St. Leo U Ramps Up K-12 Teacher Tech Training

  • By Mike Hohenbrink
  • 11/29/11

Saint Leo University's Education Department has opened a ground-breaking teacher training facility designed to prepare teachers to be at the forefront when it comes to new technologies in the classroom.

Housed in the main campus library, the new interactive training facility is designed to improve access for students and faculty to new tools and to integrate technology more completely into the learning experience.

"We've developed this initiative because we know that in order for our students to go out and be the best possible teachers they can be, they need to know how to make learning fun and engaging," said Candace A. Roberts, chair of the Education Department and associate professor of education. "We now require our education students to incorporate technology into their lesson plans when doing student-teaching in real-life classroom situations. We've seen big changes in their levels of confidence."

The facility is an outgrowth of a pilot program last year that featured an educational technology lab. The new facility launched this fall with space for up to 32 students.

Key features of the new facility include:

  • iPad and iPod touch;
  • MacBooks;
  • MimioVote assessment system for polling and measuring student comprehension;
  • Document camera;
  • Flip video cameras; and
  • Interactive whiteboards coupled with the MimioTeach Interactive System.

The new facility serves 100 students and 14 full-time faculty members in the education department and is open as well to the entire faculty and student body at St. Leo University.

With a main campus located 30 miles from Tampa, Saint Leo University educates more than 1,900 students on its main campus and more than 15,000 with its regional centers and online programs. The school offers a bachelor's in elementary and middle school education and a minor in secondary education, as well as graduate programs.

To learn more about Saint Leo University's Education Department, visit the program's Web site.

Featured

  • AI-powered individual working calmly on one side and a burnt-out person slumped over a laptop on the other

    AI's Productivity Gains Come at a Cost

    A recent academic study found that as companies adopt AI tools, they're not just streamlining workflows — they're piling on new demands. Researchers determined that "AI technostress" is driving burnout and disrupting personal lives, even as organizations hail productivity gains.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • educators seated at a table with a laptop and tablet, against a backdrop of muted geometric shapes

    HMH Forms Educator Council to Inform AI Tool Development

    Adaptive learning company HMH has established an AI Educator Council that brings together teachers, instructional coaches and leaders from school district across the country to help shape its AI solutions.