A Few Steps Forward: A Vision of the Technology-Rich Classroom of the Future
The well-equipped classroom today rests on the verge of metamorphosis. After long decades of aching, hesitant steps into the world of technology integration, in the last five years American education has seen its first steps into the dawn of a wholly new experience with classroom computing. Classrooms are now fully connected to the larger world (Wells & Lewis, 2006) and have begun to embrace how technology brings the ideal of constructivism to life (Chung, 2004) . If one walks this path of innovation into the future, these seeds of connection and creation have been brought to bear in the form of cloud computing and collaborative learning environments that are supported through mobile technologies and game-based learning alternatives. (Johnson, Smith, Levine, & Haywood, 2010) These trends merge to create a nexus for the new face of student-centered learning. Take a few more steps down the path, and the traveler finds even more dramatic changes to the face of the classroom stemming from the emergence of augmented reality applications: a few steps farther and the stunning applications resulting from flexible displays come into view. Every journey has a place of origin, and this path begins with the classroom of today.
A walk through a typical suburban classroom shows the recent explosion of interactive and collaborative technologies at work. The standards for a technologically-integrated classroom are all in evidence: a ceiling-mounted projector with networked surround sound, an HD and recordable document camera on the teacher station, an interactive whiteboard mounted to the wall equipped with a remote student response system, and, underlying it all, a robust broadband Internet connection for both the teacher station and the five student computers available. (Moore, 2006) Students are utilizing a class wiki to collaborate and share documents, and teacher email is available for submitting assignments. Yet, for all of these benefits, the classroom of the present has some significant deficits resolved in the classroom of the future. While the wikis and whiteboards of today’s classroom are a quantum leap forward in document sharing and student collaboration, there still remains much room for growth.
In 2016, this same classroom will offer real-time collaboration in the form of online collaboration tools such as the Google Apps suite, where students can work either asynchronously or in tandem on assignments or presentations, collaborate with peers and the instructor on the shared calendar, and even create a shared site to both compile data and share with a global learning community. (Center for Teaching and Learning, n.d.) In order to further enhance students’ ability to collaborate in real-time, all students will be issued a personal mobile computing device, such as an Apple iPad. The issuance of this device directly addresses the national goal of 24/7 accessibility and connectivity for students. (Office of Educational Technology, 2010) Students will have access to collaboration tools in the classroom in conjunction with the access afforded the teacher via the interactive whiteboard. The result: full classroom participation in real-time, with full documentation of the developmental processes that moved the class effort towards its final result. This documentation and availability of adjustment is a core value of the HEB ISD, as is the expectation that teachers constantly access opportunities and resources to develop best teaching practices. (Forester, Sarpalius, & Barsallo, 2009) In this future classroom, teachers will be using meta-hubs, such as Verizon’s Thinkfinity, to find specific activities to align to their lesson objectives: for example, a fifth grade science teacher will enter the content search for particular objectives, such as “Identify and compare the physical characteristics of the Sun, Earth, and Moon” (Texas State Board of Education, 2009) , to find a whole network of interactive activities and suggestions for creating lessons based on those activities. (Verizon Foundation, n.d.) Students will then access these activities in collaboration from home to share background knowledge and develop solutions with divergent thinking. (Royal Society of the Arts, 2010) Additionally, these mobile devices will be configured as student response tools, eliminating the need for a separate student response system. (Johnson, Smith, Levine, & Haywood, 2010) Students will walk into the classroom the following day and complete a formative assessment that allows different learners to respond utilizing their collaborative solutions. Tablet computers such as the iPad will propel classrooms into a new paradigm, largely replacing the need for student laptops or classroom desktops. (Elmer-DeWitt, 2011)
The introduction of a 1:1 initiative for mobile computing devices brings into sharper focus opportunities for gaming and augmented reality applications to play a significant role in student learning. Here on the path into the future, students have long-passed the skill and drill games of today’s classrooms: instead, students are stretching and melding their mathematical, scientific, and problem-solving knowledge as they address scenarios with their peers in class and around the world within a massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) such as Lure of the Labyrinth, a game that focuses on the application of higher order thinking skills to utilize mathematical knowledge. (Learning Games to Go project, n.d.) Students in this science class of the future will participate in an MMOG that places students in various roles on a spaceship exploring the solar system. This game could allow for teacher input of possible scenarios and monitoring of student collaboration and problem solving through the web. A summative assessment on sun, earth, moon relationships will include a virtual tour of the solar system via augmented reality such as Apple’s application StarWalk, where a student’s movements can be monitored to determine their understanding of rotations and revolutions of celestial objects, allowing ELL learners or emergent readers to display knowledge through kinesthetic means. (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2007) Students can then share their experiences with other campuses through the virtual world of Second Life. (Kissko, 2010) Not only can the students of this classroom bring the world into their classroom, they can step out of their classroom and out into the virtual world.
Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the classroom nestled on this pathway does not exist until educators take those steps toward the future. The obstacles are many: financial resources, security concerns, and the resistance of the teaching community to embrace such a sea change in teaching and learning. (Johnson, Smith, Levine, & Haywood, 2010) These same obstacles existed 10 years ago as a barrier to the classroom of today. It will require the vision and fortitude of educational and governmental leaders to bring this vision to bear.
References:
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