Duke University Extends Global Learning with Cisco TelePresence Lecture Hall

Duke University and Cisco, a major player in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, have unveiled a first-of-its-kind virtual lecture hall for students enrolled in Duke's Fuqua School of Business in Durham, N.C. 

 

Officials with Cisco (News - Alert) said that the new lecture facility, which has been cCustom-built using Cisco TelePresence technology, provides business school students with access to professors, business leaders and guest lecturers located around the globe, extending the in-person classroom environment across campuses and into the business world. 

 

Company officials said that Cisco TelePresence provides students and professors with an immersive, lifelike communications experience that combines high-definition video and high-quality audio to realistically convey the body language and human elements that are critical to the interactive nature of a classroom. 

 

The new virtual lecture hall will also help presenters extend their expertise beyond the physical campus to students across multiple campuses as though they were sitting in the same room. 

 

According to the company officials, the custom-built lecture facility includes three 103-inch plasma displays, six 1080p cameras for both panoramic and lifesize immersive video experiences, an instructor's podium with two document cameras for sharing class materials, three remote student displays for the instructor to view remote classrooms from the podium, and 66 custom push-to-talk microphones for interactive discussions.

 

'We are now realizing the future classroom that can support education with the global foundation that students need today and in the future,” Blair Sheppard, dean, Duke University, said in a statement.

 

Sheppard said that this TelePresence lecture hall will facilitate an immersion into the classroom experience from points around the country and around the world for embedded and connected learning and collaboration.

 

'Education is fundamentally a collaborative, interactive endeavor, critical to the success of future generations,” John Chambers (News - Alert), chairman and CEO, Cisco, said.

 

Chambers said that with new collaboration tools, such as the virtual learning environments created by Cisco TelePresence, educational institutions like Duke can extend their academic expertise and share resources with students and teachers around the globe.