UG launches Zoom rooms to promote blended learning

Students across the nine campuses of the University of Guyana – Georgetown, Linden, Berbice, Bartica and Anna Regina – will now be able to view live classes in an interactive way, following the launch of the University’s s Zoom Room project.
The project entails 18 rooms – with an in-person capacity of over 150 being dispersed among the campuses.

To mark the launch of the initiative, a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Saturday. The initiative is part of a gift under the Stabroek Block Co-venturers Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI) to the tune of US$70,000.
The University in a statement said that the project is the first building block of blended learning architecture.
The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin, said that the 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, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project had to repurposed and redesigned to meet the new needs of the tertiary level institution.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor of the University, Professor Edward Greene, who attended the launch virtually, congratulated the UG teams for conceptualising and executing the highly complex technical project.
He further expressed his gratitude towards ExxonMobil for its input into the project.
“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,” he expressed.
Additionally, President of ExxonMobil 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 is not the first project ExxonMobil has been involved in with the University.
“We work hard to find through exploration and develop, and monetise 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.
Among the presiders were UG Chancellor Prof Edward Greene, Vice-Chancellor Xi Prof Paloma Mohamed-Martin, ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge; Senior Advisor, Government and Public Affairs Matthew Scharf among other senior officials of the company.