How Hands Free Always On (HFAO) Technology Will Affect Classrooms

Hands Free Always On (HFAO) technology, such as the next generation of smart glasses, will likely become undetectable, turn up in classrooms in the near future and change teaching and learning. This paper is an exploratory study that analyzes two focus groups with faculty members at a research university. Participants were former and current NJIT instructors who have taught at an undergraduate and/or graduate level. The focus group process and the analysis of the information collected were guided by our four research questions: (1) How will HFAO technology affect students’ learning? (2) How will it affect professors’ teaching? (3) How will it affect assessment? (4) What would make faculty embrace this technology? From the insights provided by the participants we found that the perceived effects of HFAO technology were mixed. Future work aims to conduct additional focus groups with instructors and students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.