Dr. Loni Abbas, Assistant Vice President for Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer, explained:
“Our students told us that, after going fully online in the spring, they really missed seeing their classmates and feeling like they were a part of a community. Because we’re a smaller school, students build relationships with their professors and classmates, we didn’t want to go fully online for the 2020-2021 school year unless we absolutely had to.”
Wartburg initially wanted to open up their campus with as many face-to-face class offerings as possible, knowing they’d have to put safety measures in place to protect students and faculty members. But between international students who were unable to travel back to the U.S., students and faculty members who couldn’t be in classrooms with other people due to health concerns, and Wartburg’s plan to quarantine students who tested positive for COVID-19 or who were exposed, Loni knew Wartburg would need to be prepared for hybrid and distance learning in the inevitable event that not all students were able to attend class in-person.
Although about 50% of classes are currently taught face-to-face at Wartburg, the other 50% are taught either fully-online or in a synchronous hybrid format (with some students in class and some students in their dorms or homes). Once Loni raised her concerns in preparation for hybrid and distance learning, the Wartburg College Cabinet tasked her with finding the right technology solution, which brought her to the Meeting Owl.
Part of the appeal of the Meeting Owl for Loni was that it’s an all-in-one camera, speaker, and microphone, which means fewer pieces of technology to set up, install, and train faculty to use. Thanks to her colleague, Tim Greenwald, Learning Spaces Support Specialist, Wartburg was able to get classrooms set up for hybrid learning in short order so they could start training professors on how to use them.
According to Tim:
“The setup process was so simple, I didn't even have to call or contact Owl Labs’ support team. Everything was simple to do, and I was able to walk through it all right on the mobile app.”
The Meeting Owl has been getting rave reviews from students and faculty alike since classes at Wartburg started up again in August 2020. They have a careful policy in place to test, track, and isolate students who’ve tested positive or come in contact with COVID-19, so students know that no matter where they’re learning from, they can be assured that they’ll be able to be seen and heard by their professors and fellow students.
Another challenge the Meeting Owl is helping to solve is ensuring that social distancing is possible in Wartburg classrooms. In some larger class sections, such as one that Loni teaches with 25 students, all students can’t safely be in the same classroom while remaining six feet apart. Because of the Meeting Owl, Loni can split her class into three groups so they can rotate between attending class remotely and in-person without feeling like they’re missing out on anything.
According to Loni:
“I love that the Meeting Owl is a “follow me” camera so I can move freely during classes and don’t have to adapt my teaching style to stay within a certain area of the classroom. The Meeting Owl’s audio pickup works great even while we’re wearing masks and we know that long-term, when Covid-19 isn’t our main concern, we’ll still be able to use the Meeting Owl for distance learning, meetings, and conferences.”
“The Meeting Owl helps encourage our students to stay home if they’re not feeling well and not risk spreading germs to others. On a residential campus where it’s imperative that we take social distancing seriously, the Meeting Owl has had a huge impact. Long-term, we have the tools to accommodate students who are unable to be in the classroom and still deliver a high-quality synchronous learning environment, with the help of the Meeting Owl.”