Classrooms of the future
Karunya Keshav; Mar 27, 2009
Photo by: Baya Agarwal
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We wrote obits for the blackboard years ago, and we threw out the notebooks. But the wonders of the classrooms of the future never cease.
Educational institutions across the UK are implementing the latest in technology and addressing the market needs of tomorrow in their futuristic classrooms.
And we can just about call them classrooms still.
Indeed, for many, learning in today’s world may well mean sitting in the comforts of home, before a computer. They’re taking one of the many online courses offered by leading London universities, the Open University and even organisations such as the BBC.
Two years ago, Open University also joined other universities around the world in setting up shop in Second Life, the multiplayer game with it’s own economy and culture.
But thousands of students come to London every year in search of quality education. “The risks of remote instruction are too many. I came here because I think learning needs face-to-face interaction,” says Bhavana Rao, economics student at The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
New learning environments
The new-age classrooms in London universities aren’t always virtual. And they’re more than rows of shiny computers, state-of-the-art studios, whiteboards, and large screens.
It’s about implementing ideas and using technology in ways that are far ahead of the times.
They use virtual learning environments such as Blackboard and Caroline, as the online meeting place for educator and student.
“It allows for accessibility, adaptability and integration,” says Junaid, tutor and member of IT services at the University of Westminster, London, which utilises Blackboard.
Course material, lectures and Podcasts are freely available for students on iTunes.
Many organisations such as the Poynter Institute have increased the interactivity in e-learning. Their News University makes use of today’s fast internet to offer interactive webinars, and courses using simulation and multimedia.
Poynter is based in the US, but what does that matter when it’s all online? The popularity of such initiatives is such that the News University has seen 100,000 registrations in the four years since it has started.
All about collaboration
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In this age of social networking, even learning is a collaborative effort. New-age classrooms bring together learners with educators from around the world.
They are driven by the idea of collaboration, allowing for completion of group projects, building global networks and producing shared knowledge.
This technological and ideological revolution that represents the new-age classroom can be seen as the result of an exponential information explosion.
According to a study by the University of California at Berkeley, it is estimated that four exabytes (4x10^19) of unique information will be generated this year. That’s more than the previous 5000 years.
If education has to be any good, at least some of this unfathomable amount of information needs to percolate to the job seekers, the leaders and citizens of tomorrow.
Universities in London, with their considerable financial resources (despite their protestations otherwise) are especially well equipped to exploit these innovations.
For us studying here in London, the future is here and now.
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