The Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy received the Smart School model from Samsung on Wednesday, a program which will allow students more opportunities to interact in class.

The project, an initiative within the framework of the educational innovation program of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, belongs to Samsung’s Corporate Social Responsibility program in the field of education, follows the introduction of the Samsung Smart School model implemented in elementary schools in 2013 and high schools in 2015.

Samsung Smart School was implemented with the advice of the experts from the educational organization HAIVN (Health Advancement in Vietnam), which includes faculty from Beth Israel Medical Center Deaconess and Harvard Medical School.

To meet demands to improve teaching and learning, especially within the health sector, the smart school model is comprised of two main parts.

Part one includes the introduction of 'hardware,' including the creation of interactive classrooms with modern equipment.

Part two includes creating lesson content using specialized software and training tools for teachers and students that familiarize them with the new teaching and learning models.

Interactive classrooms are flexibly arranged based on the needs of different learning styles, with the ability to organize each style into groups, easily changed into blocks as in traditional methods or separated individuals.

Equipment in the classrooms includes Interactive White Boards with classroom management software, the tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7, an Internet system connected to a server, and accessories that provide users with extreme convenience.

Moreover, the screens in the classrooms are also arranged for students to view at all angles, regardless of seating arrangements.

The position of these screens helps improve the interaction between teachers and students as well as amongst the members of each study group.

In addition to the presentation of interactive lessons with images, sounds, video clips, and movies, other types of images with specific characteristics for medical students, such as models of histology and muscles in the human body displayed in 3D with 'strip,' 'separate,' and 'rotate' features, allow students to visually observe in a way that is closer to reality.

The Smart School system is also combined with the learning method ‘Team-based Learning,’ a model of innovation in teaching methods developed by Dr. Larry K. Michaelsen, Professor Emeritus of management at the University of Oklahoma in the U.S.

'Team-based Learning,’ a combination of Smart School, modern equipment and learning methods, will be a new trial in the ways of teaching and learning for medical teachers and students, Associate Prof. Dr. Tran Tuan Diep, director of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, said.

"This model has been applied in many universities around the world, especially Harvard Medical School. With positive feedback, we hope to see students have exciting experiences and efficiency with Smart School,” Dr. Diep said.

“This will be the motivation for the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy to continue innovating its education style, especially in the current context of integration."

As a leading global electronics corporation, Samsung is constantly introducing the application of its technology to the realm of education.

Samsung Smart School is just one of the Korean tech titan's solutions for education and has achieved success on an international level. 

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