In my role as Secondary Technology Integration Specialist, I have the opportunity to observe many classrooms in our three secondary buildings. 75 percent of the room arrangements are traditional desks, set in rows much like the picture on the left. For the most part, the instructional delivery in these classrooms is PowerPoint presentations from an overhead projector. There are exceptions. Several teachers have begun moving to more tables and collaborative spaces in the classroom. Some utilize a horse-shoe design that allows for more conversational instruction. Last year, during a pilot of 1:1 laptop learning, staff piloting laptops with students switched from desks to tables and a more collaborative arrangement. This year, even without the laptops, they have maintained this arrangement for their instruction.
The classroom on the right is where 21st Century Literacy is taught at one of our Middle Schools. There are computers around the room, along with a laptop cart of 10 more. The teachers and I wrote a grant for the laptops during the first year of the courses existence. This allows for some direct instruction followed by time in class to collaborate, communicate and create.
In most cases, the teacher's desk is either in the back corner or the front corner, which may be a result more of where the power and projector connection is located rather than true teacher preference.
All of our classrooms have a projector with software on the computer for manipulating between 2 video inputs and the ability to blacken the screen.
While at least 2 classrooms in 2 of the buildings have an Inter-active White board (IWB), most do not. 5 years ago, the district started allowing teachers to apply for grants for an Interwrite tablet. Teachers filled out an application, and if approved, received 3 hours of training, and the use of the tablet for their instruction. The thinking behind this was:
a) The pads were 1/3-1/4 the cost of a board
b) The pads were more portable, freeing the teacher from being the "sage on the stage." This allowed for better classroom management, as well as allowing the teacher to work towards more "student-centered" pedagogy. For most staff, the pads have served mostly as a "glorified wireless mouse," though some have made use of the software for annotation and interactive lessons. Some staff have also taken advantage of saving their interactive lessons as pdf files and posting them for students who are absent, or those with special needs.
A few classroom teachers have written grants for Audio Enhancement systems for their classrooms. This universal design feature allows for clearer understanding of the teacher for those with hearing loss, and
research has shown added benefits of less missed time for staff, increased speech and language growth, and a reduction in special education referals.
Many classrooms have student computers that have long since passed their prime. Many require 15 minutes for students to simply log in, making them obsolete.
As staff explore integrating 21st Century skills such as collaboration, creativity, communication and problem solving into their curriculum, moving towards work tables and away from individual desks will assist the classroom teacher with this new pedagogy. This also requires that teachers be more active in the classroom, walking around more, rather than standing in one spot to view what students are doing. Professional Development for staff will need to take these arrangement strategies into consideration, and administrators will need to consider the type of furniture ordered to outfit classrooms when making purchasing decisions.
