UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State professor, whose idea to improve K-12 teacher training using virtual reality won a University challenge, will be among three guests discussing how technology can influence learning during President Eric J. Barron’s monthly WPSU show on Sunday, April 1.

Ann Clements, an associate professor in the School of Music, won the Open Innovation Challenge during the 2015 Penn State Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology. Her idea, First Class, helps student teachers practice their craft in front of a virtual classroom.

“The program allows our students to break down complex integration tasks into smaller units, such as eye contact or proximity, before asking them to teach content,” she said. “It also allows them to be observed by the program, receive feedback and then re-teach using that feedback as many times as needed to master a skill.”

Barron will welcome Clements, Scott McDonald, an associate professor of science education and director of the College of Education’s Krause Innovation Studio, and Jennifer Sparrow, senior director of Teaching and Learning with Technology at Penn State, to discuss the TLT symposium and its Open Innovation Challenge. McDonald won the innovation challenge in 2016.

WPSU Penn State’s “Digging Deeper” will air at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on WPSU-TV.

The TLT symposium is an annual event that brings together Penn State faculty and instructional designers, education technologists and multimedia developers to discuss ways that technology can enhance teaching and learning. The Open Innovation Challenge, held during the symposium, showcases faculty members’ innovative ideas to accomplish those goals. The 2018 symposium was held on March 17.

After winning the challenge, Clements began working with Penn State TLT to help develop her idea. She said First Class is now a working prototype and that she’s looking for new partnerships to help expand the project.

Visit the WPSU website for more information and to watch archived episodes.