Pace Students Teach and Learn with Digital Avatars

Students at will take digital learning to a new level this spring using TLE TeachLivE™ Lab technology.

At a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony in Pleasantville, the school unveiled the avatar-based program that projects images on a SMART board in a teaching setting.

TLE, or Teach Live Education, "can help with teacher preparation, professional development of in-service educators and research on teacher effectiveness," according to a statement from Pace.

The system, developed at the University of Central Florida, show images of five "avatar" students, each with carefully created personalities and backgrounds, based on research of "typical and sometimes challenging students."

The system's operators are called "interactors" and react to student teachers via web cam, acting out their gestures and personalities in real time. Actors are equipped with sensors which translate to the on-screen avatars.

Pace University will be the only northeastern school to use the technology, and plans to do so in both its Pleasantville and New York City-based campuses.

In pilot tests performed at Pace over the summer, teacher candidates were able to learn the ins and outs of teaching, from "the complexities of adult/child relations" to "communicating effectively and managing classrooms," all without the pressure of live students.

The technology was also used for coursework in the special education, science and educational psychology fields.

This spring, 10 classes and more than 300 students at Pace University will utilize the system, which received the 2012 Innovative Technology Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).

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