From Jackie Craven,
Your Guide to Architecture.
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Computers are revolutionizing the way we teach and learn. Will they also change the way we design our schools?

The scene is familiar: A teacher stands at the front of a room. Children sit in the center, their seats arranged in rows or semicircles. There is a chalkboard, a wall map and a globe. This could be a classroom in 1995... or 1895, or even 1795. Although the details may vary, school design has seen few changes in the past two hundred years.

What happens when you add a computer to this scene? A printer? A scanner, a video monitor, a telecommunications system? Designing a technologically-rich school for the new century means more than simply plugging in the equipment. Computer networking, video conferencing and new approaches to learning make traditional classroom configurations impractical. The schools of tomorrow may take on shapes that will seem foreign to us today.

What will these new schools look like? Architects, engineers and educators describe exciting possibilities.

Did you know... ?
A growing body of research has linked student achievement and behavior to the physical building conditions and overcrowding. Good facilities appear to be an important precondition for student learning. But, according to government reports, schools in the United States need much work.

Possibilities for the Future

Schools of the twenty-first century will provide a technologically rich environment, say architects, engineers and educators. Here's a peek into the future, according to prototypes developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

The Shape of Things To Come
In tomorrow's classrooms, students no longer need to face a podium, teacher's desk or writing board. Learning stations are distributed along walls, in island clusters or in zigzag patterns. For small study groups, work spaces are triangular rather than square. Rooms are wheelchair friendly with wide, unobstructed passageways and low handles and switches.

Lights, Cameras, Action
This futuristic classroom resembles a television studio with two monitors, three cameras and related equipment. One of the monitors displays presentations broadcast within the school building, while the other displays students and teachers at other locations -- anywhere in the world. The television cameras are directed at students and the teacher, or focus on visual aids used in teacher presentations. Bright overhead spotlights enhance the quality of video transmission.

Sounding Off
Flush mounted microphones on student desks assure that everyone can hear and be heard. Materials used for walls, ceilings and floors are especially chosen to optimize voice clarity. Echoing linoleum hallways are a thing of the past.

Plugging In
In the school of the future, there are no computer labs with rows of monitors and miles of tangled cables. Electrical outlets and communications ports are strategically located throughout the building. Wide conduits inside walls and beneath floors accommodate wires and cables.

Going Mod
More than ever, school design is modular. Rooms are added to divided and reconfigured as the curriculum changes and technologies evolve. Portable carts allow computers to move freely throughout the building. Movable partitions permit teachers to shift from small to large group activities. And, since furniture design is standardized, work stations may be moved and reassembled anywhere in the building.

Planning Ahead

No one knows what the future will bring. New technologies and revised theories of teaching could make the best laid plans obsolete. Nevertheless, interesting innovations are already making their way into classrooms being built today.

Two Dream Schools

The End of Walls: Virtual Visions Academy
This "high school without walls" began as a pilot charter school in Blairstown, New Jersey. The main facility has a large computer lab, six offices, a teleconferencing classroom, and a reception area. However, students attending Virtual Visions Academy receive the majority of their instruction and assignments over the Internet, through ITV connections or via email.

Solar Powered: Four Oaks Elementary School
Located in Johnston County, North Carolina, the Four Oaks school building has vertical view glass and south-facing roof monitors, providing indirect daylight in every room. Properly sized overhangs shade the vertical glass during warm months, while passive solar gain boost the heating system in the winter.