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Ventspils University of Applied Sciences interactive digital classroom opened
July 3, 2020
On Friday, June 26, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS) held a formal opening of the interactive digital classroom (IDC) that was created within the framework of the projects “Next Generation Micro Cities of Europe (No. UIA03-250)” (NextGen) and “Modernization of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences STEM Study Programmes” (No. 8.1.1.0/17/I/ 007). The event was attended by VUAS management, lecturers and students, as well as representatives of Ventspils City Council.
VUAS Rector Kārlis Krēsliņš opened the event and expressed satisfaction with the work done within the project and the opportunities that will be available to both lecturers and students in this classroom. After that VUAS lecturer and project coordinator Gints Dreifogels told the participants about the technological possibilities that are provided by the new IDC classroom and the purchased equipment. One of the graduates and current VUAS lecturer Juris Kļonovs, who currently works in Italy and conducts lectures to university students remotely, also joined the event online, demonstrating that lecturers at VUAS will now be able to conduct lectures from anywhere in the world, where the Internet is available. J. Kļonovs also told that VUAS themselves have made a great contribution to the creation and programming of IDC.
The participants of the event had the opportunity to try out the new touch pads. Educational technology expert Toms Urdze had taken care of the task − each visitor created a drawing of a bird on their computer, and the lecturer from the control panel was able to display these drawings on the big class screens. At the end of the event, the Chairman of the Ventspils City Council Aivars Lembergs also praised him, mentioning that he has had had a vision of such a class for quite some time, where students and lecturers could connect remotely and participate in the learning process, and now it can be tested in practice.
The new IDC has been established as a result of two projects implemented at VUAS. From project No. 8.1.1.0/17/I/007 “Modernization of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences STEM Study Programmes” 25 sets of computers and screens were purchased for the total amount of 17 225 EUR, but from the project No. UIA03-250 “Next Generation Micro Cities of Europe” the IDC was equipped with 2 PTZ (decoded as pan-tilt-zoom) cameras with very high resolution quality, with them it is possible to follow the activities of students and lecturers in the classroom by connecting remotely; interactive smart board, 2 LED screens, screen and computer communication control unit, speaker system and wireless microphones, 25 Wacom Intuos Pro (paper edition) touch pads and 25 webcams. Within the project No. UIA03-250 the initial cost of classroom was estimated at EUR 100 240, however, with a slight change in the concept of the classroom and the digital solution development context, the actual cost of the classroom was EUR 32 405. Thanks to the savings created, VUAS will also be able to create a video recording class, where lecturers will be able to remotely record learning courses that are available to a very wide range of listeners (similar to Udemy or Coursera training courses). It will also be possible to purchase new additional solutions to expand the functionality of the digital classroom, as technological development is happening very fast nowadays.
The installation of the IDC coincided exactly with the occurrence of the emergency situation in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the class was ready to perform its basic functions (for remote communications) already on March 11th of this year. However, the full functionality still needs to be worked on by the university IT specialists, lecturers and education experts in order to install all the necessary software, add all the purchased equipment and allow the classroom to work fully as planned.
Both projects still foresee significant improvements at VUAS: within the framework of the project No. 8.1.1.0/17/I/007 VUAS building A currently is undergoing extensive repairs in order to make it better suited and more accessible to people with reduced mobility. Additional purchases will be made to provide STEM study programmes (infrastructure replenishment), while project’s No. UIA03-250 main goal is to support University’s teaching staff digital skills and STEM study programmes content development by digitising and modernising them.
Also until by the end of the project No. UIA03-250 in October 2021, the following works will be completed: a digital tool/application will be developed and published to help lecturers and students easily plan and review their study schedule, statistically analyze the exploitation of the premises, and ensure information flow between lecturers, students and administration; existing and new modern training courses will be modernized, in which lecturers will use the latest educational technology methodologies, as well as the university common distance learning strategy will be developed and content for a new IT distance learning program will be developed, which can be acquired anywhere in the world.
Project No.UIA03-250 "Next Generation Micro Cities of Europe" the total budget is € 6 246 405.15, including ERDF co-financing of € 4 997 124.12. The total project costs of the activities implemented at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences are 720 059 euros, of which 576 047.20 euros are European Regional Development Fund funding, 144 011.80 euros are State budget co-financing and 12 557.00 euros are Ventspils University of Applied Sciences funding. The project will be implemented from November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2021.
Project No. 8.1.1.0/17/I/007 “Modernization of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences STEM Study Programmes” total project costs are 1 767 572.31 EUR, which consists of ERDF funding - 1 150 235.96 EUR and State budget funding - 617 318.35 EUR. The project implementation period is from November 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020.
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