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TLT Classrooms Overview

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2.0 - Updated on 01-30-2024 by Roger Files (raf)

1.0 - Authored on 03-31-2023 by Kristina Allen (kma58)

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Overview of TLT Technology Enhanced Classrooms

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Students

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Classrooms Overview - Overview of TLT Technology Enhanced Classrooms

 

Types of Classrooms

We offer three different types of technology classrooms, each providing different levels of technology for teaching.

 

Instructor Technology Enhanced Classroom (ITEC)

ITEC classrooms include:

  • Instructor podium with a Windows or Mac computer (or both)
  • Wireless Internet
  • Plug-in capability for an instructor-supplied laptop and USB devices
  • Remote mouse
  • Ceiling-mounted data projector
  • Microphone (in rooms seating more than 60)
  • Audio system for multimedia presentations
  • VHS/DVD player (available on request in some rooms)
  • Audio/Video Control System
  • Lighting controls
  • Help phone
  • iClicker receiver

 

 

Projector-Only Technology Enhanced Classroom (PTEC)

PTEC classrooms offer a bring-your-own-device environment for instructors.  No podium or computers are provided, however, instructors may connect their own laptop or mobile device to the projector and sound system. All PTEC rooms include:

  • Ceiling-mounted video/data projector.
  • VGA and HDMI Plug-in capability for an instructor-supplied laptop.
  • House sound system for audio and video presentations.
  • iClicker receiver may be provided on request.
  • Some rooms offer wireless presentation capabilities with Solstice pods.

Please note that PTEC rooms do not have a DVD/VCR. If your laptop has a DVD drive, we urge you to use that device for such playback. If VHS playback is needed, contact MediaTech at 865-5400 to arrange for a TV and VCR to be delivered to the room.

To connect your laptop to the projector in a PTEC room:

  1. Locate the metal bin in the vicinity of the front of the room that houses the cable and remote to be used with the projector. Point the remote at the front of the projector and press the power button (top left button for Epson, top right button for Sharp) of the remote.
  2. Power on laptop if not already on.
  3. Remove the VGA/Audio cable from the bin and connect it to the laptop display port and the 1/8″ audio jack. (Mac users will need to bring the appropriate adapter).  If using HDMI, connect that cable to HDMI port on laptop.
  4. If your image is displayed, proceed as normal. If your signal does not automatically display, follow the instructions provided by your laptop manufacturer to enable external display.
  5. Be sure audio is enabled on your laptop if audio is desired. Volume can be controlled via the “Volume” up and down buttons located on the projector remote (bottom right on Epson, middle right on Sharp).
  6. If during class you wish the blank the projector without turning it off, you can toggle that feature by pressing the “1” key on an Epson remote or the “A/V Mute” button on a Sharp Remote
  7. When finished, disconnect VGA/audio or HDMI cable from the laptop and return it to bin. (The cable to the wall connection should remain connected.)
  8. Power off the projector by pressing the power button twice. (Please note that if you need to restart the projector, the projector will need to go through a 30-40 second cooldown cycle before it will restart.)
  9. Return the remote to the bin.

 

 

Student Technology Enhanced Classroom (STEC)

STEC spaces provide technology for both instructors and students.  STECs have all of the features of ITECs as well as the following:

  • Student computer stations with Windows or Macintosh computers
  • One or more printers
  • Some classrooms offer individual student stations, while others offer collaborative student stations
Classroom Control Software

STEC podiums with Windows PCs have a custom application called Classroom Control which provides a mechanism for lecturers to control student machines in STEC rooms. From the podium computer, the instructor may:

  • See a map of the classroom showing who is logged onto each computer
  • View or save a class list of all the users currently logged on
  • “Lock” all computers or a specific computer so students can’t “play” while their attention is desired at the podium
  • “Unlock” all computers or a specific computer when ready for students to work
  • Send messages to all computers or a single computer
  • Command computers to and from eTesting Mode to allow exam delivery from the Penn State Learning Management System

If you experience problems with the software, please contact TechClass@psu.edu.

Using the Classroom Control Application
  1. Log into the podium Windows computer.
  2. Start the Classroom Setup program by double-clicking on the Lion Tamer icon on the Desktop.
Notes on running Classroom Control
  • The first launch after you log on may take a few seconds.
  • A “Wake On LAN” packet is broadcast to all computers in the room. This should wake them all up if they are asleep
  • An attempt to contact every computer is made until a reply is received; this is repeated every 10 seconds for about 3 minutes. Computers not replying after a minute or so may be turned off completely or broken. You may wish to try powering these machines on manually.
  • Broken computers can be ignored; right-click the box and in the pop-up window check “Exclude computer from commands”
  • Most controls have “tool tips”—place the mouse over a button or other control and wait for a second for a pop-up text with some explanation of what it does.
  • The tooltip for an individual computer will show the logged-on user’s name.
  • Click an individual computer for a dialog window to open up to control that one computer.
  • Before locking computers, explain to your students what you are doing and why. It may spare them some confusion.
  • Even if you don’t use Classroom Control, you might wish to launch the program anyway. It wakes up all student computers and prevents them from going back to sleep. Logging on will be faster for your students.
  • If you have all students logged on, you can use the Class List function (under the File menu) to make an attendance list.
Contacting Computers

When the program is started a WOL (Wake On LAN) packet is broadcasted for each one to wake up any that are on standby, and then all the computers are contacted and asked to send information to Classroom Control when someone logs on or off. This is repeated until an answer is received. Computers that are turned off or not working will remain in the “no answer” color and won’t have a userid listed or “(free)”. If these are turned on or rebooted manually the program will connect to them automatically.

While Classroom Control is running the computers in the classroom should stay “awake” even when not in use. Instructors may wish to run the program just to wake up all the computers and keep them awake as students arrive, even if other features are not used.

Controlling All Computers

To send a command to all the student computers, select one of the commands (e.g., Lock Screens, Unlock Screens, Send Message), and click the [Send Cmd] button. A computer (perhaps one being used by a TA), can be excluded from commands sent to all by clicking on that computer and checking the “Exclude computer from commands sent to all” check box.

Controlling Individual Computers

Click on a computer “label” to open a window that sends commands to just that computer.  Everything except the IP address will be filled in. If someone is logged in, their userid and name will be displayed. Some buttons may not be visible if a particular function is not allowed. Like the main window, if you mouse over a button or text box a tooltip will pop up with more information.

Locking and Unlocking

“Locking” causes a window to be opened on the student's computer that prevents other programs from being used. A message is displayed in the middle of the screen; the default message is “Your Attention is Requested by the Instructor”, but you may change this. A timer will automatically remove the locking screen (in case something goes wrong with the system). The default timeout is 5 minutes, but you may change that.

  • To lock all computers: Click the “Lock Screens” radio button, change the text message and time out if you wish, and click the [Send Cmd] button.
  • To unlock all computers: Click the “Unlock Screens” radio button and then the [Send Cmd] button to unlock all screens before the automatic timeout.
  • To lock one computer: Click on the computer’s label, and click the [Lock] button in the pop-up window.
  • To unlock one computer: This advanced exercise is left to the reader to figure out.

Some notes on locking and unlocking machines:

  • You should unlock all before the students need to log off. While Ctrl-Alt-Del still works, and a user can log off while the “lock screen” is up, if an application is open and it prompts the user to save data, the logoff process won’t complete.
  • When the lock command is sent a timer is started on the Classroom Setup program, and a countdown will appear on the window just below the frame with the command options. This will be an approximate time the lock will time out on the student computers. You might keep an eye on that in case you want to renew the lock.
  • A second lock command can be sent to extend the lock timeout before the screens automatically unlock.
Sending A Message

You can send text to all computers or a single computer that pops up in a window. Students have to press a [Close] button to get rid of it.  This window will not be seen when the computer is in “eTesting” mode because pop-up windows can’t be seen when the ANGEL Secure Browser is running.

Forced Logoff

A user can be forced off by clicking on the computer label and then clicking the [Logoff] button. They will get a warning message that stays up for a number of seconds (the default is 60, but you can change that), giving them time to save documents. Use “-1” to force the user off without a warning dialog, which would be rude.

  • This might be useful for a hung system or for expelling an intruder.
  • There is no ability to log off everyone.
  • The logoff button works for computers in “eTesting” mode, but the warning window cannot be displayed, so you must enter “-1” for the “Warning message duration”. To do this easily double-click the “60” to highlight all the text and type “-1”. Note also that the PSU Alerts program needs to be running to force the user off, and that does not run at the start of a logon to a computer in eTesting mode (so logon is faster). You will have to wait a minute or so before it is started before the user can be forced off.
Reboot

An individual computer can be rebooted by clicking on the computer label and then clicking the [Reboot] button. If someone is logged on the computer will wait until they log off before rebooting.  There is no ability to reboot every computer.

Class List

Pick “Class List” from the File menu to get a pop-up window with a comma-delimited list of logged-on users (last name, first name, userid). The text is automatically copied to the clipboard and can be pasted into Excel or other applications, or the information can be saved as a file by clicking the obviously labeled button.

 

 

List of Classrooms - List of General Purpose Classrooms at University Park 

LAT supports the general purpose classrooms (GPCs) at University Park. 

Below is the list of general-purpose classrooms at UP that LAT / TLT supports.

 

 

 

User Guide - User Guide for TLT Technology Enhanced Classrooms

 

Unlocking the Podium

We have been gradually removing padlocks from our podiums, yet there are still some out there.  If the podium in your classroom is locked:

  1. Locate the lock
  2. Enter the combination. (If you don’t know it, call 814-777-0035)
  3. Push up on the lock and then pull down
  4. Remove the lock
  5. Scramble the combination
  6. Open the doors

 

Control Systems

There are currently two types of control systems installed in technology classroom podiums:

  • Tech Class Control System (TCCS) – most common, white LCD Crestron touch screen on the podium dash panel.
  • Crestron MPB-10 button panel – black, two rows of buttons with volume control.

 

TCCS Crestron© Touch panel

An LCD touch panel is located on the dash panel of the podium near the lamp on the external connection plate.  To operate the system:

  1. Touch the LCD screen to start the system.  The projector(s) will automatically power on and begin warming up.
  2. Select projector input using the touch panel buttons.

PC, Mac, laptop, and document camera (where available) input source buttons are on the left side of the touch panel. DVD/VCR, closed caption, and external video source buttons are on the right side of the touch panel.

To display closed captioning with video input, press the CC button on the right side of the touch panel.

To temporarily blank the projector, press the Blank button on the right side of the touch panel.

To change the classroom audio level, press the VOLUME button on the right side of the touch panel. Adjust the volume level using the up and down arrows on the touch panel screen.

To turn off the projector and control system press the OFF button on the right side of the touch panel. Select “YES” on the touch panel to confirm shutdown.

 

Crestron MPB-10 button panel

To turn on the projector press the “Display On” button.  Select a source from the top row of the button panel.  For VGA or HDMI connection select the “Laptop” button.  You may adjust the house sound system level with the volume control.  The projector can be temporarily blacked out with the “Blank” button.

When you’re done please press the “Display Off” button to shut down the projector.

 

Classroom Control

If you are lecturing in a STEC classroom, you have the ability to control the students’ PCs (we do not have an implementation for Apple computers). See the STEC section above for setup and usage instructions.

 

Equipment Demonstrations

If you have never used one of our technology-enhanced classrooms, we recommend you get some “hands-on” experience. Request a one-on-one Classroom Orientation Session well in advance of your lecture or event.

 

 

Request an Orientation Session

Instructors may request a one-on-one training session for any technology classroom. Our staff will familiarize you with the technology to help you use it to its fullest potential. Whenever possible, the orientation will be held in your classroom to familiarize you with the equipment you will be using while teaching.

Email your request to TechClass@psu.edu. Please include:

  • Building
  • Room number
  • Your hours of availability

You can also request an orientation session by calling the LAT Hotline.

For rooms in the following locations, please contact:

  • Thomas Building – Jeff Schomer – 863-8505
  • Willard Building – Chris Opall – 865-2788

Please schedule your orientation at least 48 hours in advance of the requested time. Because of the scheduling of these rooms, it is often not possible to meet for an orientation on short notice.

 

 

Classroom & Technology Design, and Minimum Requirements

Penn State’s Facilities, Resources, and Planning group, in collaboration with the Learning Space Leadership Committee, maintains a set of design guidelines and construction requirements for use both by Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant and by outside contractors when designing and building General Purpose Classrooms at Penn State.