One Button Studio

In November 2024, UMass Boston’s Healy Library got an exciting new feature that is sure to impact the campus for years to come. It is called the One Button Studio—a place where students, faculty, and staff can go to record presentations, lectures, and other material using a turn-key system with only one button. Insert a flash drive, push the button, and the camera, lights, and microphone turn on. “It’s super simple, and you can record video without having to know any technology,” says Dean of University Libraries Stephanie Walker, who notes that a place to record for a video assignment or practice for a presentation/speech/interview has been a top three concern for students since her arrival. “I know UMass Boston students uses for this will only be limited by their own creativity—and that’s huge. I can see faculty popping in to quickly make a video for a class without any fuss, and without having to get staff help or extra equipment.”  

To house the studio, it was decided that using a buildable soundproof booth would be easier than constructing a room from scratch. “We worked with Whisper Room to provide us with an accessible room that would fit on the 4th floor of the library, yet be big enough to house all the equipment,” says Manager of Innovative Educational Technology Zack Ronald. “We also worked with Revolution Lightboards to add a Lightboard configuration—a glass board that has embedded LED lights on which one can annotate—and custom layout that would fit inside of the whisper room.”  

One Button Studios were invented at Penn State Libraries in 2014. Since Walker installed one at her previous library, she was immediately onboard when Vice Chancellor of Information Technology & CIO Ray Lefebvre approached her about bringing a One Button Studio to campus. This is just one more way UMass Boston is using technology to provide the best possible education experience.