Evolving technologies continue to impact many aspects of teaching and learning. There is an increased awareness of the desire and need to communicate external to the physical classroom; there is need to collaborate and file share resources beyond our campus colleagues and students; and there is a need to address the changing learning styles of a new generation of students. Villanova has made a commitment to upgrade the teaching technologies installed in our classrooms on a continuing basis.
There are approximately 170 learning spaces (classrooms) across campus supported by UNIT’s Instructional Technologies group. In the past 7-8 years, there has been an increased demand for high-end technology enabled classrooms. UNIT has addressed the demand by implementing new standards for classroom configurations which are implemented in new construction and in classrooms upgrades. The classroom of the future is here at Villanova and has been here for several years. Innovative strategies for the planning, design and the operation of classroom technologies are incorporated in new construction and refurbished classrooms which are designed with two factors in mind: 1) the infrastructure must easily accommodate changing technology; and 2) classroom space must offer a range of solutions from basic classroom technologies to smart classrooms with interactive devices, collaborative systems and recording and streaming capabilities to accommodate both the traditional and the distance learner.
