Educational Technology

by COY WESTBROOK, the College Fix
A private university in Missouri that fired over 100 staff members amid budget woes in 2017 is now outfitting all of students residential spaces with personal smart speakers, and the school is refusing to say just how much it spent on the gadgets. Saint Louis University in Missouri is outfitting all of its more than 2,300 student rooms with Amazon Echo Dots. The Echo Dot is “a voice-controlled speaker” that uses the virtual assistant Alexa to “play music, control smart home devices, make calls, answer questions, set timers and alarms, and more,” according to Amazon. “Every minute we can save our students from having to search for the information they need online is another minute that they can spend focused on what matters most: their education,” Saint Louis University’s Vice President David Hakanson said in an announcement.

https://www.thecollegefix.com/one-year-after-layoffs-st-louis-university-buys-2300-amazon-echos-for-its-students/