Philadelphia Professor Brings Art, Technology Together In 3-D App
Dr. Aroutis Foster is a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and his focus is on using technology in education. Dr. Foster was involved in developing an interactive mobile app for young visitors of the Barnes Foundation. The app called, "Keys to the Collection" allows young adults to explore the Barnes art collection using 3-D immersive graphics and a touch screen app. The game is targeted towards 7-14 year olds and sends them on various art missions. Dr. Foster shares the challenges and rewards of a career as a college educator.
What is the most challenging aspect of teaching in the classroom environment?
"I would say it depends on what level of schooling, the types of learners, and the context of teaching, but a very broad and general response would be classroom management and student engagement."
Do you have any advice for people wanting to enter into the teaching profession?
"Teaching increasingly requires having an integrated knowledge about technology, pedagogy, and content and how to use this integrated knowledge to successfully aid learners to meet their goals."
Are continuing education courses beneficial for teachers?
"Absolutely, as we advance as a society we develop new ways to teach and support learners, new content, and even more powerful technologies, thus teachers should get continuing education credits to advance themselves and to keep up with their field. This is beneficial to teachers for them to keep abreast of innovative methods and research in teaching and advancement in their disciplines."
Do you feel that a master's degree would be helpful in your day-to-day career?
"If a person wants to teach at the high school level, a master's degree would be beneficial because the person would conceivably have a deeper knowledge in the content areas to better support students needing more advanced knowledge. In an increasingly competitive global community, we need such education to remain competitive with rest of the world. In general, a more advanced degree would be helpful in a person's day-to-day career because the person would have a deeper knowledge of the content area and more knowledge about him or herself to sustain lifelong learning habits. By extension they would better support learners' advancement beyond the basics."
Christina Thompson is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
