IVN goes high-definition
Minot State University showed off its new high-definition interactive video room to the media and campus members on Jan. 10. Media and observers were gathered in Administration 152 at MSU, while some 90 miles away Larry Brooks, associate dean for academic affairs at MSU-Bottineau, was dissecting a fetal pig. Those looking in at Minot could see every move Brooks made in close-up, vivid detail with the new technology.
"The clarity is much superior to the old studio," said Brooks. "That should facilitate learning."
The technology enables an instructor to show a video or PowerPoint, a close-up of a microscope slide, a Web site or to demonstrate seamlessly over the network, all while still talking.
Jerry Rostad, director of the state Interactive Video Network, said it is the closest thing to a traditional classroom setting. High definition is particularly important for classes where it is vital that students see close-up what a professor is doing, such as the biology classes taught by Brooks. MSU-Bottineau has two of the high-definition labs; MSU has one, as well as Lake Region State College and North Dakota State University.
IVN rooms that utilize the older technology are still being heavily utilized. MSU and MSU-Bottineau offer 35 percent of the classes in the North Dakota University System held over the IVN network.
--excerpted in part from the Minot Daily News