The Classroom of the Future
An interesting article about the future of classrooms by Petra Hauptfeld, summing up pretty much what I am also convinced of when it comes to teaching and learning, some examples:
Student-centred approach & change of the teacher-role:
“Students will no longer be “consumers” of information (“Tell me what I have to do to pass!”), but interactive participants in the process of learning. They will define by themselves what “knowledge” means, and the teacher will pave the way for this endeavour. Learning will no longer mean regurgitating information but arranging information in a personally meaningful way.”
….leading to following statement:
“Respect towards teachers is related to competence and experience instead of status and power, so any hierarchy in the class will be dismissed in favour of interconnectivity between all participants in the learning process.”
Digital approach:
“[…]This means that classroom teaching will have to fully implement digital media such as podcasts, blogs and videos. Teachers will have to apply these media didactically for instruction and teach students how to produce digital content in an academic manner.”
Making meaning and creating knowledge is not only bound to essays and other traditional forms of writing in the classroom.
Creating a scientific blog, vlog, podcast and so on are also important ways of mean making, which allow vivid interaction, networking, connecting/hyperlinking:
“…but writing a thesis will be only one method of assessment at higher education institutions in the future. In the world of digital literacy, why not deliver a video documentation, citing the experts in interviews, or creating a scientific blog instead of writing a traditional thesis?”
Architectural approach:
“University architecture in the future has to follow the needs of students, not vice versa.”
Also the classroom itself, maybe even the whole building needs to change!
For example:
“These labs will allow for a number of room arrangements, using elements such as flexible partition walls and diverse light to create the required learning atmosphere, and furniture for concentration as well as relaxation.”
Details about the article and Petra Hauptfeld:
Petra Hauptfeld is a professor at the University of Applied Sciences, Burgenland, Austria. She will be presenting the poster session “Future-proof your classroom: a 2030 instruction model” at the EAIE conference at 3pm on 14 September, in the Arena foyer, Level -1, ACC.
