Bachelor of Business Administration students Alexis Bouma, left, Alissa Ward and Emily Grey use the new technology available in the Library’s group study rooms to review marketing videos and projects together.
March 31, 2017 - 10:00am
The new technology includes digital displays and attachments to hook laptop computers and other mobile devices up to the displays
Walk past the group study rooms at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Nanaimo Campus Library and you will see groups of students hard at work, typing away on laptops, scrawling notes in notebooks and talking and laughing with each other. Chances are good you will also see them watching seminars or reviewing PowerPoint presentations together on the new big-screen digital displays in the newly renovated rooms.
The renovations to the five group study rooms in the library – two on the main floor and three on the stacks floor – as well as the new viewing room on the main floor took place in December 2016, just before the Christmas break.
In each room, a console was installed in the middle of the group study table with power outlets, USB hookups, Internet cables, an HDMI cable, other cable hookups and headphone jacks. At the back of the room is a big screen that can be hooked up to laptops via the centre console, on which students can watch videos, edit presentations and reports together, and discuss web content. There have also been upgrades to the ventilation systems and soundproofing so the rooms can accommodate this new technology.
“The new equipment in the group study rooms is all in support of student collaboration,” says Ben Hyman, University Librarian. “Coming together to share ideas and complete group assignments in the library just got that much easier.”
The new technology in the group study rooms was revealed in January, and library staff are noticing that students have been using the new features a lot. Alexis Bouma, Emily Grey and Alissa Ward, all second-year Bachelor of Business Administration students, use the rooms on a weekly basis, as the business program at VIU includes a lot of group work. They were pleasantly surprised to see the new technology in place in January, and have been using it for coursework like watching marketing videos together so that they can have group discussions about the material.
“It’s a really nice resource – you can play it right before you go to class so it’s fresh in your mind,” says Bouma. “It’s hard to all huddle around one computer.”
“Every project has media somehow involved, and if we are not using Google docs, we’re watching a video or reading an online article,” adds Grey.
Ward says the group study rooms are popular on campus – they have to book them at least three days in advance – and it would be great to have even more of them.
Aside from the new technology in the group study rooms, charging bars have also been installed underneath the bar-style seating on the fourth floor, allowing students to charge their devices as they study.
The new technology in the Library is made possible by the Student Services Fee, which was approved last spring by the VIU Board of Governors to provide new benefits for students in three tangible areas: health and well-being, experiential learning, and access to technology.
VIU is investigating other new technologies to improve the reliability of the computers in the 24/7 Library Commons area, expanding technology lending options and providing secure charging stations at a variety of locations at the Nanaimo, Cowichan and Powell River campuses.
To book a study room, visit viu.ca/library, select “book a…” and follow the prompts.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Jenn McGarrigle, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University
P: 250.740.6559 | C: 250.619.6860 | E: jenn.mcgarrigle@viu.ca | T: @viunews
Tags: Teaching and Learning
