 ug launches zoom rooms under greater guyana initiative ggi building blocks of blended learning architecture laid ug launches zoom rooms under greater guyana initiative ggi building blocks of blended learning architecture laid andydindial mon 4122021 846 ug launches zoom rooms under greater guyana initiative ggi building blocks of blended learning architecture laid  georgetown guyana decc the university of guyana april 11 2021 the university of guyana in a simple ceremony on saturday launched its zoom room project laying down the first building blocks of its blendedlearning architecture which they say prepares for the impending future and begins to fulfil their first aspirational goal of producing at least 1 graduate per guyanese household the 18 rooms will service 18 different locations across the university s 9 campuses in georgetown linden berbice bartica and anna regina enabling live classrooms to be broadcast to anywhere with a strong internet connection six zoom rooms likened and demonstrated today included 1 at tain campus in berbice 1 at idce johns science centre in berbice 1 at the idce centre in linden 1 at idce centre in georgetown and 2 at the university s turkeyen campus 1 at natural sciences chemistry lab and the other at the centre for information cit director of ug s tactical online services tos malcolm williams performed a demo to show how the zoom rooms work and was able to link all six rooms explaining that students will now be able to benefit immediately he explained that zoom rooms are specially enabled rooms from which live classes can be viewed in an interactive way by multiple participants in multiple remote areas zoom rooms are examples of ug leveraging appropriate technologies the zoom rooms will 1 implement planned and enhance existing initiatives that enrich the quality and impact of the delivery of tertiary education and 2 expand the reach of ug s instructions and the capacity of its classrooms through facilitating hybrid inplace and remote mode of education the latter is consistent in keeping with the university s vision among officiating were ug chancellor prof edward greene vicechancellor xi prof paloma mohamed martin president of exxonmobil mr alistair routledge senior advisor government and public affairs mr matthew scharf among other senior officials of the company the initiative is part of a gift under the stabroek block coventurers greater guyana initiative ggi to the tune of us 70000 speaking via link from washington dc during the launch chancellor of the university professor edward greene congratulated the ug teams for conceptualizing and executing the highly complex technical project chancellor greene further noted that the zoom rooms are a critical and dynamic tool for enhancing the conferencing and blended learning operations for ug and expressed appreciation to exxonmobil guyana and partners for supporting the initiative i extend appreciation to exxonmobil cnooc and hess for the greater guyana initiative ggi out of which this significant gift has been made possible and for the cooperative spirit in which they so willingly partnered in making this venture a reality i commend mr alistair rutledge president exxonmobil guyana and his team for their willingness to invest in the human development capital in our university that will in turn contribute to the development of guyana i offer best wishes to the vicechancellor professor paloma mohamed martin and the senior management team for their vision for ensuring that the faculty staff students and friends of this university community stand to benefit from this transformative moment the chancellor said he added i am intrigued by how this investment in the zoom rooms is indeed an investment in human resource development that would drive engagements for student staff and citizen success and at the same time deliver measurable results so wellarticulated in ug s evolving blue print 2040 in her brief remarks vicechancellor xi professor paloma mohamed martin recalled that the original mission of the project when it was first negotiated by the office of philanthropy and civic engagement pace in 2019 was to establish a digital information room to serve as a central space and operations centre to facilitate local and international teleconferencing meetings virtual classrooms instructed from universities outside of guyana and a data bank facility and was intended to cater for 30 persons per session however the vc explained that in 2020 the university s vision was modified in response to the needs created by extended covid19 conditions the funds were repurposed and project re designed to create 18 zoom rooms across the university of guyana system with an inperson capacity of over 150 instead of 30 the vc noted that one of the challenges in higher education across the world is how to manage those courses that have a practical component to it however she highlighted that one innovative way the university is using the technology is to place the facility in labs so that during periods requiring distancing students who are out of the labs can still be remotely immersed in the process and so still also benefit from what is happening the rooms will also assist with any physical space issues that would have to be managed in a foreseeable future that will still require some level of physical distancing president of exxon mobil guyana alistair routledge in his remarks said his company was delighted to work in partnership with the university of guyana on the project noting that while it is the first of the greater guyana initiative it s not the first project exxonmobil is involved in with the university he said we work hard to find through exploration and develop and monetize the resource of the country offshore that transformation will drive the transformation of the economy but the university of guyana plays that critical role of transforming the education system and building the capacity of the country to really deliver a sustainable economy i think there s a clear partnership one that we are very happy to enjoy and one that is growing in the future routledge noted the blended learning is a great initiative and these are tools we had before the pandemic but again the adversity is the mother of invention and here we are realizing how much we can utilize the hardware facilities we have the laboratories we have available to us to make learning more inclusive across the country and more accessible which i know is a big part of the blueprint 2040 and is an ambition that we have too that the wealth is generated from what we do and benefits the whole country and not just the people that are closer to the main centers of activity on georgetown routledge expressed director of the institute of distance and continuing education dr jacqueline murray noted that the zoom rooms will enable the institute to reach students far and wide as it was unable to do before and will help in the expansion of its course offerings director of berbice campus prof gomathinayagam subramanian expressed appreciation to exxonmobil for their generosity in providing the majority of the funds for the initiative and noted that students and staff of the campus are very grateful as it will make learning easier for them due to the covid19 pandemic on hand to give the vote of thanks from locations in linden and berbice were members of the present university of guyana s student union marissa foster and daniel anthony while president of ugss jafar gibbons was on hand to help cut the ribbon along with the vice chancellor and president of exxonmobil the students extended sincere gratitude to exxonmobil cnooc and hess for the greater guyana initiative which has made this significant gift possible special thanks were extended to president of exxonmobil guyana mr alistair routledge and other officials of the company including matt scharf karen matisse kimberly brasington suzie deabreau and nick yearwood ug s pace team led by christine chowargir the tos team led by malcom williams mr bjorn williams and staff of the maintenance department were also thanked for their magnificent arrangements in making the launch of the zoom rooms a success and for their future work in further developing the platform the event was also viewed remotely by several persons linked via several different types of devices in several locations demonstrating the flexibility of the technology and its innovative deployment by ug contact   jainarine deonauth ma public relations unit 6235104 department of events conferences and communications decc    ug in brief the university of guyana is the 58th year state university of guyana it offers 136 programmes in over 60 disciplines online and facetoface in 8 campuses across guyana with a student population of now 10000 ug has provided education learning and research for over 50000 alumni the mission of the university is to discover generate disseminate and apply knowledge of the highest standard for the service of the community the nation and of all mankind within an atmosphere of academic freedom that allows for free and critical inquiry ug s forward thinking blueprint 2040 is currently setting the course for the university s future design and institutional response to the changing needs of guyana tbbutton padding 1px cursor pointer borderright 1px solid 8b8b8b borderleft 1px solid fff borderbottom 1px solid fff tbbuttonhover borer 2px outset def backgroundcolor f8f8f8 important wstoolbar zindex 100000 wstoolbar wstbbtn cursor pointer border 1px solid 555 padding 3px tbhighlight backgroundcolor yellow tbhide visibility hidden wstoolbar img padding 2px margin 0px ug launches zoom rooms under greater guyana initiative ggi building blocks of blended learning architecture laid  