Smart classrooms are created by using smart environments equipped with various software and hardware devices and applications. The smart classroom is the integration of advanced teaching technologies into the classroom environment beyond the traditional classroom environment in order to contribute to the development of the student's learning ability and participation in the lesson. In general, the concept of the smart classroom will be discussed in this chapter from two aspects: (1) physical and (2) instructional. These two aspects are important in terms of showing how learning processes are affected in terms of educational technologies. This chapter also includes the outputs and experiences of the ongoing technology-enriched smart classroom project supported by a scientific research fund of Ege University.
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Education in the 21st century presents new learning approaches and technological opportunities. Learners and educators try integrating technology into the learning environments to acquire new learning skills. New learning methods and approaches have also changed the structure of learning environments, which can be flexible physical environments and online platforms with technology. Using technological systems fills the gap between learners' skills and their learning process. Technological systems are essential to a new era in global education (Phoong, Phoong, Moghavvemi & Sulaiman, 2019). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) explains that digital smart technologies, learning analytics, and learning objectives will transform education into automated digital tasks and more equal and strategic education (OECD, 2019).
As a discipline, educational technology (EdTech) has many definitions for developing and integrating new technologies and changing points of view. In a recent definition, EdTech is defined as “the study and ethical application of theory, research, and best practices to advance knowledge as well as mediate and improve learning and performance through the strategic design, management and implementation of learning and instructional processes and resources” (AECT, 2022). In their analysis of educational technology research trends, Dağhan & Gündüz (2022) implied that the EdTech definitions have also covered ethical practices since the 2000s, primarily because of easy access to information via the internet. Frankenfield (2022) noted that EdTech involves implementing new learning technologies to improve learning outcomes and enhance individualized education that assists learners and teachers in learning-teaching. Such technology use and integration of learning interaction in the classroom can transform the classrooms into a smart learning environment. The Industrial Revolution emphasizes that human-machine interactions and education performed rapid, robust, and qualified connections for individuals. Fourth Industrial Revolution and Information 4.0 have examined the pedagogical approaches and the impacts of intelligent learning environments. Smart learning environments have filled the gaps between holistic informational context and high-level thinking processes (Lorenzo, Gallon, Palau & Mogas, 2021). A smart classroom is a future technology engagement between multidisciplinary eras and the context. For this reason, it is essential to understand learning environments and their relation to education systems.
At the beginning of the 2000s, smart classrooms were defined as technological support in traditional face-to-face classrooms that combined active learning and educational technologies (Niemeyer, 2003). The technologies are computers, data projectors, smart boards, and other learning tools. The term “smart class” was first used to differentiate it from the concept of a “computer lab class” (Li, Kong, & Chen, 2015). It is seen that the smart classroom is defined as a classroom equipped with an interactive whiteboard to support real-time interaction between teachers and students and to perform learning activities (Zhao, 2008; cited in Li, Kong, & Chen, 2015).