Technology Committee

Technology Plan - Media Services

Media Services supports the diverse media-related needs and requirements of the Chabot campus and the District by providing the following services:

• Audiovisual equipment to support classroom instruction, class projects and campus events
• Videoconferencing and teleconferencing to support Distance Education, conferences and meetings
• Graphic design and desktop publishing to support faculty, staff and administrators with instructional and promotional materials
• Digital reproduction & offset printing (including finishing/binding options) to transform duplication requests into finished documents
• Custom course readers to support faculty and students with affordable supplemental teaching materials
• Media duplication of VHS tapes, audio cassettes, CD’s, and DVD’s

Current Environment

Media Systems Multimedia has become an essential, integrated component to the delivery of course content for many classes. Chabot College provides two options to support the campus with products and services.

• Permanent or semester-long installations, depending on the needs and requirements of faculty and staff. Overhead transparency projectors are installed in approximately 55% of our general classrooms. Technology Equipped Classrooms (aka “smart classrooms”) account for approximately 18% of general assignment classrooms. Televisions, VCR/DVD players, carousel projectors, and other media equipment are deployed as required.
• Circulating equipment is dispensed for short-term use as requested. We support a “lending library” of audiovisual equipment including computer carts (containing a Windows or Macintosh computer, a projector, a closed-captioning-capable DVD or VHS player, and speakers), data projectors, laptop computers, VCR/DVD players, cameras (both still and motion), public address systems, and more.
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Teleconferencing

Teleconferencing technology provides an opportunity for faculty and staff to communicate face-to-face with people anywhere in the world. It allows parties to interact via motion-video and high-fidelity audio as if both parties were in the same room. In addition, PowerPoint presentations, computer images, movies, and other devices can be added to the multimedia experience.

Chabot College currently has three systems for this purpose. Two of these facilities are located in the Nursing department, and are dedicated to supporting Distance Education for their curriculum. The third system, in building 100, is used for meetings, demonstrations, and classes.

Digital Reproduction & Offset Printing

Our campus supports the diverse and demanding needs of faculty, staff, administration, and students. We currently support a campus-wide convenience copier program, the centralized print/copy center, and a pay-for-print program for student use in the Library, WRAC Center, and the computer lab in 3906.

Future Plan

Media Systems

In the short term, Media Services will continue to maintain and replace overhead projectors, 35mm slide projectors, and screens, and gradually convert from VHS video to DVD capabilities. All newly purchased media equipment will be capable of showing closed-captioned media. Current digital computer projectors do not have the capability to show captioned material, so in the interim, we recommend that decoders be purchased to allow the use of captioned material with these projectors.

Our long-term goal is to have all general assignment classrooms be Technology Equipped Classrooms. The presentation systems in these classrooms will include a ceiling mounted data projector, motorized projection screen, networked resident computer, VCR/DVD player, closed captioning, a document camera, inputs for guest laptops, and a user friendly control system, all incorporated into an ADA-compatible instructor station desk. As the Bond-initiated renovations and construction of new buildings progresses, Technology Equipped Classrooms will be phased in as budgeting allows.
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As more equipment becomes permanently installed, the process surrounding the circulating lending library will be revised. Delivery and pickup of equipment will shift to the requestor. Media Services technical staff will be more focused on providing support services rather than pickup/delivery services.

Equipment must be replaced every five years to remain up to date. The College must fund and implement a regular five-year replacement cycle for all media systems. Digital Reproduction & Offset Printing We recommend doing the following in the next two years:

• Design third-party contracts with the flexibility to accommodate both current technology and technology of the future. For example, features and functions of copiers increasingly depend on computer support as the need for software applications and networking become standard processes.
• Implement an on-line system for requesting and managing print jobs done by Media Services. This system would replace the manual, analog submission of print/copy request forms utilizing hard-copy originals with a robust, electronic, web-enabled interface.
• Replace the offset printing press with a networked, digital duplicator. Advantages of this migration include:
  • eliminating the photographic chemistry involved in the plate-making process, thereby making us more “green”
  • providing a common digital front-end for receiving document masters and providing a higher quality finished product
  • gaining productivity by streamlining and simplifying the printing process

Training

The College must provide funding for us to create and produce instructional videos to train faculty and staff on the operation, use, and applications of multimedia equipment. Videos would be available in multiple formats, including hard-copy, DVD, and online at the Media Services website. Training modules might include:
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• how to operate and use a computer cart
• how to operate and use a Technology-Equipped Classroom
• how to operate and use the Boardroom presentation system
• how to set up and operate a laptop
• how to set up and operate a document camera

Website Upgrade In conjunction with a general redesign of the College website, Media Services should establish a central, always-accessible, online location that will allow users to be informed and knowledgeable about all the support services and processes Media Services offers. Employees should be able to submit printing and copying requests, download training videos, and access room-view software via the website.

File submission of print/copy requests, training videos, room-view software, interactive forms, and other information naturally lends itself to having a dynamic, interesting, and informative web portal.