By Henry Grosso – High School Intern
Like everything in the world, technology is continuing to take the place of the objects and people in our everyday lives. Whether it is a self-driving car, or a factory run by robots, our lives are constantly changing due to the advancements of technology. One place that is particularly drastically changing is the classroom. Most people are used to a very regimented classroom setup with a chalkboard, assigned seats, and a teacher at the front of the room teaching the kids in front of them. Three things that have really changed the flow of a classroom are virtual reality, paperless learning, and changes in classroom layouts.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a form of learning that allows students to learn without ever really having to leave the classroom or move much in general. Its benefits are helping develop empathy as students can personally witness communities in crisis or by allowing students to witness different careers through the eyes of doctors, technical jobs, the military, etc… This technology is already available in classrooms and one example of it is The Lenovo VR classroom which is a kit that is being shipped around to different schools all across the country. These kits include everything that teachers and kids need to succeed with this type of technology.
Another very simple, but very effective change to the classroom is paperless learning. Many classrooms still use lots of paper such as paper handouts, tests, quizzes and essays but most schools have switched over to online classwork resources like google classroom. Microsoft OneNote is a perfect example of this. It eliminates the need for handouts as it creates notebooks for each class, holding all of your assignments, and offers a collaboration area for students and teachers. As apps and software improve, more and more paper will be eliminated from the classroom overall changing the entire landscape of materials and resources used for classroom learning.
Lastly, the change in classroom layouts has had an unbelievable impact on students and the way classes function. The old fashioned classroom setup is not inspiring or productive for students while on other hand, today’s classrooms benefit its students because classrooms are being furnished to accommodate its students’ needs These type of classrooms do not have fixed seating charts, they have furniture that can be moved around very easily like tables and chairs on wheels, bean bags, and more comfortable furniture. In sum, the purpose of this type of classroom is to allow students to be able to learn in the most comfortable environment to increase engagement and overall happiness in the classroom.
Today’s classroom is much more relaxed, but also much more reliable. It allows for flexibility in a way that has increased learning opportunities and excitement from students.