Designed For People, Fueled By Technology

Thanks to the addition of cutting-edge technology, the newly renovated and expanded 51�� Cox School of Business will transform the classroom experience.

Cox Today

Development

July 18, 2024

Author: Peter Simek

The scene opens with a professor entering the classroom. With the flick of a switch, several large flat-screen monitors illuminate the space. Cameras carefully positioned around the room turn on, and the AI technology built into their software helps them locate the professor and track her movements.

As the professor begins the lecture, overhead microphones capture crystal-clear audio as she moves through the room, interacting with students. A student references some research contained in a spreadsheet on a personal computer. In an instant, that spreadsheet is shared on the classroom’s monitors, and the professor can position it next to the lecture notes, using her hands to manipulate the information between the documents right there on the screen in front of the class.

This scene might sound like a university-set remake of the 1990s sci-fi film “Minority Report,” but it describes what the classroom experience at 51�� Cox School of Business will look like after the opening of its new home, the David B. Miller Business Quadrangle, this fall. The Cox School has planned for the future by designing a state-of-the-art educational facility that incorporates new technology into the classroom for collaborative and interactive learning.

The David B. Miller Business Quadrangle will bring more than new buildings to 51��. The hope is it will help shape the evolution of the business school, boost its recognition and esteem, and transform how future business leaders learn.

“I’m reminded of what Churchill said when he was arguing to rebuild the House of Commons,” says Senior Associate Dean Bill Dillon about the the new Cox School facility. “He said, ‘We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.’”

Senior Associate Dean Bill Dillon, the Cox School’s Herman W. Lay Professor of Marketing (left), worked closely with Academic Technology Service Director Mike Gebreselassie (right) to integrate advanced technology throughout the learning spaces in the Miller Business Quadrangle.

Cox 2.0

Administrators at 51�� Cox have long known the school needed a facilities upgrade. The Joseph Wylie Fincher Memorial Building, built in 1954, was prone to flooding and had limited flexibility in the size and design of its classroom space. It was developed in an era during which college classrooms were set up for professors to deliver lectures or students to participate in seminars.

However, over the past 70 years, business education has evolved considerably. Not only have universities begun new remote learning programs, such as online MBAs—a trend that accelerated considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic—but professors have been looking for more ways to help students collaborate, conduct research and interact with professors during lectures.

Mike Gebreselassie, Cox School of Business academic technology service director, says when his team began the planning process for the new facility, they looked at how corporations leverage technology to expand their capabilities and foster collaboration.

“One of the Cox School’s many strengths is that most of our faculty either come from a corporate background or are actively involved in the corporate space,” Gebreselassie says. “So they bring that understanding of advanced technologies directly into our classrooms. By designing with this understanding, we not only improve the learning experience, but also create a space where students can effectively prepare for the business world.”

In response to students’ increasing expectations, Cox has led the way in using advanced technology in the classrooms since the mid-2000s, such as installing in-classroom camera systems with multiple angles and lecture capture capabilities. But the prospect of the new facility offered an opportunity to take these ideas to the next level.

The new building integrates advanced technologies such as ADA-compliant lecterns, multiple ceiling speakers, microphones, wireless presentation options, laser projectors, Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras, confidence monitors, listening assist devices, interactive whiteboard displays and intuitive AV touch panels designed for novice and advanced users. The additions of advanced PTZ cameras, pro-quality audio and interactive displays will enable live lectures and interactive student activities for in-person sessions, creating a dynamic learning environment.

All classrooms are now tailored for hybrid learning mode, to enhance collaboration and to ensure inclusivity and accessibility.

MIKE GEBRESELASSIE, ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY SERVICE DIRECTOR

“All classrooms are now tailored for hybrid learning mode, to enhance collaboration and to ensure inclusivity and accessibility,” Gebreselassie says. “All efforts were made to ensure students from each seat in the classroom will be able to see contents displayed and stay engaged.”

In response to the fact that more education now takes place in virtual spaces, the David B. Miller Business Quadrangle features two virtual teaching classrooms designed to facilitate engagement with students attending classes online. The facility also includes a studio equipped to produce professional-grade videos at the push of a button, plus a green screen room supported by a professional production team to help instructors create fully immersive digital content. Faculty will have conference rooms equipped for video conferencing that will feature similar digital interactive displays for seminars, virtual office hours or meetings with students.

“The integration was motivated by the shift toward hybrid classrooms or the blended teaching model to facilitate both in-person and remote learning, foster student collaboration and ensure educational content is accessible to all students, regardless of physical location,” Gebreselassie says. “The desire to have the flexibility of teaching models (synchronous and asynchronous) has become part of the requirement in designing or upgrading of classrooms in higher education.”

In addition to enabling superior virtual and asynchronous production capacity, the technological enhancements help to create a more dynamic in-person learning environment for Cox students. The facility includes several “cluster classrooms” equipped with swivel chairs for quick transitions to breakout sessions, as well as wireless casting to allow professors and students to collaborate on materials across several screens simultaneously.

A new behavioral lab also creates opportunities to conduct research within the Marketing and newly merged Management, Strategy and Entrepreneurship departments.

“More and more of what we do in terms of pedagogy is experiential learning, and that takes many shapes,” Dillon says. “But generally, it takes groups of students working together and those types of classrooms where we don’t have to go to a breakout room; students can just turn around and work with a group member who’s sitting around them.

“That’s going to facilitate a lot of the learning and increase the likelihood of students getting the material in a new way. It is really the design of the classroom coupled with the technology.”

Setting the Stage for Success

It can be challenging for institutions to keep pace with constantly evolving technological innovations. Gebreselassie says that, in line with the Office of Information Technology’s (OIT) commitment to advancing technology, research, teaching, innovation and excellence, the new Cox facilities are designed to allow for ongoing capabilities upgrades and iterations. That includes building out an extensive IT infrastructure that supports the new technologies in the classrooms and handles further additions and enhancements to the system.

Ensuring that faculty can easily incorporate this new technology into their teaching approach is another important priority for making the most of the upgrades. Many of the systems have been designed to be as easy to use as possible, such as the aforementioned one-button studios and green screen room. Gebreselassie and his OIT team have established a collaborative environment between the Academic Technology team and the greater 51�� IT and AV support teams to ensure the Cox School’s technological systems are both reliable and fully supported to minimize disruptions while enhancing the learning experience.

Gebreselassie says this environment will also help track the implementation and impact of the new systems. They plan to conduct student surveys, measure engagement metrics and monitor the utilization of the various technologies using room management systems to ensure that faculty feel empowered to take advantage of them.

Being able to compare academic performance data pre- and post- implementation, Gebreselassie adds, will help them understand the impact these tech advancements have on learning outcomes.

Improved academic performance has always been the main driver for reimagining the Cox School of Business; boosting the reach and reputation of the University has been a close second. The enhanced, high-tech classroom experience is essential to achieving those goals. And the top-tier programming already established as part of the Cox experience—such as the Leaders on Leadership keynote lectures from prominent business speakers—can be turned into professional-grade broadcasts.

The opening of the David B. Miller Business Quadrangle coincides with 51��’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)—a powerful combination that will bring attention to 51�� and elevate Cox’s national standing among business schools. (Read more about 51��’s move to the ACC)

Dillon says Cox aims to attract the best faculty and the brightest, hardest-working students. “If those two boxes are checked, a lot of other stuff takes care of itself.”

These innovative technologies, in combination with the Miller Business Quadrangle’s other expansions and upgrades, will make those two critical boxes easier to check than ever before.

July 18, 2024