[MATHEDCC] Classroom of the Future
Al Roy (aroy@BRISTOL.MASS.EDU)
Mon, 29 Nov 1999 11:37:43 -0500
All the predictions about the highly computerized classrooms of the future
might be correct.The chalk and chalkboard have withstood the challenge of
the filmstrip, the overhead projector, the tape recorder, audio tapes,
motion pictures, learning labs, open space classrooms, television, and
video tapes. Maybe the computer will finally change things in the classroom.
Our college has a TV studio that can broadcast to every classroom on
campus. The college and the studio were constructed in 1972 reflecting a
vision of the future classroom that saw a teacher in the studio instructing
students who were watching TV's all over the campus. The studio has never
been used for that purpose. It is used sparingly for local community TV
broadcast. Faculty in all disciplines are lecturing in poorly designed
classrooms. Some classrooms do not have windows. Many have small
chalkboards. Most are too small for the number of students they serve. Our
language lab has been converted to a poor classroom. The open spaces now
have petitions that do not block sound. It might have been better if the
vision of the future in 1972 had been of teachers lecturing in classrooms
large enough for the number of students they serve, with windows, with heat
and air conditioning that works and is quiet, that are soundproof, with
large chalkboards, with comfortable student desks with ample space for note
taking and enough space between each desks.
Will the classrooms that are now being constructed according to the current
vision of the future be turned into more poor teaching spaces? Or will they
be constructed in accordance with the way college teachers teach and have
been teaching since the first college was founded in 1636?
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Al Roy "We shall not cease from exploration
Bristol Comm. Coll. And the end of our exploration
Fall River, MA 02720 Will be to arrive where we started
508-678-2811 x2246 And know the place for the first time." Eliot
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