Oshawa: Durham College reserves Global Classroom for events this fall

Durham College has reserved the Global Classroom, in the Centre for Collaborative Education on its Oshawa campus, for events only this fall semester. The college says the room will host events that were previously held in a space inside the Centre for Innovation and Research, which is now being converted into the new Mixed Reality Capture (MRC) Studio, according to reporting by the Chronicle, Durham College's student newspaper.

The move affected humanities professor Lon Appleby, who spearheaded the Global Classroom a decade ago and built it around global peer collaboration. Appleby told the Chronicle he was asked this summer to move to a smaller "mini" global class, and was frustrated at first, but now says the smaller room's technology works better and students are more engaged, calling the change "liberating."

Associate vice-president of Academics Tony Doyle told the Chronicle the Global Classroom was chosen because it was already regularly used for events. "Students will be in there, our community will be in there," Doyle said, adding the space will bring people together to celebrate education and community. He would only comment on the room's future through the end of this semester.

The Chronicle reported that the Global Classroom began years ago as a small room across from the campus bookstore, where Appleby projected video calls with professors and students around the world onto a pull-down screen, before moving into the new Centre for Collaborative Education building. Appleby said the shift taught him to practice what he preaches about adapting to change.