Classroom Central provides equipment, services, and support to help faculty and students take full advantage of the technology available in the University's technology classrooms. All technology classrooms are equipped with a hotline phone that automatically dials the Help Desk in the event technical support is needed. Questions and comments about ODU's technology classrooms can be sent to classroomcentral@odu.edu.
A Classroom Central Advisory Committee (CCAC) meets regularly to provide advice and guidance on classroom technology and makes decisions affecting the academic computing and communications environment.
Classroom Locations
Technology classrooms are located in the following buildings. Click on the building name to see information about the classrooms.
- Batten Arts and Letters (BAL)
- Constant Hall (CONST)
- Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center (DIEHN)
- Dragas Hall (DRGS)
- Darden Education Building (ED)
- Student Recreation Center (SRC)
- Kaufman Engineering Hall (KAUF)
- Mills Godwin Life Sciences Building (MGB)
- Oceanography and Physics Building (OCNPS)
- Physical Sciences Building II (PSII)
- Health Sciences Building (HLTH)
Standard Classroom Equipment
All of our technology classrooms are equipped with:
- a hotline phone
- a computer
- a laptop connection (bring your own device and plug it in to the display)
- a data projector (mounted in the ceiling)
- a sound system
Extended Classroom Setup
Teach in-person and online at the same time in our technology classrooms, using either Zoom Meetings or Zoom Rooms. These classrooms support simultaneous delivery of in-person and remote instruction.
When using Zoom to teach a class from a technology classroom, Zoom sessions are automatically recorded and stored in the scheduled instructor's My Media in Canvas. Instructors can share recordings so that students who missed class can catch up, and students who need a refresher can rewatch.
Learn more in the Classroom Technology Faculty Forum recorded August 5, 2020.
*These rooms accommodate "Web2" classes.
Zoom-integrated rooms
Zoom-integrated classrooms (featuring Zoom Rooms) make extended classes as easy as pushing a button. Whether students attend in-person or online, they share a similar live classroom experience.
- Built-in room mic, mounted in the ceiling, picks up voices of students and instructors. (Lapel mics are available in some rooms.)
- Classroom speakers broadcast online participants, making it possible for in-person and online students to hear and interact with each other.
- Ceiling-mounted HD camera acts as the classroom's webcam, capturing all that goes on at the front of the class.
- Dedicated second monitor with a live grid view of online participants.
- Integrated controls on the classroom's touch screen control panel allow one-button access to:
- start and end a Zoom meeting that is pre-configured for your specific class in your specific room at your specific time
- switch to "whiteboard" view that automatically shares the ceiling-mounted camera feed
- mute all students
Zoom-enabled rooms
Zoom-enabled classrooms (featuring Zoom Meetings) allow you to share a live class over Zoom, but the tech looks a little different. You'll have to start a Zoom meeting from the Zoom app on the classroom computer, but we've made a few enhancements that make it easier to use Zoom for instruction.
- A tripod-mounted webcam (rather than a standard monitor-mounted camera) can be placed wherever the instructor needs it.
- Lapel mics with 20' cables capture the instructor's voice.
- A USB document camera can project an image to the front of the live classroom and can be used as a "shared screen" for your online participants.
Contact classroomcentral@odu.edu to have this equipment installed in a classroom.