Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida, recently announced the opening of the its first digital classroom, a resource the university's school of education believes will prepare its graduates for jobs in high-tech classrooms, according to Technology Horizons in Education Journal.
Teachers who have comprehensive training with state-of-the-art classroom technology, like a tablet computer, interactive whiteboard or HDMI projector, can provide students with a rich educational experience through highly individualized and adaptive lesson plans, but a teacher's ability to implement and use the tools properly is central to the technology's value.
"Technology needs to be meaningfully infused and modeled throughout the program," Candace Roberts, chair of the university's Education Department, told the source. "Faculty must model the effective use of technology ... in pedagogically sound ways. Otherwise, the equipment is just a bunch of bells and whistles, some nice toys that techies and students can play with."
The new tech classroom at the university currently hosts 10 classes, and students both learn established implementation techniques and are tasked with developing their own unique lesson plans. Technology tools in the classroom include tablet computers, interactive whiteboards and clickers that wirelessly record student responses.
