By Nina Karhu, acting supervisor, Classroom Technology Support
Starting in January 2016 I moved into an office (with windows!) in Loeb D283 as acting supervisor of Classroom Technology Support, filling in for Troy Bernard who is taking paternity leave. Coincidentally, my previous office (located underneath the Kailash Mital Theatre – no windows) from where I worked as production coordinator of the KM Theatre and Carleton University Event Support had recently suffered a great deal of flood damage. It was a serendipitous turn of events, therefore, that brought me here.
It is hard to believe how quickly time has flown by! Each day has brought its own challenges as I learn to navigate this new employment position, but I am very pleased to say that things are going very well in CTS. We have a wonderful mixture of full and part-time staff who endeavour to assist instructors and students using classroom technology by solving technical issues (be it hardware or software), training instructors to use the technology (did you know we offer one on one tutorials to learn how to operate the technology? Please call x3815 to book an appointment) and by providing best practice advice.
While daily issues do crop up, we are also working, alongside our maintenance team, to update older classroom models, replace aging gear and install more innovative technology to aid in overall classroom efficiency. This summer, there are plans to upgrade classrooms in Mackenzie, Southam Hall and St. Pat’s (we should really add a couple more months to summer to get it all done!).
We are also very excited about our new Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) scheduled to be part of the classroom pool in September.
All in all, this acting position has provided me with renewed respect for the work done by our often unsung heroes working in CTS (and a love for office windows!).