Abstract

• Given the current development of the pandemic, the new normal for education is likely to be more virtual or a mix of online and in-person classes (known as hybrid teaching). With the travel restrictions still in place, international conferences may also go virtual where local participants join physically, and overseas participants join online.
• Currently, all communal classrooms at the University are equipped with webcam and software that support hybrid teaching. However, as the webcam is fixed in the computer of the classroom and cannot be moved around easily, it can only capture a teacher’s image at certain angle. Students who want to speak up in class need to use their notebook/smartphone to join the ZOOM meeting at the same time so that students on ZOOM can hear them, and this can only be done if students bring their own devices.
• To better support new teaching modes such as hybrid teaching during and after COVID-19, this project proposes to upgrade a total of 9 classrooms/ lecture theaters (LT) for pilot and demonstration purposes. Survey of the performance and usage of the equipment will be done after the installation to collect user feedback and make recommendation to the University on future classroom/LT designs.