Eric Detweiler

eric.detweiler@mtsu.edu

Maria Bachman

English

Smart Classroom

Peck 304B

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There aren't good spaces for English majors and students in English courses to gather in Peck Hall, neither for socializing nor for collaborating on class projects--particularly digital ones. To remedy this, we propose making Peck 304B, currently a traditional classroom, a collaboration-oriented computer classroom that would (1) let students in English courses pursue in-class projects and activities not facilitated by the dept.'s current spaces and (2) serve as a collaborative studio space when not in use as a classroom. Such a space would help the dept. recruit majors by enabling a range of inventive digital humanities projects and providing a place for the dept.'s students to socialize over coursework. Unlike the dept.'s other computer classrooms, the room would contain modular furniture, 2 wall-mounted flat-screen televisions, and 4 computers. 2 computers would be connected to each TV, allowing students working on digital projects (e.g., audio/video essays, data visualizations, game design) to workshop those projects on the TV screens. In addition to making the space more flexible, the limited number of computers would decrease start-up and maintenance costs compared to traditional computer classrooms. Outside of class hours, 304B would be a reservable studio space, proctored by departmental GTAs, for students working on digital projects in English courses. The computers could also be equipped with software needed by the dept.'s graduate students--for example, transcription software for graduate students whose projects involve accessibility concerns.