CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE – Tomorrow’s Learning Spaces Today
Training
Training in the use of the facilities is provide by Mr Bill Steele. Please contact him directly to arrange a suitable date and time b.steele@uws.ac.uk
Ext: 3475 or 8403 .
Booking
Please note: the room is not centrally timetabled and must be booked through Carolyn MacDonald or Margaret Cuthbertson of CAPD (O141 848 3621). For evaluation purposes staff and students will be required to complete a short evaluation form at the end of each teaching session.
Background
This video may provide a flavour of what is concerning staff throughout HE.
The Classroom of the Future concept is a fundamental part of the University’s overall Future Learning Spaces project. This project is part of key strategic targets in the University Strategic Plan 2008-15 in which there are many references to exploiting the power of technology in the classroom to enable enhanced learning activities. It aims to evaluate a range of technological approaches based around sound pedagogic principles that can be used to support face-to-face, online and blended learning. It introduces a range of new technologies but also supports existing technologies such as Blackboard.
The Classroom of the Future at the Paisley Campus was completed in June 2008 using rooms H322/324 and the Hamilton Campus room in October 2008 using rooms A216/218.
Tables and chairs are on wheels and stackable. This increased mobility allows the classroom to be arranged differently from the usual rows of desks and chairs into small groups or islands. This flexibility increases the opportunity for lecturers to make lectures and tutorials much more interactive and increase collaboration amongst students. Used properly, the technology and the class environment should help engage learners.
Similar to using the virtual learning environment, Blackboard, the classroom of the future is about aiding the learning and teaching process, particularly in a multi-campus setting. The ethos behind it is to stimulate students and make learning less passive by creating an environment that enables deeper cognitive development.
What Has Been Happening?
The project initially involved turning existing classrooms into experimental multiple-use rooms equipped with a range of technologies, to provide a flexible teaching space that can be used for distance as well as campus-based students and allows synchronous and asynchronous communications with small or large groups.
The rooms at both campuses can be partitioned to allow for one large room (approximately 50 at Paisley and 40 at Hamilton) or two smaller rooms at each site. When partitioned the 2 rooms have different functionality in order to evaluate different approaches to teaching and learning. To aid description of the facilities and functionality the room arrangements are referred to as:
Large Group: |
single large room arrangement with no partition being used |
Video: |
room is split into 2 using the partition and this particular room has videostreaming/podcast and videoconferencing facilities |
Small Group: |
room is split into 2 using the partition and this particular room has no videostreaming or videoconferencing facilities |
What Can the CoF DO?
There is a teaching wall located in the Video and the Small group rooms which provide a projection screen, data projector, DVD/VHS playback, permanent Internet connection (both through cable and wifi), laptop connection, audio amplifier and hearing loop.
The Large Group/ Video room has a permanent PC, Document Camera Visualiser, touch screen presentation controller, videostreaming/ podcast facility and videoconferencing connection.
The Small Group room has a push button operated presentation control system.
The following equipment is also available for use in both rooms:
Touch screen groupwork presenters, sufficient Tablet PC’s for use by each student and 64 audience response system handsets (clickers).
Other facilities include:
Wifi connectivity for the Tablet PC’s to allow free movement around the room but maintain Internet connectivity, connection with the lecturer computer and the other students. This connectivity is supported by several items of software which allow the lecturer to monitor student computer use, communicate between staff and the student, communicate between students, communicate from the student to the member of staff.
How Can YOU Get Started?
Staff development opportunities are available through CAPD in relation to the space, technology and equipment with further sessions on how you may use the space from a teaching and learning perspective. If you wish to experiment with the use of the space yourself then please contact Bill Steele, CAPD (b.steele@uws.ac.uk). This is an opportunity to try out the approaches you would like to have used but were not appropriate without the equipment, software or the space flexibility.
Please note: the room is not centrally timetabled and must be booked through Carolyn MacDonald or Margaret Cuthbertson of CAPD (O141 848 3621). For evaluation purposes staff and students will be required to complete a short evaluation form at the end of each teaching session.
We hope colleagues will welcome and take advantage of the opportunity to explore and evaluate different approaches to teaching and learning that such a flexible facility can provide