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Computer Classroom Design Considerations

There are many issues to consider when designing a computer classroom the following are the more common issues that in our experience have been of most importance. We have found that the solution in most cases is one of give and take. Generally we have found that you have to be prepared to balance the importance of certain criteria against other more important issues for your school or situation.

Pedagogical design issues
Pedagogy stimulates great discussion among the teaching profession yet when designing computer teaching environments its seems to gain only a fleeting consideration. Teachers want control of their classrooms and the attention of their students. Teacher control allows teachers to better perform their duties as a teacher and generally means better educated students.

Teaching dynamics require:
• an interaction between the teacher and the students
• AND an interaction between students.

A properly designed computer teaching environment increases teacher/student interaction and decreases the negative dynamics in student/student. A poorly designed computer teaching area decreases teacher/student interaction and increases the negative dynamics in student/student interaction. There is both positive and negative interaction between students. The negative interactions take student focus from their class activities.

This simple basic premise is the core of our design beliefs and procedures.
To determine how we might achieve this end there is a need to address a number of pedagogy issues such as:

Teaching technique
The technique used in computer teaching environments is still evolving and varies depending on the teacher and the subject. It is evolving from the generally accepted "stand and teach from up the front of the room" technique. And has evolved more towards a facilitator role where the teacher provides access to the information and help using the programs and hardware. The student more or less learns from his/her own efforts. The student takes/is given control of the process. This evolvement itself suggests a need to rethink the complete learning process.

Class level
Of course the younger the student the less likely they are to be capable of taking control of the process. Suggesting that there is a need for designs to suit different class levels.

Teacher control
Teachers see this issue as a major stumbling block to new designs and new ideas. They are loath to change the techniques they have spent a lifetime learning and that's understandable. The "traditional design" generally satisfies the teachers who wish to hold on to their traditional way of teaching. Teacher control is not an absolute thing. It comes in percentages. The more student/student interaction there is in the room the less teacher control there is.

Teaching tools
There's a large number of teaching tools available to teachers today. These tools compliment the teaching technique and impact on the possible solutions within the room.

Teaching position
Usually when thinking about the layout of the room decision-makers automatically accept the present teaching/blackboard position as the front of the room. This can be to the detriment of the performance of the room.

Student focus
Generally given little thought yet in our humble opinion an important issue related to the room dynamics and teacher control. Given their own work area without the easy intrusion of other students allows a student to focus more on their own work. Another incremental decrease in the negative student/student interaction gives an incremental increase in teacher control.

Room dynamics
This is a very difficult issue to assess. Teachers know the students who behave well in their rooms and the ones who don't. And they have techniques for dealing with the different personalities. How they normally control the dynamics in the rooms can have an impact on the layout style that best suits the particular institution. Being aware of the room dynamics is the key. Again, less negative student/student interaction generally means more teacher/student interaction and more teacher control.

Lesson types
Obviously if you are teaching music with musical keyboards or media with other pieces of hardware required etc, the layout style will differ considerably.

Room usage
Often available space for a computer teaching area is limited. In Australia a number of primary schools evolve by initially taking part of the school library. Sometimes a room has a dual purpose and has to be available for both traditional classes as well as computer classes.

We believe the understanding of the needs of these environments is evolving and so this list of issues is not complete and will continue to change. For assistance with your problems Contact Us

Space
Generally in Australia the physical structures that are our educational institutions were built in the years when a class housed 25 students per room. Since they were built the teacher/student teaching ratio has increased to 30. Now we have the need to fit 30 pieces of computer hardware in the rooms as well. And that's where we began our search for computer teaching environment design solutions. We actually started by looking for space solutions and that led us to a clearer understanding of the better pedagogical solutions for computer teaching environments. We realized that we would fail in this quest if we managed to fit all the hardware in the room but student learning was compromised.

The space available for computer teaching environments has a number of particular characteristics. The characteristics impact on the efficient use of the room.

Shape
Computer teaching environments come in many shapes some long and narrow, some a more rectangular shape, some square, some round, some hexagonal. Each one of these shapes can have a unique impact on a finished computer room layout. Certain shapes are more amenable to a better teaching environment.

Size
Obviously the bigger the size of the room the more will fit in the room. As a general principle the bigger the room the better the finished teaching environment.

Position of doorways
Each room has to have a door access but often there are other doorways. The positions of these doorways can have quite an impact on student numbers as access through the room to these doorways might compromise available space.

Other obstructions
Often rooms have heaters, sometimes they have short wall protrusions, sometimes there are folding doors to separate the room, sometimes there is fixed cupboards that can't be moved, some rooms have power and data poles or columns in the room. These are just some of the other obstructions that can impact of the amount of space available in the room. There are many more

Number of students
Number of students affects the amount of space available to each student. Compressing students together to fit the required number computers in the room appears to us to be looking at the problem from the wrong perspective. The core philosophy is education. Compressing students together affects the learning experience and consequently the educational result.

Size and type of hardware
Dimensions of the hardware can affect the desktop space available for use by the student. Tower type CPU's can be stored under the desk but with the wrong design this can affect knee space and consequently how many students fit in the room. Desktop CPU's can be stored on the desktop but this affects the size of the desktop again affecting space available for student use.

Position of power and data outlets
Position of power and data outlets also have an affect on how much space is available.

Available room space is a critical issue. For further information Contact Us

Desks and furniture
Educational resources are limited and have to be spent on a competing basis within educational institutions. So, all methods of reducing costs are looked at in fine detail. Desks and furniture have under gone that review many times over the years and evolved into mass-produced small rectangular and square shaped desks. When computers began rushing into the classroom there was a realization that the normal furniture and methods of teaching were changing. As the hardware evolves and the teaching techniques evolve so the furniture layout is evolving.

There are two basic styles of furniture regularly used in computer teaching environments.

Traditional
This style of furniture or room layout refers to the rectangular and square style traditionally found in classrooms. This style of furniture has been in use since education began. The basic change has been to standardize the size and shape so that it could be mass-produced at a very low cost. The rectangular shapes have been getting smaller and smaller as schools have been required to fit more students in a room. They are used in conjunction with a teaching technique that required a teacher standing at the front of the room disseminating information and/or writing on a blackboard.

The initial response to computers was to try to fit them on traditional furniture. It didn't take long to realize that they simply didn't fit. Traditional furniture in standard size and shape evolved with storage for hardware and a deeper desktop and with rows of desks facing the front and using the traditional teacher at the front teaching technique. Then the teaching technique changed from teaching up front to flowing through the room acting as a facilitator. As well, whilst the students were facing the front the teacher couldn't see what they were doing on their computers.

Traditional furniture was then placed around the border of the room allowing teachers to view all monitors with a simple turn of the head. The problem here was that there was not enough space around the border of the room to fit the required number of computer positions. As well, negative student interaction increased due to them being squashed together in an attempt to fit them all into the room. This led to more design adjustments and variations driven by other impacting issues such as cabling requirements, hardware evolving into different sizes, styles and shapes, student needs, etc.

Teachers sometimes have difficulty changing a teaching technique they have been using for years so traditional designs in one form or another are still being used today in computer teaching environments.

Contemporary
This style of furniture has evolved as the computers have flooded the classroom. It takes many forms and is required to assist with a wide range of problems confronted specifically in computer classrooms.

Some of the issues that contemporary furniture designs seek to solve are:
How do we fit all the students in the room?

• How do we fit all the hardware required in the room?

• How do we store the hardware?

• Where do we place the power and data outlets?

• How do we provide easy access through the room for teachers and students?

• How do we manage the cabling through the furniture safely and securely and yet still maintain the quality of signal?

• How do all these issues affect the teaching process?

• What are the student control issues?

• What teaching technique suits our teaching environment?

• Where do we store the printer and scanner and other accessories?

• How do we stop damage and illegal removal of computer parts?

• How do we secure the hardware from external robbery?

And there are many more.

Contemporary designs attempt to solve most of these problems but mostly without consideration to improving the student/teacher and student/student interaction. Experience tells us that control needs to be in the hands of the teacher.

Hardware
Designing rooms and furniture and adjusting to the continual hardware shape and size evolvement hasn't been easy. The hardware is now a more standard shape and size but continues to change. Flat screens are becoming the standard and the in-built CPU's means more room for student's books. But there are other issues related to computer hardware.

Computers have become more accepted as a teaching tool. Computer teaching environments that were originally used to teach computer concepts are now being used to teach specific subjects - language, music combining computers and piano keyboards, computer aided drawing, video production and photography, even robotics. Specific subjects have specific requirements.

Some general issues that need to be resolved are:

• Accommodating the hardware on the desk yet, still have space for books.

• Securing the hardware to increase the difficulty of removing internal parts.

• Space benefits and effects of desktop CPU's versus tower CPU's.

• Running cabling to hardware.

• Hardware interference with the teaching process.

• Positioning printers, scanners, etc in the room.

• Securing the hardware from external illegal removal.

• Limiting access to eliminate misuse.

• Accommodating other teaching aids such as headphones, piano keyboards, video and DVD recorders, digital camera docking stations, etc

The resolutions of some of these issues can affect other considerations such as the number of students in the room. But generally when using rooms for specific subjects there is reduced expectation of class size and consequently a variation in the design

Cabling
Cabling a room for computers is a complex issue and a core design problem for managers and designers of these rooms. Cabling problems like other issues in computer teaching environments have evolved. When computers made their first appearance in classrooms there was only two or three power outlets and no data outlets in the rooms. So the first problem was how to get the required number of data and power outlets to the room, where to mount them and how to finance that cost. In those days, understanding about data and electrical issues was virtually nonexistent amongst the teaching fraternity. And at that time the standard data cabling used was co-axial cable. And even electrical contractors were inexperienced in the new technology.

Many advances have been made since. Office design has passed through the same evolvement. Data cabling has improved considerably and wireless methods of sending information are advancing. Methods for running the cable have improved but consideration of the technique to be used is still an important part of design. And changes continue to feed through.

In Australia there are electrical power safety regulations. Desks where live electrical power lines are run are to be fixed in position. This eliminates the possibility of someone moving the furniture, separating the live wires and being electrocuted. Installing power outlets on the understructure of the furniture is considered the best method for power management. Often the budget constrains this method when running power. Alternatively and the most widely used solution is to piggyback four point power modules through the room. But this is a very unsatisfactory and messy method resulting in deteriorated and damaged outlets and lines and many computer crashes.

Data cabling needs to be run to the computer hardware from the main hub. Doing this poorly results in loss of signal and consequently poor learning experiences. Data outlets are generally installed on room walls then fly data leads run through the furniture to the CPU's. But an alternative method is to run continuous data cable from the main hub and fix data outlets on the understructure out of the way of damage. Again this adds to the cost and so although the its best method its also the least used.

Whatever method is used to feed power and data to student's workstations consideration at design stage is necessary. For more info on this subject Contact Us

Classroom Solutions
Layout solutions for advanced computer teaching environments are many and varied. Two, three or even four solutions might be available for each room.

Careful consideration of all the design issues, Pedagogical, Space, Desk and Furniture, Hardware, and Cabling can ensure a solution that fits your needs.

Following are three traditional design plan views of the same room and an alternative contemporary design. The requirement by this client was to fit as many students as comfortably possible in the room. The space allotted per student including seating space in the traditional designs was an average of about 850mm wide x 1100mm deep. This amount of space was not a pre requisite of the client but was determined after testing alternatives whilst designing. This is a little less than the best amount of space but is a reasonable amount of space per student and equals about 0.935 square meters.

The amount of space per student including seating space in the contemporary design equals 1 meter square. But access to the joiner spaces is also available to the students in the contemporary layout. The larger size desks in the contemporary design have required an adjustment to the desks on the right side of the contemporary layout. This adjustment allows the doors to open and close effectively. Adjustments similar to these are often made in compromised situations in both layout types.

There is no complete solution. Each design solves different issues and presents its own problems.

Traditional layout One
• Maximizes student numbers,

• Increases substantially negative student/student interaction

• Provides a choice of using two different walls as the front of the room,

• Provides a structure to easily run cabling,

• Desks can be manufactured as long benches, connected together and then can be fixed in position to mount electrical power outlets under desk

• Affects teaching technique by reducing access by the teacher through the room, teaching technique would improve by removing the desks that touch the wall in the middle aisle

• Is amenable to desktop CPU storage but in being so it reduces amount of usable desktop space per student,

• Is not amenable to tower CPU storage under desk as it would restrict knee room,

• Easy to secure hardware in case of illegal removal.

Traditional layout Two
Has similar qualities as previous design but might have other benefits or disadvantages that would be determined by the user. One of the issues that would impact on which layout of these two was used would probably be where the present data and power outlets are positioned. If they are on the left hand wall then layout two might be more suitable because there is less cost in running cables.

Traditional layout Three
Has similar qualities to previous layouts with important exceptions,

• Reduced number of student spaces but increased amount of space per student,

• Separates students slightly so whilst reducing negative student interaction there is still an increased amount of negative student interaction.

• Defined front to room,

• Increased difficulty running cabling as island benches need access for cables either through power pole down from ceiling or cables up through floor. A concrete floor would limit possibility of coming up through floor. A high ceiling would limit possibility of coming down from ceiling.

• Efficient use of corner of room

• Improves teaching technique substantially as allows facilitating teaching style. Teacher can flow through the room improving individual access to instruction. Also allows teacher more control.

• Is similarly amenable to desktop CPU's but not to tower CPU's,

• Also easy to secure hardware.

In some cases institutions require space for two students per computer. When using the traditional design in this situation the amount of space allowed per student depends on the size and type of chair used. Two average chairs side by side need a desk space per computer around 1050-1200mm wide.

Contemporary layout
The contemporary layout also attempted to fit the maximum students possible. The number fell below the traditional layouts in this case. Generally the contemporary design which has some in-built space efficient characteristics fits more students than the traditional. The proviso here is if the space per student is equal.

The qualities besides space efficiency of the contemporary layout are:
• Maximizes student desktop space,

• Reduces negative student interaction, by separating students, making it difficult for other students to view other student monitors and by fitting a partition above the desktop. In achieving this aim this layout changes the dynamics within the room.

• Allows easy running of cabling,

• Layout is fully connected allowing data and power outlets to be fixed to understructure.

• Allows small group work with easy access to four computers in circle,

• Provides good desktop work space,

• Easily stores tower or desktop CPU's under desk without restricting knee space,

• Can be configured with lockable access to CPU,

• Easy to secure hardware from illegal removal

• This particular contemporary design restricts flow through room but could be improved if disconnected from wall desk section.

• Amenable to individual instruction, facilitating, or from the front teaching technique.

• Can easily fit two students across front of desk without alteration to dimensions.

• Varying contemporary designs are possible in the same room just as differing traditional designs are possible.

These layout solutions are designed to,
• incorporate the decreased negative interaction characteristic,
• to have all students generally facing the front,
• have the teaching position at the rear
• and incorporate the facilitating teaching style.

There are many solutions to these environments but few organizations with the experience, knowledge and capability of Academic Computer Furniture Pty Ltd. If you need help designing your advanced teaching environment Contact us