Computers in the Classroom

A computerized classroom or a computer lab?

I believe a  lab would conotate less time spent in the room or a class that splits time between a regular classroom and a lab.  How much time a class spends with the computers and how the computers are set up determines what can be accomplished. Perhaps 2-4  hours a week would limit the time to basic research or running interactive software programs while continuous access and a server connected classroom could mean a fully integrated paperless classroom.

Most articles I have read or sites I have visited deal more with computer classrooms serving a role as a lab with limited access. At my school there are no labs.  Every classroom is a computer lab, meaning there are no computer free classrooms. All computers are networked on a single server and each student has his own network account and folder.  Students, however, do not have access to the internet from their classroom computers. For better or worse, this senario has presented several challenges.

1. Creating a lab or computer classroom

What do you want?

A testing center?

Research center?

Run a few interactive CD roms?

Internet access?

Student created projects like newspapers, presentations, word docs?

Browser and paperless classroom?

A combination of the above?

Which functions can you provide or are necessary to provide?

Do you have the money?

Tech Support?

Proper hardware?

Teachers trained?  Enough time?

Students capable?  Familiarity with computers or programs?  Can they type?

2. A fully computerized classroom means….

Student work is completed and saved on the server.  Workbooks, notebooks and projects are kept on the server.  There should be no need for paper.

How is work divided in a computer classroom?

Classroom exercises (computer assessed)

Project based (teacher assessed)

Interactive daily lessons can be completed on the server.  Teachers and students can receive immediate feedback.  Teachers can track class progress and create their own interactive lessons and quizes with capable software or use company developed lessons.

Students create their own work stored in individual folders on the server.  The work is accessed and assessed by the teacher online. Examples: report, presentation, survey.

…Research report

…Write the report and save as a word document.

…Make a multimedia presentation and present to class.

3. Things to think about…

Can the teacher control student access in the classroom? Can the teacher shut down the computers when he or she needs full attention?

Have you set the correct permissions?  Do students have access to other students’ folders?  Can they copy and paste from one folder to the other?

Have you controlled student access to the local computer and system files?  Can they use search, find and run commands?  How will you clean the local computer hard drives?

Do you want them to save only to the server and deny saving locally?

Do you want students to be able to manipulate and change their own desktop settings or  do you want a standard mandatory dektop?

What is the folder system?  How can teachers access student work?  Where will students save their work?  Is it uniform?  Can teachers or students access the work easily?

Have you set disk qoutas or can one ambitious student fill up the server in an afternoon?

Backup?  Antivirus?

Do you really want the internet in the classroom?  Can you really monitor what sites they go to?

How do teachers give feedback on student work and keep records? How do they manage student grades from 4 or 5 different areas (example: report on word document, powerpoint presentation, video presentation, sound file, online test, and ongoing score of interactive software).  So, where and how do they give feedback and write results on these different types of paperless activities?

Where will final copies be stored? Will teachers and students both keep copies of the projects?  How will you keep dual copies from being confused?