1907
Education by Train
As we do now, we used the technology available at the time to assist with making education accessible. At the start of the century, professors traveled by train and buggy from Logan to provide new information and techniques to rural residents.
1911
First Correspondence Study Courses Organized
A precursor to online courses, materials were sent back and forth through the mail. The curriculum included agricultural and general education courses and residents of Brigham City, Northern Utah, and Idaho took part.
1967-1996
USU's Fly-Down Program
Moving from trains to planes, we flew "flying professors" to the newly created Uintah Basin and Moab campuses two or three times per week.
The flights to these rural airports traversed Utah's highest mountain peaks in various weather conditions. According to one retired USU English professor, the adventure was "not for the faint of heart."
1984
Video Broadcasting Begins
Our first electronic distance classrooms came online, increasing our ability to serve the State of Utah and surrounding states.
Several systems were used during this time, starting with USU's very own "ComNet." Shortly after, with support from our friends at the newly created State Educational Telecom Operations Center, now known as the Utah Education Network (UEN), we also began using "EdNet."
These systems ran over microwave antennas, fiber, and the National AG-SAT Telecommunication Network. Broadcasts typically involved two-way audio, live transmission of an electronic AT&T whiteboard, and slow-scan video of the instructor. The slows-can video took 30 seconds to capture one black and white frame.
1996
Online Education
We became one of the first universities in the state to adopt online education by moving paper-based Independent Study courses to using email to send assignments back and forth.
A year later, in 1997, our first fully online distance education courses are offered, including Music 1010.
1997
Satellite Broadcasts
With continued support from UEN, we transitioned to using a statewide satellite system to bridge students together from multiple locations.
The system provided full-motion, color video. There was a noticeable delay when students on another campus would respond. Instructors would need to wait several seconds after asking a question to hear replies.
When we first started broadcasts over satellite, we had four channels available to us, which meant we could broadcast four courses simultaneously. Eventually we got to eight channels.
2006
Interactive Video Conferencing (IVC)
Following the lead of UEN, we began using Polycom and Tandberg/Cisco IVC as the base technology of our broadcast courses. This opened up possibilities drastically. The technology provided high quality, two-way video, audio, content sharing and more reliable connections with only a split second delay.
Utilizing UEN's network and IVC bridging backbone, IVC allowed us to broadcast more classes than ever; eventually broadcasting over 350 courses per week to 30+ locations.
April 2011
Zoom is Founded
IVC continued to serve as the backbone of our broadcast courses, but some online courses use Adobe Connect and Webex.
Fall 2012
Distance Education Building &
Beta Classrooms Come Online
The building includes twelve distance education classrooms built specifically for broadcasting with specialized lighting, paint, windows, and angled walls.
Two classrooms, 109 and 211, were designed to be "Beta Classrooms," providing space to try out new technology, layouts, and furniture. Both rooms started out in an active learning format with Vaddio tracking cameras and Cisco IVC codecs at each table to facilitate breakouts over IVC.
During this time, a great relationship was formed with Cisco, with USU becoming one of their beta partners.
Fall 2017
The Classroom Innovation Lab Opens
The lab provides a space for faculty to interact with new technology and see its practical application in the classroom.
Past technology showcased in the lab include the Microsoft Surface Studio, an Alexa classroom integration, various VR and AR headsets, eGlass, and write-on walls.
2018
Faculty Request Zoom
Faculty requested to use Zoom in place of existing solutions due to its ease of use and features, like breakout rooms. Some departments in our College of Education began using Zoom for their online courses in place of Adobe Connect and Webex.
Following these requests and actions, we had several discussions with Cisco where we shared and discussed the requests and needs of our faculty, particularly the request for breakout rooms, which didn't exist in Webex (Meetings).
March 2020
The Pandemic Hits
As with other institutions, we pivoted to fully online.
Despite our requests, breakout rooms continued to be unavailable in Webex. Faculty began requesting Zoom in earnest.
Summer 2020
Institution-Wide Zoom License Is Purchased
An easy-to-use solution to connect faculty and students in all courses was needed. Our current solutions, including Acano, Adobe Connect, and Webex, did not fully meet this need, particularly with the lack of breakout rooms.
As we explored Zoom, we learned of their feature rich LTI tool and robust SIP integration. Our findings, plus the continued request from faculty, drove us to purchase an institution-wide Zoom license.
Throughout the rest of the summer, we tested and planned how to incorporate Zoom in all courses for fall semester.
Fall 2020
Zoom Is Incorporated Into All Courses
IVC continued to serve as the base technology for Connect courses but with the addition of a Zoom meeting being integrated into each to provide easy recording and access for students.
Utilizing Zoom's API, Chris Clement, USU's systems administrator over Zoom, developed a tool to automatically create and configure Zoom meetings on behalf of instructors, then make those Zoom meetings available in the appropriate Canvas course using the Zoom LTI tool. The tool greatly streamlined processes for faculty and staff.
2021
Listening Sessions Held With Faculty
We learned that faculty liked Zoom. They felt more connected and students were more engaged when compared to Connect courses through IVC.
Part of this was due to students having a camera pointed right at their face. This contrasted with Connect courses where classrooms often had a single camera capturing an entire classroom. But another reason for this was the toolset available within Zoom. Students could meet in breakout rooms, interact through chat, and share reactions - all of which were unavailable using IVC.
Summer 2022
Zoom Rooms Concept Testing
While we first experimented with Zoom Rooms at the end of 2020, it wasn't until Summer 2022 when we began more seriously testing if and how Zoom Rooms would work in the classroom environment.
Most Zoom Room solutions were built with conference rooms in mind, not classrooms. While these solutions would work for our simple receive rooms, our origination rooms were another story. Fortunately, Zoom Rooms had the ability to run on a PC. After extensive research and testing by our classroom engineers, we found that Zoom Rooms could effectevely replace IVC and improve our origination classrooms.
However, one more thing was needed in order to consider Zoom Rooms as a viable replacement for IVC: automatic scheduling.
Several scheduling options were explored, including integrations with Outlook, Google, and scheduling software like EMS. None of these options quite fit the bill. Then, Chris, our systems administrator over Zoom, made a discovery. Using APIs, he could send commands to automatically connect and disconnect Zoom Rooms to specified Zoom meetings.
After months of tinkering, Chris developed a working tool dubbed "Connect" that allowed us to input course schedules and have rooms automatically connect to the appropriate Zoom meetings. And voilà! We had the missing piece.
Fall 2022
Zoom Rooms Is a Go!
After extensive testing and collaboration with Zoom, the decision was made to move from IVC to Zoom Rooms. Some of the reasons for this decision included:
- Faculty feedback
- Zoom's well-designed LTI tool
- Zoom's track record of being on the cutting edge, including features like their Smart Gallery and Intelligent Director
- The interoperability and flexibility of Zoom
- The ease of installation and setup
- The cost, which was significantly less than what we were paying for IVC
One more thing...
Zoom listened and was willing to work with us. As we shared feedback, feature requests, or had questions about their API, they were quick to respond and even implement our ideas.
Spring 2023
Our First Zoom Room Classroom Is Created
DE 109, one of our beta classrooms, is redesigned from the ground up to become our first Zoom Rooms origination classroom.
A multi-year transition plan is created, allowing us to slowly phase out our existing systems and transition to Zoom Rooms.
Summer 2023
The Transition Begins
Many of our classrooms still had Cisco codecs but Zoom began serving as the backbone of broadcasts instead of UEN's IVC bridges.
All courses were scheduled through the home built Connect tool.
Summer 2024
The Transition Continues
By the end of this summer, we plan to have 90% of our broadcast classrooms across the state transitioned to Zoom Rooms.