In many institutions of higher education worldwide, faculty members manage lessons based on information transfer whereas their students become passive listeners. According to international research, passive learning has disadvantages mainly because students do not engage in the lesson. The study introduces a new model for higher education called TBAL: Technology-Based Active Learning. It intends to face the challenge of transfer to active learning, using mobile devices in face-to-face courses. Following a research undertaken at the Neri Bloomfield School of Design and Education (n = 67), the new model was found to be very successful. Students, who participated in the research, reported that courses based on TBAL principles, improved their learning process, were very experiential and had a significant contribution for better participation, collaboration and teamwork. The TBAL model was found to be applicable to courses based on text reading, in particular, but it may be also suitable for quantitative courses, subject to appropriate adjustments.