The ‘smart’ classroom: a new frontier in the age of the smart university

ABSTRACT

This article examines developments in the ‘smart classroom’ as a new frontier for the university. It provides a conceptual map of the scope and limitations of smart classrooms, contextualized to smart university initiatives. First, it introduces the notion of ‘smart’ technology in cities, campuses, and classrooms. Next, it examines how the smart classroom is conceptualized, its present applications, and how it may be utilized with or without integration into the smart campus. Finally, it explores the ethical implications of the smart classroom. It concludes by recommending new regulations for smart classrooms and provides examples of classroom technologies constructive to the pedagogical process.

KEYWORDS:

• Smart classroom
• smart campus
• smart university
• big data surveillance
• education technology
• smart city
• digital colonialism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Paul Prinsloo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1838-540X

Notes

1 In this paper, we use the term smart in a colloquial sense to denote that which is computer-driven. The notion of a ‘smart’ technology lacks a widely accepted or evenly applied definition. A smartphone, for example, is a multi-purpose device typically used for traditional phone functions, Internet services, and multimedia applications. A ‘smart’ surveillance camera, on the other hand, may be considered ‘smart’ because it can evaluate moving images using AI and feed its ‘knowledge’ across a network.

2 See People’s Tech for People’s Power (Kwet forthcoming); Kwet 2017, 2019b.