UTeach and Verizon bring mobile technology to the classroom

Instead of fighting the use of technology in the classroom, future educators will now be taught how to use these devices to better engage their students.

The UTeach Institute partnered with Verizon to form the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Higher Education program, which will teach future teachers how to use technology to improve students’ learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. The program, which debuted Dec. 2, provides college students with Samsung tablets so that they become familiar with the device before they go on to teach the future K-12 generation.

The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Higher Education program is currently available at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. UTeach and Verizon hope to expand the program to four more universities early next year.

Justina Nixon-Saintil, the Verizon Foundation’s director of education and technology programs, says a recent study shows students’ test scores in the United States are continually falling behind in the international rankings. She says if teachers began incorporating the use of technology, like tablets and even smartphones, in the classroom, then these results could change.

“Especially [for] students in middle school who become disengaged in the classroom, we truly believe that technology can better engage them — get them more interested in what they’re learning and that they can excel,” Nixon-Saintil says.

Nixon-Saintil pointed out that through the use of these devices teachers could also poll students and receive instant feedback after a lesson. This way, students who do not understand a concept can voice their concerns electronically and teachers are then able to give these individuals extra attention.

Michael Marder, the executive director of UTeach Science Program, says mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones, do not have to be used solely for entertainment purposes – they have educational benefits as well.

“These are very powerful tools indeed,” Marder says. “I think they have the potential within them to help everybody.”

The UTeach Institute, which first formed in 1997 at the University of Texas at Austin to address the shortage of math and science teachers, currently works with 40 different universities, helping prepare secondary math and science teachers for the classroom.

Nixon-Saintil says she hopes the partnership with UTeach will help create a more personalized learning environment in classrooms across the nation.

Vanessa Chen, a sophomore from the University of Texas at Austin, who is studying biology with a teaching option, says she notices students tend to be much more engaged when it comes to incorporating mobile technology in the classroom.

Chen says when she taught a lesson about heart rate in her class, she had students use an app on a tablet that measured resting heart rate and active heart rate.

“They saw that there was something different there — it peaked their interest a lot more,” Chen says. “I know a lot of teachers don’t like [technology] in the classroom. Rather than fighting it — take advantage of it — utilize it.”