FHSU’s Forsyth Library receives grant to create smart classroom prototype

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Fort Hays State University received a $50,000 federal grant Friday for Forsyth Library.

The National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services will help pay for a smart classroom prototype, which will allow teachers to use more interactive teaching techniques with the aid of technology.

Students will be able to stand inside 3-D models and manipulate data across multiple screens.

Claire Nickerson, learning initiatives and open educational resources librarian, talks about the smart classroom prototype during a press conference at FHSU Friday morning.

“The grant will also allow the library to offer more interactive exhibits,” said Claire Nickerson, learning initiatives and open educational resources librarian. “Students will be able to work through history or a virtual art gallery. These capabilities are valuable because they help students gain new media skills that are increasingly necessary in the workplace.”

FHSU’s smart classroom will be a prototype that would ultimately become a portable kit that could be used in classrooms at other higher learning institutions across Kansas and the nation.

The goal is to increase equity and access to technology by removing cost barriers, especially for rural colleges.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services received 113 grant proposals. FHSU was one of 31 awards granted.

“I am excited to part of this,” said Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who was at FHSU to present the award. “I am excited for what the library is going to do with this, developing a prototype for students, for what the future of what learning will look like. I am excited to see what this will look like five or 10 years from now.”

Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president, said “I am so proud of this university. Throughout the campus we are constantly working on improving on teaching and learning not only for our students but the state and the nation and the world.”

Interim provost Jeff Briggs said the grant was an example of how government funding can support innovation and outreach to rural communities.

“The ability and willingness to collaborate to create a model that will enhance teaching and learning experiences, especially with a sensitivity for cost and portability and especially for the rural and frontier areas we serve is really notable,” he said.

Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who was a member of the Congressional baseball team, gives FHSU President Tisa Mason a bat signed by several Congressional leaders.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Marshall, who was a member of the Congressional baseball team, gave the university a bat signed by several Congressional leaders. The bat will be auctioned at the Tiger Auction Saturday to benefit FHSU athletics.

Mason presented Marshall with a Tiger pin.