Turning Tech into Innovation and High-Impact Teaching

Exciting things are happening at Van Munching Hall. Several classrooms have gotten technological updates that enhance the Smith School’s ability to teach students in remote and hybrid formats. Construction is complete on the new virtual teaching studio, as well as three active learning classrooms with digital whiteboards, screen-sharing capabilities and online platforms.

“These projects are exactly the kind of thing we want to be known for at the University of Maryland—leading the way to turn technology into innovation and high-impact teaching,” says Jennifer King Rice, the university’s senior vice president and provost.

The virtual teaching studio—the first of its kind at the University of Maryland—has advanced technologies for video production; a floor-to-ceiling video wall; and screen-sharing, chat and interactive tools to enable communication and collaboration between instructors and Smith’s remote learners all over the world. Paulo Prochno, clinical professor of management and organization, is the first to teach in the new classroom. “This room lets me teach an online course as if I were teaching in person,” he says. “That’s a major change—it makes online instruction more comfortable and it’s a more immersive experience for the students.”