Classrooms and Learning Spaces

Instructional Space Support

CNDLS provides pedagogical guidance on a) teaching in classrooms, b) designing your course, your assignments, and class activities that make use of your learning space, and c) using the technology in your classroom to maximize learning.

Keeping classrooms updated and ready is the work of many campus partners:

Types of Classrooms

Georgetown has a variety of classroom types that fit different pedagogical needs, class sizes, and teaching and learning styles. Our campus learning spaces include small discussion rooms, seminar courses around conference tables, mid-size rooms with mobile furniture for flexible use, large lecture halls, wet labs, dry labs, studios, and a telepresence room. All rooms are capable of projecting (wireless or hard-wired), and they have ceiling mics and two cameras for remote participation and lecture capture. Read more about making the most of your classroom space, and hear Nathan Hensley's (English) approach to teaching in Georgetown classrooms.

Some classrooms on campus have been designed as experimental classrooms. See below for examples of those spaces.

Innovation Classrooms

Car Barn 315

A large classroom for experimenting with a variety of mobile social technologies, such as the Google Jamboard, Kubi, and ceiling tile mics to create as seamless a remote learner experience as possible in online courses.

White Gravenor 204

A medium-size classroom that includes everything you need to manage a fully interactive remote or hybrid class, including active learning furniture, multiple interactive touch displays, fully integrated audio equipment, and a panoramic camera.

Language Learning Technology Center (ICC)

CNDLS supports a robust language learning technology center that hosts three spaces in ICC. The language lab (ICC 224) is a teaching space for classes up to 14 and a walk-in space for independent language and collaborative learning. The technology classroom (ICC 227) houses 20 student computers, audio-visual equipment, and software for language learning. The consultation and development space (ICC 226) provides equipment to create multimedia language assets for courses, in addition to space for consultations.

McCourt (new building on Capitol Campus)

This building will be part of a collection of buildings that represent a larger experimental environment for Georgetown. CNDLS consulted with campus and external partners on best practices for creating learning spaces that allow for flexible classroom design, innovative pedagogy, as well as seamless and forward-looking technology that is accessible for all.

In preparation for this new project, our team set up a preview classroom as highlighted in the video below.

Teaching Modes

What are the different modes I can teach in?

In order to guide our planning as teachers, and also for administrative purposes (registration, classroom assignments, etc), CNDLS generally thinks about the interaction with students as happening in three ways: in person, hybrid, or online.

In practice, most courses don't fall entirely into one category or another. It's perhaps more helpful to see courses as falling somewhere on a continuum from in-person to hybrid to fully online. Where any given course sits on the continuum depends on its balance of in-person versus online engagement. This generally means that the modality, as we define it below, is a rough view of the entire course rather than what happens in any one class period.

Who decides which mode I’ll be teaching in?

Note that in many cases the mode of teaching will be determined by the department, and that their use of these terms may be specific to the department. Be sure to check with your chair so that you can be aware of their particular expectations for you.

In addition to whether course engagement happens in person or online, faculty also need to consider whether online engagements are synchronous or asynchronous. These differences influence what’s most effective—and even what’s possible—in a class, and should similarly shape our pedagogical choices.

Where can I learn more about how to adjust my teaching for the different modes?

We have assembled a Teaching Guide on modes that contains articles, resources, opportunities, and CNDLS services that might be helpful to you as you think about teaching across modes.