication asked educators
interested in bringing ultra-high-level
projection capability to their college
and university classrooms to submit
their needs to us (Campus Briefs,
November 2006). We offered to donate
a brand-new Canon REALiS SX6 multimedia projector
to each of four institutions demonstrating
both compelling need and
intended use for the projectors. We will
follow the usage of the projectors in
their real-life campus settings, and share
with you, our readers, the innovative
ways educators and students are making
use of the latest in high-tech “smart
classroom” equipment.
We are looking, too, for the impact of
such technology on learning: Will students
have a greater propensity to
understand course material if the intricacies
of what they see are clearer,
sharper, more true-to-life and vivid? Will
students be more effectively drawn in to
their studies? Will instructors be better
able to involve students in study matter
with such tools at their disposal?
One hundred and forty-nine institutions
responded to our request for submissions,
with no end of fascinating
proposed uses for the equipment: engineering,
CAD, GIS, statistical analysis,
software development, even robotics
topped the list. Then there were the
classes in the sciences (chemistry, biology,
geology), accounting, aerial surveying,
and art history. And of course
we heard from educators in medicine,
forensics, culinary arts, and even those
instructors using virtual reality teaching
modes to impart knowledge in any number
of disciplines.
In short, the entries ran the gamut,
and came in from schools big and small;
privates and publics; community colleges,
rural institutions, and HBCUs;
well-endowed institutions and those
with lean coffers. We were only surprised
that we were not inundated by
one thousand and forty-nine entries.
The judging did not go easy, but in the
end we selected four eminently worthy
recipients of the Canon projectors, and
we introduce those winners to you here:
1) The University of New Orleans College
of Engineering, to replace equipment
lost in Hurricane Katrina, and allow
UNO students greater visual acuity in
their GIS studies for ecosystem research,
stormwater management studies,
and the like; 2) Pomona College
(CA), for art faculty clinging to 35mm
slide projectors because they are
unhappy with the limitations of XGA projection
and yet are unable to take full
advantage of high-resolution imaging
software already in-house; 3) The Ohio
University College of Osteopathic Medicine,
for the medical students’ micro-lab
classroom, the detailed cellular level
microscopy work required there, and to
replace a microscope/video camera
apparatus; and 4) Herkimer County
Community College (NY), for use in,
among other areas, the school’s forensics
classes where high-resolution projection
of crime-scene images (fingerprint,
hair, skin, and fiber samples, etc.)
is desperately needed.
We will be following these schools
closely in coming months, to get their
unique stories, so stay tuned…
—Katherine Grayson, Editor-In-Chief
What have you seen and heard? Send to: [email protected].