Smart education: Introducing active learning engineering classrooms in the Middle East

In universities and institutions of higher learning, lectures are still the predominant method of content delivery, regardless of class size. Learning is largely passive in this traditional format with students facing the teacher with limited opportunities for interaction amongst students. Learning is enhanced when students are given the opportunity to actively engage with the new content through group discussion and problem solving. In this paper we present a case study of an engineering school in the Middle East that introduced a technology enhanced active learning classroom. The students and faculty responses to the new smart learning environment were predominantly positive with some key areas highlighted for optimizing its effectiveness.