2008 Woodie Awards
We need more 'smart' classrooms here
La Voz Editorial Staff
Issue date: 12/4/06 Section: Opinion
All classrooms should be smart classrooms. By this we don't mean classes should not have stupid students in them. (They're here to learn, too, after all.) We mean that all classrooms on campus, not just some, should have state of the art technology.
"Smart" classrooms are equipped with a DVD player, computers with Internet and a live feed document camera all connected to a large overhead projector and sound system.
To not have this in every classroom at a school in the middle of Silicon Valley is ridiculous.
Smart classrooms have huge benefits for both students and instructors. In the case of students, it allows for them to have professional presentations and speeches using the Internet and power points which will better prepare them for the workplace, especially in this area.
Most instructors would take advantage of a smart classroom if it were available to them.
Students wouldn't zone out to the monotonous drone of their instructor's voice. Instead, the classroom becomes more interactive. Smart classrooms work to the instructor's benefit in that they can teach straight from the Internet and can use the most current information in class.
Also, students are more captivated by movies on a big screen as apposed to the little TVs, which most students have at home. The document camera allows the instructor to show diagrams from books a lot more clearly than by holding the book up in front of class or passing it around, which causes a distraction more than anything. Also, with the camera, the instructor doesn't have to use transparency film on the overhead. Instead, they can use regular paper, which is more ecological, less expensive and requires a lot less preparation time.
If a student was to decide which class to add and one classroom was "smart" and the other was not, that student would more than likely choose the smart classroom because it is such an asset and adds a lot to the learning experience.
De Anza College has got off to a great start by installing this technology into so many of its classes. Now De Anza needs to get smart itself and make every classroom smart.
"Smart" classrooms are equipped with a DVD player, computers with Internet and a live feed document camera all connected to a large overhead projector and sound system.
To not have this in every classroom at a school in the middle of Silicon Valley is ridiculous.
Smart classrooms have huge benefits for both students and instructors. In the case of students, it allows for them to have professional presentations and speeches using the Internet and power points which will better prepare them for the workplace, especially in this area.
Most instructors would take advantage of a smart classroom if it were available to them.
Students wouldn't zone out to the monotonous drone of their instructor's voice. Instead, the classroom becomes more interactive. Smart classrooms work to the instructor's benefit in that they can teach straight from the Internet and can use the most current information in class.
Also, students are more captivated by movies on a big screen as apposed to the little TVs, which most students have at home. The document camera allows the instructor to show diagrams from books a lot more clearly than by holding the book up in front of class or passing it around, which causes a distraction more than anything. Also, with the camera, the instructor doesn't have to use transparency film on the overhead. Instead, they can use regular paper, which is more ecological, less expensive and requires a lot less preparation time.
If a student was to decide which class to add and one classroom was "smart" and the other was not, that student would more than likely choose the smart classroom because it is such an asset and adds a lot to the learning experience.
De Anza College has got off to a great start by installing this technology into so many of its classes. Now De Anza needs to get smart itself and make every classroom smart.
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