How do you "configure" your classroom to ensure that every aspect of it reinforces the subject you're trying to teach? In this article I look at this from the viewpoint of a computing or ICT teacher.
The idea for this post came from a talk by William Lau, who spoke about making his classroom an immersive experience for his students.
First, though, what do I mean by "immersive"? I have always noted the importance of the so-called 'hidden curriculum': the idea that students pay at least as much attention to what you do as to what you say.
A simple example: if you walk into your classroom looking as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards, don't be surprised if you find that pupils pay less attention to their appearance when they arrive at your lesson than they otherwise might.
In the same way, if your computing classroom is devoid of stimulation, unnecessarily untidy or full of broken equipment, you're unwittingly setting a pretty low standard of how you expect students to treat the room and the equipment.
What I'm saying, in other words, is that the concept of the hidden curriculum applies to rooms too.
OK, on with the list.
Read more.
cross-posted at www.ictineducation.org
Terry Freedman is an independent educational ICT consultant with over 35 years of experience in education. He publishes the ICT in Education website and the newsletter “Digital Education."
