Google Glass To Be Tested By California State University, Dominguez Hills

Google Glass has made its way in a very wide range of activities, and it has been used in sports, medicine and even in schools. Besides all the athletes (from NBA or NFL) that use Glass, besides the doctors that use it, there are also many teachers that use Google’s innovative wearable device. The latest university to make use of Google’s wearable device is California State University, Dominguez Hills (also known as CSUDH): “As its faculty and students literally gaze into the future, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) will be among the first universities in the nation testing Google Glass as a wearable technology that may enhance student learning. The university will be the first in the U.S. to test the device on a large scale in an academic setting.”

The California State University, Dominguez Hills also known as CSUDH, is a public university located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County and was founded in 1960. The California State University professors will start using Glass, after a meeting that took place in the second week of this month. On September 11, David Zakariaie, CEO of Glassic (which develops “industry specific platforms for Google Glass” – we already wrote about the company’s Glass exclusive media sharing platform with the same name; read about it here) met with faculty chairs and Joseph Wen (Dean of College of Business Administration and Public Policy) in order to test Google’s innovative wearable device and demonstrate its use in the field of education.

Dean Joseph Wen had this to say about Google Glass: “This wearable technology could become a very useful tool for supporting student learning [...] The CBAPP Chairs Council believes the technology may improve small group collaborations, enhance the quality of virtual office hours, collect real-time feedback on student learning, and allow students to stay engaged in class.” The Google Glass pilot program was approved to begin sometime in 2015 at the California State University, Dominguez Hills. At the moment the University bought 20 Google Glass devices, which will be tested in the pilot program by professors and students alike, though how exactly these Google Glass devices will be used has yet to be decided.

Glossaic will also help with suggestions as to how to use Google Glass in education, but before they decide, the College of Business Administration and Public Policy already suggested a few Google Glass could be used in the classroom by students and professors:

  • Remote teaching and one-on-one sessions
  • Retina scan to help professors identify students who are taking exams
  • Accessibility for students and professors with visual, auditory and physical handicaps
  • Virtual faculty office hours for students taking online courses
  • Audio messages with video that is sent by professors to students while they evaluate their work
  • Recording lectures in real-time
  • Webinars and online lectures streamed directly on Google Glass

“Another project could be a mock-interviewing session that our students provide for the students of the Southern California Regional Occupational Center. And there will be many other uses that will emerge, such as the ability to poll students in class.” said  Thomas Norman, chair of CBAPP’s Department of Management and Marketing. As you see there are many ideas on how to use Google Glass in the field of education and we are sure that before the pilot program will start at the California State University, Dominguez Hills during the Spring of 2015, many of these ideas will be ready to be implemented and many more are going to be suggested.

Associate Professor of Marketing Natasa Christodoulidou is very happy about the upcoming Google Glass pilot program: “As the first university in the United States to officially be testing Google Glass in the classroom, I believe we are about to make history. Opportunities such as this only arise once in a lifetime and we are very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to make this happen,”. We would like to know what you think about the upcoming pilot program that will begin at the California State University, Dominguez Hills next Spring and about Google Glass’ use in academic fields. As always, leave a comment in the dedicated section below.