Students today live, learn and play in a media-saturated society, so it is only smart to design the classroom as such. Imagine sitting in a 19th century classroom, what do you see? Chalk board, hard floor, desk, and the teacher’s desk with a red apple sitting on it and maybe some pictures with different drawings identifying the things pertaining to that subject.
Now vision a 21st century classroom, what do you see? A smart board, with an overhead projecting coming from the ceiling, instead of a desk there are round tables with computers inside them and chairs that are U shaped, the teacher desk sits high looking over everyone and she has a big fruit basket on it.
The 21st century class room that I vision has lots of colors and electronic devices. Students learn better with interaction and support, when I say support I am talking supportive things that can support the information they are trying to pertain.
- Hear- you hear kids communicating with one another, typing, soft calm music or the flow of water.
- See- you see computers, projectors, electronic maps, electronic pencil sharpeners, robots and maybe there is not a teacher their physically, but he or she is on a screen in Africa showing you the Sahara Dessert.
- Feel- you feel over whelmed, but confident. The overwhelmed comes from all the technology that you see in use, but you see that it is being used for learning. J
- Taste- you get a good taste in your mouth, a taste of learning in the 21st century and it is very sweet and greasy.
- Idea- you get an idea of what you can create to contribute to the awesomeness. Maybe some re-engineering to make the technology work faster, or make it easier to understand. You could invent an electronic shoe that can take the kids back in time or in the future to show them what education use to be to what is today.
