Apple certainly made a splash with its new Apple Watch,
selling at least one million during the first weekend that it was available for
preorder. Now, Penn State University, University Park, is planning to study how
the device can be used in the classroom.
Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), a unit of
the university’s Information Technology Services, will conduct a pilot program
this summer to study the effectiveness of wearable devices for delivering
self-regulated learning. TLT plans to expand the study through the 2015-16
academic year.
“Wearable devices are unique because they can co-exist
with the student, in a virtually transparent way, at the moment of learning,”
Kyle Bowen, director of education-technology services, said in an article for eCampus News. “Using mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, enables
students to consume information and create content. Wearable technologies, like
the Apple Watch, enable a new layer of reflection that students can use to
evaluate their learning experiences.”
One promising area for the watch is the hands-free
opportunities it provides faculty members. For instance, the device makes it
possible for an instructor to no longer have to stand at the lectern or have a
clicker to advance slides.
“A lot of these small little apps that we’ve seen to,
say, identify a random student—these types of small tools to automate the
classroom experience can be put onto a watch, and no longer do I have to think
about having to stand at the lectern because I want to use my hands or carry
around a tablet,” Bowen told The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“Now, I just have a device on my wrist and I can interact with it.”
