Futuristic Desks Becoming a Reality

Walk into any classroom, and chances are you'll see identical wooden desks and a teacher writing math problems on a whiteboard. A British company wants to make the typical classroom obsolete by making their interactive, touchscreen desk the norm in the classroom. The networked desks link students and teachers together, allowing peer-to-peer collaboration on shared screens and giving teachers instant access to student work via a screen that will replace the whiteboard in the front of the classroom.

Supporters see a multitude of possibilities for learning with the "Star Trek" desks and envision them being used across the world within 10 years.

Comments

[Jesse Norwood]

I like this idea because in the majority of classrooms today we are ALL DOING THE SAME THING. I graduated from high school in 1992. The majority of classes that I subbed in were just like my high school. This is sad.

[Michelle E.]

Imagine the possibilities for our students! I currently have 30 students in a very crowded 5th grade class, it would be wonderful to be able to keep them in their seats when needed and still be able to share work. I can also see myself checking in on them as they work without drawing attention to one student. I also wonder what this will do for attention spans since many children are used to the tv, computers, and video games, it may be a way to keep some engaged in learning.

[Shirley]

Even though I am for new technology that will enhance the growth of students and their ability to function in a 21st century society. This desk would not solely replace the teacher. For some students having a teacher in the classrom is vital. In my experience in taking an online class I don't tend to ask as many questions as I would if I were in a classroom with a teacher. Some students need that personal affect in order for learning to take place.

[Jean M]

I love the idea that we will move our students into the 21 century with technology. My worry is that there is equitity for all schools. Is it one more area where the haves far our weigh the have nots? In some areas of our country schools can not afford textbooks.

[Sarah Anderson]

While this sounds like an exciting cutting edge idea, it is highly unrealistic. The only place I would see a use for this technology would be in a high school or college setting. I teach second grade and when I teach tutorial classes, summer school, and my own class I have noticed that many children take expensive equiptment for granted. We have flat screen Dell computers and when some children get upset they punch the screen, rip out the head phones and even use pencils to write on the screens. I have observed this behavior in several grade levels at my school. I would be concerned that younger students would draw, write, or destroy a piece of equiptment such as this. Older students would have a greater need for this technology and could really get a lot out of it!

[Alys F]

I think this idea sounds interesting. However, just like Sarah, I agree that this set up would probably only work in high school and college settings.
This would bring a different type of interaction in a classroom setting. Many teenagers text on cell phones and this would be similar to that, in my opinion. Interacting without physical social interaction. I don't know what I think about this.

[Ann Marie]

What a great idea!! My problem with the Smartboard is that in a regular classroom, one student can be participating in the interactive lesson, while the rest are watching. For a "new" teaching device, I don't see the advantage to teacher-led instruction. These new desks would keep the entire class participating and engaged in the activity. I especially like the ability to view a student's work on the Smart board. I wonder if the school districts will ever be able to afford these??

[Nancy Turner]

I teach at an elementary school in Georgia and many of our classroom have the Promethiean Activboards in them already. It may be that the touchscreen desks are just a few years away from a reality. Our technological advances are funded by our state lottery. If the states in which you live vote on whether or not to have a state lottery, voting yes might be your ticket to technology in the classroom.

[Missy Engquist]

These desks have so much potential for increasing the effectiveness of our social studies and math programs. Imagine the benefit of being able to allow students to explore interactive maps on their own, instead of having to share one map with thirty other children. I also feel that these desks will capture the attention of students with ADHD, ADD and other such disorders, those children who are often lost during instruction in traditional classrooms. My only concern is that in having one of these desks per student are we taking the cooperative learning piece away from our lessons?

[Jill Thorne]

Can any of you walk into a room with nothing in it except students, paper, and pencils, and actually teach? We are becoming so dependent on flashy technology--which is not to say that it does not have its place--that we cannot depend on ourselves. Imagine the power going out, imagine being in a classroom with your students and no tech support-- could you still teach? Could your students still learn? That needs to be the bottom line. We are forgetting what we are capable of on our own, and we no longer help children discover the autonomy--and joy--they can experience learning with minimal technology.

[Todd Seip]

I reference for you the website www.shifthappens.wikispaces.com. Look at the presentation "what if", and "did you know." I truly believe that we are in the process of preparing students for jobs that do not exist yet - to solve problems that haven't happened yet.

By the way - my two four-year olds already know most of the fine details of working my Promethean board. They can color, change shapes, draw pictures, and know how to save them. Thanks to their pre-school teacher who has taught them this. I can only imagine what technology will be availble for them in ten years.

[Valerie Hettenhouser]

Jill--

As much as I have enjoyed using a Smartboard, I do have to agree with your comment. The greatest resource in any classroom will always be the teacher and his/her passion and ideas. I have worked with excellent teachers who shunned technology. Did their students still succeed? Absolutely!
My take is if you have the knowledge and resources and you'd like to try new technology, fine, but don't force people to throw out their older ideas that have worked well for years.

[Vicky M]

I think these could be a great addition to the classroom in the future if used wisely. I agree with the other comments that it should not completely replace the teacher to student interaction but it could serve as a way to enhance what the teacher normally does in the class and how they do it. I have learned ways to use some technology in my daily tasks but there are some things that I choose to do the old fashion way.

I think these desks could be an interesting way for students to learn through interactive computers and could give teachers and students a whole new way of taking notes, exams and doing projects. On the other hand, I think that it would also bring up issues for the teacher as far as classroom managment is concerned. I have taught computer classes in regular computer labs and you have to be constantly watching every student and what they are doing. I feel like I have to have a million eyes--it's easier to cheat, it tempts the students to try to break the security and use the computers for games or personal use, they can sometimes destroy the equipment(whether on purpose or by accident). I have had these issues with students at the high school level, where I assumed incorrectly that they would be more responsible and more appreciative of the equipment, so I could imagine that in the lower grades, this would be an even bigger problem.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the future, I think that is far off for most of us because I don't know how many of the schools will afford this for all students.

[Larissa Conner]

Wow! The new technologies amaze me. Like all technology equipment, there are some positive and negative outcomes of this new idea. I teach students with special needs and many of them have difficulty translating from the board to their paper, so I could see this benefiting them. Also, students get very excited when they get to use new technology, which would indeed enhance their attention span. On the other hand, what about teacher-student interaction? Modeling is one of the most important strategies used by teachers, and students respond to it. How are we supposed to model when students are staring at their desks all day? Not to mention the cost of these! Most schools are in need of funding as it is...how many schools actually have a computer for each student or even a full set of books? I know a lot of schools who only have enough text books for one class, therefore the students do not actually get their own books and cannot take them home because they have to stay in the classroom for the next class to use. There are many questions and doubts that will arise from this, however, in a technology-based world, who knows what will happen next.

[William Clinton]

I do not think that I like this idea very much. I am a supporter of technology, don't get me wrong, and I think that these types of screens sound wonderful...but I have to wonder, is this the best thing for students these days? Think about it, what would happen to the ability to write...anything? A letter? Book report? A sentence? Teaching in elementary schools prior to a prison, I found that children in 6th graders could not spell, let alone write any better than the 3rd graders. Is this is due to a computer rich society or the fact that the schools were in a inner city, low income area? If the you believe the latter is the reason, then what good are we doing these children? They won't be able to get the screens anyway...well, not right away, like the rich schools will be able to. Plus, what better peer-to-peer assignment...than peer-to-peer? Whatever happened to schools teaching the ability to communicate with each other WITHOUT the aid of screen. I guess I still have questions on what would all be the positive if students can already work from a board, a book, etc. Maybe I would feel differently in the future, who knows.

[Alison]

This would be fabulous. I teach 7th & 8th grade mathematics to students with learning disabilities and this would seriously engage my students. The students love to use the smartboard and are more interested in the lesson when presented on the smartboard. These desks would be great for instructional purposes. As Jesse indicated above, the students are so involved with video games and computers it would just be 2nd nature to them. On the negative side, I agree with the funding issue. I teach in a district that not every class has access to smartboards. The funding for technology is not there. Our district would not be able to fund this type of technology for every student so I believe that it would become an issue of the "haves" and "have nots" just as shirley stated.

[Alison]

This would be seriously engaging for my 7th & 8th grade math students. I agree with shirley however about educational equity. I teach in a district that not all classrooms have access to smartboards. The funding is just not there for technology. On the other hand public schools are loosing enrolment to cyber schools so something needs to be done to compete with these charter schools.

[Frank Yelinek]

I guess like anyone else, I am attracted to any new "gadget". I often wonder what the future classroom will hold in store for teachers and students. At first, I thought these desks would be a great idea. However, after discussing it with a fellow teacher, I not so sure. She told me that students have a hard time reading four lines of text on a regular computer screen. I think having a good, competent teacher is the most important thing. You could a classroom full of technology and the latest sotware, but if the teacher is not competent, it won't do any good. There are teachers out there doing a magnificent job in some of the poorest counties in the country, with old textbooks and a chalkboard.

[Krissi]

This sounds great! The wheels in my head are already turning, thinking about all the great activities my students could participate in with this cutting edge technology. However, just like many postings above, the reality is that this equipment has got to be very costly and students just don't take care of supplies at school. I also fear that too many teachers would use this technology and allow it to replace direct instuction instead of supplementing instruction. As a middle school teacher I am a true believer in direct instruction combined with student focused activities.

[henne831]

This new technology sounds like a great idea and I could see these desks becoming a reality, perhaps not in the next couple years, but probably closer to 10 years down the road in every school. There are a few problems that I see occuring, but with some creative planning, I believe could be worked out. The initial problem is cost. Obviously one screen for every student would be a huge cost to taxpayers, especially since this article doesn't expose how much these new devices cost. I'm hoping that the approach would be similar to the one laptop per child project that created low cost and durable laptops for kids in third world countries. With that kind of motivation towards benefiting the American education system it makes the idea much more feasible. One issue that I haven't noticed anyone point out yet is the dangers staring at a screen all day can have on a students eyes. More research would be needed to make sure that this wouldn't be dangerous for student's vision. However, the benefits of screens like this are limitless when put in the hands of creative teachers. Students can be doing research on the internet while writing a report at their desk, they could be working out a math problem by working with a teacher on the other side of the room, and they could sumbit assignments from their screen to cut down on the huge amount of paper that gets used in classrooms which would save a lot of trees. In my opinion, new devices like the smart board are really the direction that educational technology is heading and I think that as we transistion into classrooms with more technology ingtegrated the devices will only become easier for students to use and cheaper for districts.

[Kim]

Of course, any technology needs to be accompanied by creative teacher instruction, but think of the opportunities for multi-modal learning. Visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and auditory learning, all happening simultaneously. Education and government have a responsibility to keep up with the technology we offer our students. We are preparing them for the future and computers are part of their future. To omit opportunities in technology would be an in justice to our future adults.

I would just love to find out how to become a pilot school. What a great experience to be able to engage in this cutting edge technology and have input into its application in the future.