Teaching classrooms

Our PC classrooms provide access to a wide portfolio of software across campus for use by undergraduate and taught postgraduate students.

  1. The classroom environment
  2. Software installation
  3. Software applications
  4. Booking classrooms
  5. Lecture capture - Camtasia Relay
  6. AV support
  7. Disabled provision
  8. Classroom Code of Conduct
  9. Virtual Classroom (VNC)
  10. FAQ and further help

1. The classroom environment

The classroom environment is based on Core 2 duo to Core I5 standard PCs running Windows 7. A significant number of Windows files are located on the hard disk of each system and in order to maintain the integrity of these, we have removed or disabled several Windows facilities.

In general, staff and students cannot install software that attempts to modify the local files on the system. For temporary files, a scratch dive (drive S:\) is available and in some cases software can be installed there. The contents of S: are deleted when you log off or reboot. In addition, access is provided to the user’s home file space, drive H:\.

All classroom PCs are powered off automatically in the evenings and powered back on at 08:00. This automatic power down can be delayed by the user if the PC is in use. Some rooms are available 24 hours a day, 7 days week, with out-of-hours access controlled by an entry system based on staff or student ID Cards.

Printing facilities are available in or near to all PC classrooms.

All PCs have DVD writers and USB ports.

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2. Software applications

Current software

The software available on classroom machines is presented on the Desktop in a College folder format with School sub-folders for ease of use. The Common Applications folder is a group of software provided and supported by IT Services.

For a listing of the software currently available for your College, click on the appropriate link below.

Proposed software

The local files on all the classroom systems are usually reloaded during the summer vacation to accommodate software upgrades and any new items of software required for the following academic year. This is a major undertaking and we ask staff to ensure that any changes they wish to make to their software portfolios are submitted to us before the end of June. Failing that, there can be no guarantee that the software will be available as required. Furthermore, it is essential that staff confirm that their applications running to their satisfaction well in advance of their requirement for them.

See details of proposed upgrades to DIT classroom software for academic year 2012-13 (PDF).

For further information regarding the installation of classroom software please contact Stewart Finnie - extn 3349, s.finnie@abdn.ac.uk.

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3. Software installation

IT Services is responsible for the installation of all classroom software. The software falls roughly into two categories: Common Applications, which IT Services provides, and departmental software which individual departments provide. Software is not usually installed for individual use, nor at the request of undergraduate or taught postgraduate students.

It is the responsibility of staff submitting software to us for installation in the classrooms to ensure that it is appropriately licensed for its intended use. Within this environment, software should be licensed for concurrent use, either as a site license or as a limited number of (concurrent) licenses. License limits can be enforced, as can the assignment of the software to particular classrooms. If wish to restrict the availability of your software to particular locations, or youd like help negotiating the licensing of software for classroom use, please contact Derek Findlay - d.findlay@abdn.ac.uk.

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4. Booking classrooms

For a full list of bookable teaching classrooms, see below.

The Registry is responsible for all centrally timetabled rooms on the Old Aberdeen and Medical School campus.

Course-coded bookings
To make a booking for a course, please complete a booking form and submit electronically or as an attachment to (registry@abdn.ac.uk), Registry, University Office.

One-off bookings
For one-off bookings at all times i.e. all bookings (including evening and vacations) that do not carry course codes, please complete a booking form and submit electronically or as an attachment to (roombookings@abdn.ac.uk), Registry, University Office.

A timetable is placed on the door of each of the bookable rooms at the start of each week giving detail of bookings; you can also check our real-time display of where you can find freeseats in the classrooms.

Bookable Computer Classrooms

Building Room Seats
Aberdeen Dental School 134 7
  119 5
Cruickshank 2:18 24
Edward Wright G84 30
  F81-83 50
  F84 30
  F86-87 22
  F95 12
  S81-83 50
  S84 30
  S95 16
MacRobert 106 26
  107 19
  113 28
  117 50
Medical School Library CR1 (Room 303) 10
  CR2 (bottom floor) 20
Meston G16 30
  LT5 40
Polwarth CR3 mezzanine 30
St Mary’s B28 32
Suttie Centre 001 50
  325 2
William Guild S26 26
Zoology Building G21 30
  G40 26
  TOTAL (excluding Library) 695

 

The Library: Bookable PC Classrooms are also available on Floor 2 of the University Library - classrooms 1, 2 and 3. When not being used for teaching purposes, the computers in these classrooms are open access and may be used for individual working. See the Library web pages for details www.abdn.ac.uk/library/facilities/computer/pc-clusters.

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5. Lecture Capture - Camtasia Relay

Use Camtasia Relay lecture capture software to record your lectures. Record everything on your computer screen, along with your voice, from any Camtasia enabled classroom. The resulting video files are published to the University’s streaming media server. Once on the server, you can link to the video files from any web page or the MyAberdeen VLE.

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6. Audio-Visual Support

Old Aberdeen: Media Services provide Audio-Visual equipment and technical support across the University and also assist with AV support at King's College Conference Centre. For further information about services, available equipment, booking and charges, visit the Audio-Visual Support web site at www.abdn.ac.uk/avu

Medical School: Medical Illustration provides a comprehensive range of services for teaching, research and publication for the College of Life Sciences and Medicine and NHS Grampian. They also provide a specialist media service for other departments within the University. For further information about services and contact details, visit the Medical Illustration web pages at www.abdn.ac.uk/clsm/services/medillustration/av.php

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7. Disabled provision

For full details of disabled provision in PC classrooms and Library study places, please see fact sheets:

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8. Classroom Code of Conduct

In brief:

  • While full-class teaching is taking place (e.g. a lecture or demonstration), it is permissible for staff to exclude other students from the classroom, and to require that students do not use the classroom printer(s). Staff should indicate that access is not permitted to non class members by posting a notice on the door(s) to the room.
  • If full-class teaching is not taking place, then, once staff have ensured that all members of the class have the use of a computer, other students may be permitted to use any spare computers at the lecturer’s discretion.
  • When a computer classroom is not booked, the computers in the room are available for ad hoc use by registered users of University of Aberdeen computing facilities.
  • Displays located around the campus indicate when rooms are booked for teaching and when they are free.

The full code is available on our Codes of Practice and Policy documents page. Posters displaying the full Code of Conduct are posted in all computer classrooms.

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9. Virtual Classroom (VNC)

VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing, a remote control system that allows you to control a PC. This means you could run an Aberdeen University computing classroom Windows PC from your own Windows PC. Currently there are two classroom machines running VNC to which you can connect.

See our fact sheet for guidance on using the VNC (PDF).

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10. Further Help

Needing help? First see our Using Lecture Theatre PCs - FAQ.

If you don't find the answer in our FAQ, please contact the Service Desk - extn 3636, servicedesk@abdn.ac.uk - for help.

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