(9/9/97 AAHESGIT #180. Approx. 100 Lines from Rosemarie Menager-Beeley of Foothill College <rm04480@tiptoe.fhda.edu>)Having just gone through a several year process of picking technology and designing space for a lab and classroom, some of my experiences may be useful to others.
I learned that first of all, you must know WHAT you're using the space FOR. Sounds obvious, but easy to forget with all the other considerations. If you know "what for" then you can more easily answer questions like what type of equipment, tables, lighting, flooring sound and projection, scanning and printing. Also layout becomes clear in terms of amount of space needed to arrange tables, chairs, aisles, and cabling. We made diagrams of the room and made colorform-like cutouts to figure out how everything would work. Retrofitting a plug is a costly and annoying outcome of not planning sufficiently. Along with this you must think about who will maintain this. We decided to go Mac because of the ease of maintenance, networking and compatibility of accessories. It's been the right decision for us for several years now.
In doing my planning, I visited Amy Tzon at Stanford's Green Library Flexible Classroom. This site can be visited via Internet but there's nothing like seeing it operate. To solve the problem of how to work the underfloor cabling they used 2x4's in a grid with screwed on plywood. It effectively only raised the floor 4 inches and was less expensive than sawing cement as well as easier to change. Everything is carpeted and there are dual plug and computer hookups every few feet throughout the room. The tables are of a wedge shape and on wheels to be easily moved and configured in small or large pods, rows, what have you. Under the grid are T-1 lines so this classroom is FAST. There is a server or two in a closet on the side and a very large rear projection screen in one corner. The VCR, video discs etc. are built in at the side and there's an instructor workstation to one side of the screen. When students come into the room there's a cart-full of Powermac laptops already set to go. Their power and Internet cabling is wound up with electricians tape so it looks like a tail. BTW there are bean bags for sitting, in case people want to use them, as well.
I asked Amy how this came to be and she said it was a result of dialog between the technicians and teachers. The teachers were complaining that the necessary rows, desks and CPUs were interfering with spontaneity and better interaction. The technicians thought on this awhile and considered what the limitations actually were. They started dreaming, got a hefty grant, and ta dah!
The classroom has been used for everything from drama to logic. Students can share what's on their laptops or project onto the large screen easily. It's a truly creative interactive space.
Another model I was considering was dreamed up by Steven [Alan?] Kay, father of the dynabook - precursor of the laptop. This was while he was consulting at a middle school in Los Angeles. He was using desks with a glass cut-out and monitors mounted underneath. In this way students could use the desk top for everything traditional and very quickly change to using computers. I believe the goal was to do more with touch screens or speech as well. The concept made me think of the Star Trek computers .The idea of having more desk space was very appealing because it's often lost with computers and monitors in the way or your rows have to become larger to back your chair up in order to pull out a keyboard drawer.
Finally, I think that with the evolution in Speech recognition occuring presently, sound input is going to be upon us quickly. This may alter the mouse and keyboard interface - something I've been eagerly awaiting. When you can sit on a couch in five different positions and still read your monitor, then I'll think that computers are very user friendly and clever.
Rosemarie Menager-Beeley, Professor of Adapted Computer Technology Foothill College 12345 El Monte Rd. Los Altos, CA 94022 (415) 949-7056 office (415) 322-5927 (fax) fga26@earthlink.net