Flex Lab Booking


To Book the FLEX Lab:

  1. Use your outlook exchange calendar to book the flex lab. The flex lab resource is named "CTE LIB-329 Flex Lab".
  2. If you are having problems doing this you can contact Shelley Bacik (x33153) and she may be able to help you.

Additionally, when booking the FLEX Lab, please bear in mind the following:

For Instructors:

  1. The mandate of the FLEX Lab is to support collaborative learning, pedagogical innovation, and experimentation with new educational technologies. If your meeting, workshop, or course that doesn't address one or more of these goals, you may find that another classroom is better suited to your needs, in which case you should call Donna Schell, Bookings Coordinator, at x32207.
  2. Under some circumstances, it is possible that a booking may be cancelled. Suppose, for example, that a staff member books the FLEX Lab for a workshop to be held on (say) Tuesday, September 18 at 9:00 am; subsequently, however, an instructor indicates that he or she would like to book the FLEX Lab for the entire fall term for Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9:00 am till 10:30 am. In such a case, the instructor's booking would "trump" the previous booking (because the workshop is for a single day only, and the instructor's course is for an entire term). Such "un-bookings," however, will not occur frequently, and the individual who made the original booking will be notified.
  3. Each term, CTE hires a co-op student who works out of the CTE offices in Dana Porter. If desired, that co-op student will assist users of the FLEX Lab in setting up the Lab: for example, he or she will help sign out the Tablet PCs, configure the tables as required, turn on the computer and projector, and so on. The same student will also help to close things down at the end of an event, workshop, or class. If you would like the CTE co-op student to assist you in this manner, please contact Shelley Bacik (x33153), and she will put you in contact with the co-op student. Please be prepared to give clear and specific instructions to the co-op student: for example, do you want assistance with the Tablet PCs only? Do you want assistance only in closing things down but not in setting things up? And so on. Please bear in mind that this assistance will only be available during regular office hours, that is, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
  4. If you have not used the FLEX Lab before, please contact Shelley Bacik (x33153) to arrange a brief orientation.
  5. When booking the FLEX Lab, please book an appropriate amount of time. For example, if you intend to configure the tables in an unusual pattern or intend to have your students use the tablet PCs, make sure you allow time for re-configuring the tables or putting away the tablet PCs. On the other hand, please don't book more time than you actually need.
  6. If your students are using the Tablet PCs, please ensure that they sign them out.
  7. The Tablet PCs are not allowed to leave the FLEX Lab.
  8. After you are done with the FLEX Lab, please return it to its normal state: Tablet PCs should be returned to their cabinet and plugged in, the tables should be moved back to their standard configuration (as indicated in a diagram on the FLEX Lab wall), and the projector should be turned off.
  9. Instructors who teach a class that starts before 4:30 pm can pick up a key to the FLEX Lab from the front desk of the Centre for Teaching Excellence. Instructors who teach a class that starts after 4:30 pm can arrange to pick up a key from the Circulation Desk on the main floor of the library. To arrange this, contact Shelley Bacik. To return the FLEX Lab key when the Centre for Teaching Excellence is closed, simply place it in the locked drop box located in the FLEX Lab.
  10. Because the FLEX Lab shares a wall with the Sims Reading Room, please keep noise to a minimum. Normal discussion and lecturing don't seem to penetrate the wall, but audio from the FLEX Lab's speaker system sometimes does. If you are playing a DVD or CD, please keep the volume as low as is feasible.

For Students:

  • Tablet PCs must be signed out by their users.
  • Food and drink are not allowed on the tables while the Tablet PCs are out.
  • When the Tablet PCs are returned to the cabinet, they should be plugged in (to recharge so they are ready for the next user) and neatly stacked.
  • If you encounter a persistent problem with the software on a Tablet PC, or observe wear and tear that needs to be addressed, please inform your instructor.

More information about the FLEX Lab is available here.