The administration at my school seems to be quite interested in understanding what I mean when I say that I want to empower 21st century literate students by creating a new type of classroom. The 21st century school cannot rely on a few scattered computer labs to allow students to create a PowerPoint presentation or occasionally do some research. The 21st century school must recreate each classroom into a computer lab, a recording studio, a photo processing center, a communication hub, a connected writing community, a virtual library. The 21st century classroom must be a place to network, to create, to publish, to share. The new classroom is not set up in rows with the teacher as expert, occasionally deeming it time to “use” technology; the new classroom is a place where the teacher guides the students in developing their own critical questions and lines of inquiry that engender real-world, active learning. The new classroom does not integrate technology into an outdated curriculum, but rather infuses technology into the daily performance of classroom life. Technology is not a supplement, a novelty added to enhance classroom learning; technology in the classroom is the learning itself.

I have been asked to write a proposal on what this type of new classroom would look like. I have also been asked to make a list of what I would need if I were to pilot my ideal Web 2.0 classroom.

If nothing else, this is a great exercise for me to really step back and look at what it is I would like to do in my classroom and what components I would need to make the transformation occur. There are four essential categories to creating a learning environment that allows for students to take control of their own learning, while using the latest tools in order to master school prescribed standards and benchmarks, and instill characteristics that will make them lifelong learners. Here are the four main components as I see them: hardware, software/Web tools, access, and school vision.

School Vision– I have written school vision last but it is where I would like to start because I feel that a supportive and forward-looking administration is crucial for creating the type of classroom I envision. School leaders must realize that trusting teachers to help students navigate and understand the Internet is a vital part of teaching students personal responsibility. I will speak more on this in the access section of this proposal, but I cannot overstate how important a clear technological vision and mandate is for a school. Administrators should be current with the latest work that is being done in 21st literacy circles and support teachers who are trying to embed these practices into their classrooms, departments, and eventually the entire school. Technology integration specialists are a must for any school that sees itself as a cutting edge learning institution.

Access– Students cannot learn how to use web 2.0 tools like del.icio.us, Youtube, Twitter, Flickr, Blogs, Wikis, Nings, and others if the school is constantly blocking the very tools the teachers what to use. After a supportive administration, the 21t teacher needs complete access to the Internet. A school must trust that the teacher who is working in the new connected classroom will take every precaution to guide his or her students through what sometimes appears to be the minefield that is the Internet. Bandwidth issues aside, the new classroom needs to be constantly connected and have access to all the tools that are available. Trust and work with the teacher to make the call on what is or is not appropriate in this new learning environment.

Software– Because many of these tools are free and easy to use for anyone with an Internet connection, there is really very little need for software. A classroom equipped with the basic iLife package will be more than adequately prepared to create, edit, publish, and share a variety of multimedia works with the world. I suppose access to Photoshop and perhaps Final Cut Pro would enhance this new environment for more advanced students.

Hardware– This is where things get tricky, and by tricky I mean expensive. How many computers will a 21st century school need? How many cameras? Will we really need microphones? In a perfect world I think a one-to-one laptop program is ideal. My dream is to look across the room and see all twenty-two of my students working on a new Macbook equipped with an iSight camera, a microphone, and iLife. Please note that I said the students would be working, not simply having a machine open in front of them. I think that many administrators and teachers who are hesitant about technology in the classroom believe that the tools overshadow the pedagogy. There is no point in having students sit behind a screen simply typing notes onto a Word document from a lecturing teacher. In this new classroom, the teacher is not the sole expert or the only source of information, but rather the teacher is the lead member of the network—guiding and facilitating as students search for answers to questions they have carefully generated. There is little danger of a student surfing the net or using Facebook while the teacher is instructing because in the new classroom the student is engaged with his or her own learning.  So the twenty-two laptops are being used in twenty-two different ways on any given day. One student may be updating her blog, while another is checking to see if her peers in Bangkok have added anything new to Twitter, another may be editing her podcast on Garageband and adding it to a wiki, while still another is setting up a Skype call with a collaborator in a different time zone.

Daily and total access to computers allows students to realize that technology is not something they “do” when they go to the lab or when the teacher has checked out the laptop cart, but rather technology is something they must use everyday in class to help themselves learn. In this new classroom, students will begin to understand that their computer is not simply a novelty to take notes with, but it is their binder, their planner, their dictionary, their journal, their photo album, their music archive, their address book. In short, they begin to see how to use their machine and the world that it connects them to as any professional adult does. It no is no longer a toy, but a necessary part of their learning.

Great. But what if you are not a one-to-one school, as I am not. I would love to have twenty-two Macbooks in my class 24-7 to allow students the same access I have described above. Right now I have access to three laptop carts with twenty-five machines in each. These three carts, however, are being used by grades 6-12. That is roughly seven hundred students. As it stands now, my access to technology is on a lesson-to-lesson basis. My students see the computers as a way to get one thing done, and the one thing is usually one thing I have assigned for them to do. For example, the last few weeks we have been using our laptops to do research and add to our wiki on Labor Art.

What if twenty-two computers in the room are not possible? I think it is still important to have a number of machines in the room at all times. That number can obviously range from one to twenty-two depending on a school’s budget, but it is important that students know that if the need should arise, they can access a machine to stay connected to their network on a daily basis. The computers cannot simply be the throw away machines in the building. For example I currently have three eMacs in my room to help me with my video journalism class, but the machines are so slow that I often cannot get iMovie to work properly. Below I have outlined other peripheral tools like cameras that would further enhance the classroom.

Utopian classroom

• Complete access to all Web 2.0 tools including MSN, Youtube and Facebook.
• Every student has his or her own laptop (preferably a Mac)
• LCD projector
• 5 digital cameras *
• 5 video cameras
• 5 tripods
• 25 headphones with microphones
• 5 External hard drives with at least 120 GB of space
• One color printer

Realistic classroom

• Complete access to all Web 2.0 tools (Bandwidth withstanding)
• 25 classroom machines
• LCD projector
• 2 digital cameras
• 2 video cameras
• 2 tripods
• 25 headphones with microphones
• 3 External hard drives with at least 120 GB of space

Bare minimum

• Access to most Web 2.0 tools
• 13 classroom machines ** (If this is not possible perhaps one laptop cart per grade level.)
• LCD projector
• 1 digital camera
• 1 video camera
• 1 tripod
• 10 headphones with microphones
• 1 External hard drives with at least 120 GB of space

*(I have chosen five because students can be broken down into groups of five. If there is some sort of photography assignment or something that may need student-generated graphics they can use one per group)
**(at least one machine for every two students)

Anybody else out there have any thoughts? Did I forget anything? What would you need in your perfect classroom?