In order to improve teaching facilities at IWHR Graduate School and create diverse teaching environments while exploring new education mode in the era of internet, the first phase of smart classroom project has been completed and it is just coming into use, which provides reliable and essential service for student online entry interview and daily teaching activity. 

Professor giving lectures in main classroom while students 

attending the class in both main and branch classroom at the same time

The concept of smart classroom, since its origination, has been developing for over thirty years. With the popularization and application of Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, and Big Data Analysis, smart classroom has become not only an idea but also available technically. And as a high-end form for both multi-media and network classroom, the smart classroom relies on various intelligent devices to present and promote classroom interaction through the visible physical space and the invisible digital one, where the local info is shared with the remote side, and the personalization study with the open learning.

Under great support from the whole institute, Graduate School initiated the smart classroom construction from March 2020, leading to the first phase of this project completed now, which contains a main classroom and a branch classroom with an integrated smart classroom system (covering 270 square meters in total). The smart classroom has been equipped with an intelligent blackboard, professional lectern, high-definition video capturing and multi-screen interaction. This whole combination has brought to life the idea of intelligent control for teaching devices, in-class interactions and teaching environment reconstruction. Lecturers giving lessons in the smart classroom will be relieved from the traditional Chalk + Blackboard + Slides teaching method, which increases the writing and teaching efficiency while enriching diverse teaching methods. Meanwhile, desks and chairs in the classroom have been replaced by portable ones that teachers and students can improvise according to their needs. A special network line has also been introduced to guarantee transmitting information at high speed and sharing high-definition video clearly. The application of smart classroom now has speeded up the exploration and development for innovative teaching pattern at IWHR Graduate School.

English lecture in the smart classroom

Online interview for exam-free candidates using smart classroom

For the next step, IWHR Graduate School will keep advancing on smart classroom project by improving four platforms: intelligent teaching and learning system within IWHR, distant education system (including distant teaching by overseas professors for international students), online admission exam and interview system, and real-time online conference system between IWHR South and North campus. The establishment of this system has now upgraded our modern teaching equipment and teaching quality, forging student-centered and integrated-training based new teaching mode into reality. In the meantime, it will be offering connectivity and information sharing with all departments of IWHR, promoting our education capability for innovative talents, while boosting new development in this high-speed network era.

Appendix 1：Devices in the main Classroom

Appendix 2：Other devices

Workstation and audio console in the main classroom	Workstation and audio console in the branch classroom	Headset for the lecturer
Omni-directional Microphone	High-definition camera for the lecturer	Camera for the students