Having taught on four different campuses over the years and in a few dozen different classrooms, I’ve developed some strong opinions about what my preferred classrooms are like. I imagine that not everyone would agree with these opinions, but I know what works well for me and the students in my classes. (If you’re interested in the design of classrooms and computer labs, then you might also be interested in Jason’s “Re-imagining the Student Computer Lab” and Jeffrey’s “Redesigning the Classroom: Let’s Start with the Wall.”) In this post, I describe what I’ve come to want in terms of information technology in the classroom. Future posts will describe other features of my ideal classroom.
Whiteboards!
First of all, I’m addicted to using multi-colored dry-erase markers for writing on the board. And second, whiteboards are great for using with the classroom projector. Why even have a pull-down screen? Why not just project onto a big whiteboard? Or better yet, paint the entire wall with whiteboard paint and project onto that. (Granted, glare can sometimes be a problem.) This allows one to mark up with dry-erase marker–in an easy and low-tech way–whatever is being projected, something I have been known to do from time to time. (I stole this from my friend and colleague Dave Marlow, who started making copyediting marks on a projected document we were discussing in a committee meeting one day a few years ago).
The classroom computer
Given a choice between having a classroom equipped with only a computer and having a classroom equipped with only a whiteboard, I’ll choose the whiteboard. That said, it’s quite useful to have a computer in the classroom connected to a ceiling-mounted projector. It really doesn’t matter to me what operating system is on the classroom computer; I’m usually going to use it to access and display information on the Internet for a variety of purposes: most often we’ll be analyzing an online document, watching a video clip on YouTube, or demonstrating a database.
In a perfect world, using the computer would be as seamless and obstacle-free as possible. Please don’t require me to go through a long and complicated process for starting up the computer, opening a browser, and displaying the content I might want to display that day. I don’t need the browser asking me every. single. time. I launch it and log into a password-protected site if I want it to remember the username and password. No, I don’t. I’m never going to. If I tell the web browser “No,” the first time it asks me, then it should remember that answer from then on. This might seem like a small thing, but I frequently walk from one building to another to go from one class to another. The semester schedule gives me 10 minutes to do so, and when you factor in the handful of students who might need to ask me a question or two right after class ends, then it’s clear that I don’t have a great deal of time to waste in getting the next class session underway. Every minute is wasted that I have to spend on a time-consuming and non-intuitive process for getting the computer going and the appropriate Web page loaded. (I’m also getting out my books, my dry-erase markers, and notes for that day’s class.)
Document camera
In my writing classes, we often combine in-class (pen-and-paper) writing activities with “on the fly” editing and analysis of the results of those activities. It’s extremely helpful to have a document camera to project one student’s writing onto the whiteboard where we can respond to it (and perhaps copyedit it with those dry-erase markers I mentioned above).
Remote control of the classroom computer
A podium up front that only one person can control at a time results in a “re-centered” classroom. In many classroom situations, this might not be a problem. For those of us interested in a participatory pedagogy, however, it’s much better to be able to sit at a desk in a circle with the students and control what’s being projected (or allow a student to control what’s being projected) with a wireless keyboard and mouse or similar tool. Sometimes I want to lecture (usually at the beginning of a particular unit), but sometimes I want to have a discussion in which all students are encouraged to participate. The physical arrangement of people and desks has a significant effect upon the success or failure of such discussions, and I’d rather not have to abandon the computer altogether in order to move from one mode of pedagogy to another. And if we’re in a computer lab classroom (see below), it’s quite helpful to have the ability to let any student control what’s on the projector from their own computer; this is an easy way to have students display the results of their work.
Arrangement of student computers
In a classroom filled with computers—one for each student—it’s most helpful to have them all facing the wall so that the instructor can move freely and easily from computer to computer, providing feedback and assistance to the students as necessary. This also makes it easy for all of the students to turn around and face each other and the instructor for a discussion or a demonstration of how to achieve a particular task.
My perfect computer lab classroom would have a conference table in the middle of the room so that students can easily turn around from the work they’re doing on the computers to sit at the table. The conference table would also help with the problem of students having no place to put their notebook and books if the desk is currently covered with the cpu, a mouse, and a monitor.
How about you?
What are your ideal classroom features (and why)? Let’s hear from you in the comments!
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by Cristóbal Cobo Romaní]
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24 Responses to My Ideal Classroom, Part 1: Information Technology
acavender - September 27, 2010 at 8:37 am
I’ll second the whiteboard, especially the wall with whiteboard paint. One of our classroom buildings is so equipped. That was very handy last week when I needed to mark up particular points on a map, but hadn’t had time to edit the image file before class. I just projected the map on the wall and scribbled all over it.
maryshore - September 27, 2010 at 9:03 am
I like the idea of a conference table in the middle of the computer lab. It’s really hard to get people to look away from their screen, and talking to people’s backs is not the most satisfying teaching/learning experience. Thanks for the post.
kevingannon - September 27, 2010 at 9:29 am
If your institution has the resources, Smartboards are the way to go–projector screen and touch-screen monitor all in one. Plus, you can use multi-colored digital markers to mark up whatever’s up there, like the article mentions above,but you also have the option to save your writing to the file when you’re done. It’s basically a tablet PC and stylus, but front-of-the-room sized. They are pricey, but once I started using them, I can’t go back!Our institution uses the products made by Smart Technologies; I’m not sure if other versions are out there or not, but worth checking into (smarttech.com).
kfitz - September 27, 2010 at 10:01 am
I was actually lucky enough to design something close to my ideal computer lab classroom not long ago, in the process of renovating a room for use in my newly forming department. The room’s a little smaller than we wanted, and so the computers around the edges with conference table in the center model wouldn’t quite work. So we went with:1. Laptops, which are ordinarily stored in a locked charging station/cabinet, and are brought out only when the situation calls for them.2. Movable tables and chairs, so that the room can be reconfigured for a number of different purposes.At times, I’ve had the tables arranged in pods so that working groups can cluster, but the most useful arrangement has turned out to be placing eight of the tables together in the center of the room (like your conference table) and the rest around the edges (like your computer stations). This allows me to circulate and see/help out with what everyone is working on, while also being conducive to conversation, even when the laptops are out.
eetempleton - September 27, 2010 at 10:53 am
Seconding Kathleen’s #2: Moveable tables and chairs. The classrooms on my campus that do have a computer and projector are all set up with long tables in rows across the room. This is not at all conducive to a discussion based class, so my students and I have to rearrange the furniture every single time we meet. It’s really annoying (not just for us, but also for anyone unlucky enough to be in the classroom beneath us!), but not being able to move the tables would be much worse.
drrom - September 27, 2010 at 12:28 pm
At SJSU, we have a gorgeous room called the Incubator Classroom. A few faculty are selected to teach in it each semester. Two IT staffers help us with snafus. There used to be an instructional designer, but with budget cuts, we lost that position. Here’s what the room holds:portable tables & chairs (wheels!)two smart boardsone center projectorpodium computer that controls all sound, smartboard, projectors, etc.document cameraDVD & Video playerwireless internet accessbay of 25 Dell laptopsbay of 25 Macbook Prosfloor plugs for power & wired network accesswhiteboards around the rooman entire room for 2 IT staff w/a window into the room2 video cameras for broadcastingceiling micsTideBreak software TeamSpot (or ClassSpot?) that allows any laptop to take over the 3 front screens (really the BEST thing I’ve ever used & is the favorite of students every semester that I’ve taught in this room)any other software that faculty require, including video editingThis class also ended up on my Day of Digital Humanities blogs2009: http://ra.tapor.ualberta.ca/~dayofdh/KatherineHarris/2009/03/18/novels-as-social-networking/2010: http://ra.tapor.ualberta.ca/~dayofdh2010/katherineharris/2010/03/18/gothic-techies/It's an amazing room. I can’t even begin to replicate the tone of the classes taught in here in regular smart room where it’s one-way instead of participatory. The laptops do a lot for that.
11890636 - September 28, 2010 at 9:21 am
Writing over a projected image is a cool idea, but every white board/smart board I’ve ever seen is subject to blinding glare from certain angles. Has the latest board or projector technology solved this problem?
reddwarf - September 28, 2010 at 9:39 am
What is the big deal with whiteboards. I mean, they are nice and sometimes usefull, but you would think with all the hype that they were the second coming! I personally find them to be a hassle. As for the rest of this I just have to say – REALLY? You are the ProfHacker and thats the best you could come up with? How about this. . .1) Networked Pad based computers for all students (and instructor) so you can easily share documents and promote interaction (IPADs are a start but they have a long way to go softward wise)2) Efficient ways to leverage smart devices such as Phones into a learning structure by using push messging and interactive apps to engage students in and outside of class.3) A cross platform course management system that is simple, elegant, efficient, and does not drive the users nuts (as Blackboard does). Ease of adding materials such as Movies, readings weblinks and assessments that can be accessed by smartphone, laptop, or pad based device4) As for the physical space any type of desks that are easily moved and rearranged to meet my needs at a particular time will work. I have many times just wished for a room full of beanbag chairs and clipboards over some of the situations I usually have to teach in.5) The most important part of any dream classroom is the teachers ability. I would rather be taught by an engaging interactive instructor with nothing but a piece of chalk and chalkboard, that a doofus with a bunch of techhie toys that they don’t know how to use in a pedagogically appropriate way. 6) Use of social networking into classroom curriculum to quickly share information and foster discussion. I find Twitter the best for this, but Facebook does have it’s plusses.
karenrlow - September 28, 2010 at 10:00 am
Sorry, reddwarf, I love whiteboards for teaching, too. My primary requirement for an ideal class space is sound conditioning. It makes all the difference to work in a classroom that doesn’t have buzzing lights, echoey ceilings and walls, or roaring fans.
dkompare - September 28, 2010 at 10:08 am
I’ll add to the whiteboard fan club, but only provided there are dry erase markers around! They tend to disappear mysteriously around here, though I sometimes carry 2-3 in my bag just in case.As for computers and projection, I love the approach we’ve adopted here at the Meadows school at SMU. We ripped out most of the Dalek-like media podiums the previous regime had put in circa 2000, and replaced them with a much slimmer, wall-mounted “sideboard” with a small pull down desk, a variety of connected cables, and a simpler five-button interface, all connected to ceiling-mounted video projectors and speakers. All of our faculty use Macbooks, which easily sit on the sideboard for plug-and-play presentations, media clips, or web browsing. I should point out as well that WiFi is ubiquitous, if sometimes still a bit tetchy at times. If someone needs some “old school” tech–the occasional VCR or turntable–those can be checked out and easily connected on an ad hoc basis.We’re still replacing furniture in many classrooms; most of the ones I usually teach in have fixed rows of seats, unfortunately. I’d prefer easy to move tables and chairs, or individual desks, but we’re getting there on that front.
george_h_williams - September 28, 2010 at 10:21 am
Thanks for all the feedback!Glad to hear I’m not the only fan of whiteboards. @acavender: I’m jealous of your classroom with a whiteboard painted wall!@maryshare: Agreed.There are times when it’s very useful to have a way to get people to turn physically away from their devices.@kevingannon: We have a few smart boards made by http://www.prometheanworld.com/, and they’re mostly over in the school of education. I think that’s because the local school districts have them and our students majoring in education need to be trained in how best to use them. However, I don’t have any experience with them, myself. They sound promising!@kfitz & @eetempleton: Yes, to movable furniture! And I like the idea of an arsenal of laptops that are used when needed and stored when not. Anything is good that gets rid of the “re-centered” classroom design that so many podium-based “smart” classrooms embrace.@drrom: Wow. Just . . . wow. =)@11890636: Agreed. I haven’t looked into it, but I wonder if there’s a flat (rather than glossy) whiteboard paint.@reddwarf: Um . . . I’m not “the” ProfHacker. I’m just a professor. I could have written about any number of fantasy “what if” technologies that are brand new (or yet to be introduced), but instead I focused on those things that experience has taught me work well in my classrooms. A post about what I’d like to try experimentally would be interesting, but that’s not what this post is about. It’s just about my experience. And you’ll find that this is an approach that for the most part defines what we write about here at ProfHacker: “Here’s what has worked well for me. What’s worked well for you?”@karenrlow: Yes! In future posts I hope to address other aspects of classroom design, but I hadn’t thought about sound. Good point.@dkompare: I love that phrase: “Dalek-like media podiums”! They’re evil, aren’t they? It sounds like SMU has come up with a good plan for replacing them.
george_h_williams - September 28, 2010 at 10:23 am
Here’s a follow-up question (though readers are still welcome to answer the original question):Refreshing or upgrading your classroom technology is—obviously—expensive. If you or your colleagues have come up with innovative (or not-so-innovate) ways of funding such projects, please share the details in a comment!Thanks in advance.
cfox53 - September 28, 2010 at 10:30 am
I really think Smart-boards are out – tablets do the same thing – project & annotate the projection – at a fraction of the cost & maintanance PLUS – with witeless, I can walk around with my tablet.I also support reddwarf – this is a minimal listing of what is available currently (not even cutting edge but ‘off the shelf’ – what about real ‘ideal’ – global interaction, blending face-to-face & on-line, a real course management system, ability to record & immediately have available video & audio of the entire class experience, vitrtual reality in the classroom, etc. If we are going to wish let’s wish for the tools we need not what is easily available.
george_h_williams - September 28, 2010 at 10:49 am
@cfox53 writes “this is a minimal listing of what is available currently (not even cutting edge but ‘off the shelf.’)”I’ve never claimed otherwise. I’m not sure why anyone would think that I was trying to describe something cutting edge. As I’ve said, this is what I’ve found has worked well for me and my students. This is not a description of new technologies I’d like to try out in the classroom.That said, if commenters want to describe their own dream classrooms, knock yourselves out!And please understand that this post and the ensuing discussion aren’t really meant to be about the wide variety of hardware and software tools available for teaching and learning. The topic is more specific: When it comes time to design a classroom and equip it with various features, what features do we want to see?
cwillard - September 28, 2010 at 11:06 am
I fully agree about whiteboards, not the least of the reasons being the absolute antipathy of chalk dust for electronics. At Duke we have begun using a product called ‘Walltalkers,’ a whiteboard surface that is applied directly to the wall in 54″ wide strips. The surface extends floor to ceiling, edge to edge and is slightly matte, so it can double as a projection surface. It has been a hit with faculty and students because they can write on the wall while projecting.Computers in the classrooms work well, but create something of a problem in a campus like ours where there is no one platform that is in use by everyone, so we are experimenting with Mac Mini computers with dual-boot PC/Mac systems. They have a small form factor and are very powerful for most uses.Tablet PCs are in use for various places, and Smartboards have never really caught on very well here, not the least of the reasons being that you have to avoid your own shadow when working with the projected image, but I do not believe that tablets are the ultimate answer. Most tablets can be used only in landscape mode because most (affordable) projectors can’t do portrait. Ultimately touch-sensitive surfaces, which are just now beginning to appear at the higher end may be the best answer (Microsoft’s Smart Table, for one). Getting them big enough for a classroom will be a few years out there, however. Tablets had the additional disadvantage of being somewhat slow due to a high program overhead.
drjeff - September 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm
> What about “flat” whiteboard paint?You wouldn’t be able to wipe it off with the “eraser” unless the surface were very slick, meaning glossy.As much as I like whiteboards, to the point that I sometimes find it hard to think or express myself without one, have we lost sight of the fact (not just my opinion) that they are just a somewhat less messy blackboard? Even my teachers in the 60′s had multi-colored chalk, which was never dried out when they tried to use it.Hint: I stopped getting black hands (and dark hand-prints on my clothes) when I started keeping my whiteboard markers in a cup instead of laying them on the tray, which gets filled with the bits of ink wiped off the board. It’s actually my #1 hint from my time in a classroom.Plus, it was extra entertaining when my roll-up projector screen came loose at one end, swung down, hit the cup, sending it sailing across the room and smashing on the floor. Thankfully, it was high-quality ceramic and broke into large pieces. I think the kids are still talking about it. (The next day, I brought in another cup.)
11272784 - September 28, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I strongly believe that we need to start using teaching tools which allow students to retrieve lectures and see what happened. Too many faculty mis-use whiteboards by writing small, standing in the way, or covering 6 boards per lecture. The first thing I’d like to do is pull every whiteboard out of clasrooms and replace them with Smartboards. Of course, budgets prevent that, but we’re working that direction as fast as we can. Document cameras projecting an image on a screen are a close second, as they both make the images larger for in-class students and the output can be computer-captured for review later.The ability to project written materials larger in the classroom and to capture them in web-deliverable or PDF format is becoming more important every semester…and the way to achieve those goals is to get the materials to travel through a computer.
drjeff - September 28, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Maybe it’s the subject I was teaching (Chemistry and Physics), but it would be a poor second choice to give the students access to a copy of what I wrote on the board (or, often, drew on the old-fashioned overhead projector) without passing through their brain and hand on the way. Yes, I mean taking notes.As brilliant as I am sure my scribblings were, and as much artistic talent as my diagrams displayed, their own notes were dramatically more valuable to the students than any mechanical copy would have been.When I was in school myself, I found that my test grades were noticeably better when I took notes, EVEN IF I NEVER LOOKED AT THEM. The act of note taking serves an extremely useful purpose that we should not rob the students of.
dsprogis - September 28, 2010 at 5:04 pm
The solution to projecting and writing on the same surface can be found in a rear-projection solution. Be sure the polished side of the glass faces the class for dry erase marking and, most importantly, erasing. One can easily imagine an ability to slide multiple sheets of glass in front of the rear projection window and thus provide multiple writing surfaces. This solution also lends itself to photography.
jabberwocky12 - September 29, 2010 at 2:07 am
OTT: Does anyone know of a reference for that image? The only references I can find return to the flickr posting or this article.
mbelvadi - September 29, 2010 at 11:25 am
A little caveat about projectors – make sure whatever they’re mounted to doesn’t shake at all. We have a nice expensive Smartboard with a ceiling mounted projector that makes everyone nauseous when the building A/C is on, because even that tiny vibration, when “thrown” several feet, causes a noticeable shaking of the image. Our Facilities folks have no solution – the projector is already mounted directly to a concrete surface, not something flimsy. We’re all looking forward to winter! :-)
oh_richard - September 30, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I agree on whiteboards. IDK what the big deal is, but I find when I scribble it on the board, underline or draw arrows, change colors… It makes a difference. Maybe it slows me down and they have more time to digest what I’m saying. Maybe they get the key points because I underlined and changed colors. Maybe it’s that I let them organize the ideas roughly and then I add a larger organization afterward so they think twice about everything we write (because they write it down too)… You do what works :)I have also found the more I allow tech to feed students information and diagrams, the less it starts to mean to them. Maybe drawing -anything- on the board makes it personal again? As for “cuting edge” stuff…A computer that does not require me to accept the licensing agreements, close a useful tips pop-up, install something every …. single …. time …. I …. log …. in …. would INDEED be a sign of an IT revolution at our school. It would mean the harried people in the understaffed department who install this stuff suddenly have enough time and people to see the job we need them to do from OUR perspective… and actually have time do just that.I would love * a -simple- voting software that students with phones and laptops could use that would show real-time tallying* a more facebook style discussion board on the course website* a class wiki to go with the course website* course website software that worked seemlessly, and that faculty selected* workshops on how to use tech – I can figure out how to log in, upload a file, post a course announcement… and so this kind of “training” (which is generally what we seem to get) is a waste of time.mbelvadi – I’m throwing out wild ideas here, but I would hope the projector is not mounted to the concrete, but rather the shelf it sits on is? Would rubber washers on the bolts holding the shelf in place help? Or rubber washers or play dough sitting under the projector between it and the shelf help?
mbelvadi - September 30, 2010 at 9:56 pm
oh_richard, thanks for the suggestion, but actually the projector is hanging upside down, bolted directly to the building infrastructure, and is not sitting on a shelf of any kind. Sigh.Here’s another suggestion for “perfect classroom lab” – how about light switches that let you dim the front part of the room (for projecting) or brighten up the whole room (for “lab” time) AND are located at the front, not the back, of the room (or very clever, on the instructor’s station itself) so the instructor can control them easily?
derekbruff - October 8, 2010 at 8:54 am
I’m so very late to the comments here, but for what it’s worth, movable tables and chairs (with wheels) are so important. I find it very useful to rearrange the furniture into a different configuration depending on what I’m doing in class on a particular day. Wheeled furniture makes this much more practical.Although it’s not part of the classroom IT, I couldn’t live without my PowerPoint remote. Not having to sit or stand right next to my computer during a presentation is so important to connecting with students.And perhaps most obviously important to me: Clickers!