West Virginia University Academic Innovation’s new approach to classroom design won the top prize in AMX by HARMAN Innovation Awards Active Learning category for its collaborative classroom in Percival Hall.

Room 335 is designed for students to access the technology with their own devices for group projects. While WVU has more than 100 technology enabled classrooms, this one is unique. There are four large screen flat-panel displays around the room and many input panels for students to connect phones, tablets, or laptop. The professor can then monitor each group and share their work across the multiple screens.

“The faculty who use this classroom love the design because it easily facilitates group work and this allows them a variety of collaborative set-ups,” said Sue Day-Perroots, associate vice president of Academic Innovation. “This classroom lends itself perfectly to the ‘flipped’ classroom model where time is spent working on exercises together while watching lectures online out of the classroom.”

Roger Neptune, manager of the iDesign Classroom unit in Academic Innovation, accepted the $25,000 award in AMX hardware and software for WVU from Rashid Skaf, president of AMX, and Dan Kinnaman, publisher of University Business, at the UBTech national conference in Orlando, Florida.

“This was not a ‘we will build it, they will come’ project,” said Neptune. “From the beginning we included faculty and facilities in the planning and design of the space and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

-WVU-

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CONTACT: Roger Neptune, manager, iDesign Classroom
(304) 293-2832 Roger.Neptune@mail.wvu.edu

MEDIA: To arrange a visit, please contact Roger Neptune.

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