American University in Dubai to Offer Course Live From Los Angeles

The Mohammad Bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC) of the American University in Dubai (AUD), in collaboration with the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California (USC), is currently offering AUD students a course through the university’s Global Classroom, a novel virtual lecture hall with the custom-built Cisco TelePresence 3210 technology.

“This is a first in the Middle East,” Dr Carol Moufarrej, Associate Dean of MBRSC, said. “TelePresence is giving our students the opportunity to interact and connect with students abroad, allowing them to share information, news and experiences spontaneously. The technology is opening a new dimension of learning and collaborating between students and professors on a global level, something that isn’t possible in the traditional classroom.”

Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, the course, “Introduction to Interactive Entertainment”, offered by the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is taught via TelePresence to 19 AUD MBRSC students by Assistant Professor William Huber. The class provides an understanding of the origins of video games and the various genres, and aims to develop the students’ critical mind towards understanding and interpreting video games.

“I am not familiar with video games which is why I wanted to get to know this new medium and feel this technology is beautiful. The Global Classroom is very sophisticated, you can interact very easily with the professor, and it is a great and exciting experience,” said one of the attendees, Shuruk Abdo, senior student in Digital Production and Storytelling (DPST) major.

“I was hesitating to take the class at first as I thought it would be hard to communicate, but it turned out to be the complete opposite. Taking a class from LA here in Dubai is very impressive. AUD has done a great job by introducing this technology and I am looking forward to continuing the class,” added Shuruk.

Prof Huber was also uncertain of using the Global Classroom to give his course. He said, “I was somewhat sceptical of this technology at first, I do not think that technology solves all the problems of education and sometimes it makes things work or work better, but in this case I am very impressed.”

Cisco TelePresence is a high-technology audio-video conferencing facility that provides high-definition video, spatial audio, and a set-up designed to link two physically separated rooms so they resemble a single conference room regardless of location.

Inaugurated in 2011, the Global Classroom at AUD is located in the university’s Student Centre, with three plasma displays providing MBRSC students access to professors, business leaders and guest lecturers located around the globe, thus extending the “in-person” classroom experience across campuses worldwide.