First in Middle East to offer course live from Los Angeles

Novel virtual lecture hall with the custom-built Cisco TelePresence 3210 technology The Mohammed 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.
Dr. Carol Moufarrej, Associate Dean of MBRSC, expressed: "TelePresence is giving our students the opportunity to interact and connect with the 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 of the Practice at USC, William Huber. The class provides an understanding of the origins of video games and the various genres and aims at developing the students' critical mind toward understanding and interpreting video games.
"The interaction between me and the students via TelePresence is in some ways better. [ ] I feel more comfortable calling out students from here," explains Prof. Huber about teaching in this setting. "Where I teach at USC, I stand on a stage and I feel more remote. TelePresence does have a feeling of a seminar, I feel I can look at the students directly and see exactly what they are doing. When we took a quiz last time I had a fantastic view, I could see who was working and who wasn't finished, which is something I might not actually see in an actual lecture space. Here I am more focused; I think the point of view is different and the audio supports it very well." The Cisco TelePresence is a high-technology audio-video conferencing facility that provides high-definition video, spatial audio, and a setup 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 the three plasma displays, providing MBRSC students with access to professors, business leaders and guest lecturers located around the globe, thus extending the in-person classroom experience across campuses worldwide.
Source: WAM