Technological fantasies of the future school have been around for decades. Here’s one from 1910. Note all of the information going into students’ heads comes from textbooks fed into a wood chipper.
Or another from 1963 cartoon called “The Jetsons.”
Or this one in 1982 predicting that the future school will be monopolized by the then dominant company Atari.
And then “Meet The Classroom of the Future” in 2015 at David Boody Intermediate School (IS 228) in New York City.
Modeled after the School of One, an innovative program that began in New York City a few years ago, sixth-to-eighth grade students work at their individual skill levels based on data collected from state and school tests, diagnostic assessments, and past performance. From this data bank, software installed on laptops presents individual lessons tailored for each student to work through on the screen daily. These individual lessons become the day-to-day “playlist” for each student in various subjects. Teachers monitor, adapt, and enrich lessons for each student. The blended learning program at IS 228 touts “personalized instruction” for over 800 students (2012) who apply to its varied magnet programs.
The journalist who described his visit to IS 228 began the article by saying: “The classroom of the future probably won’t be led by a robot with arms and legs, but it may be guided by a digital brain.” Describing a sixth grade math class at David Boody Intermediate School, the classroom of the future “may look like this: one room, about the size of a basketball court; more than 100 students, all plugged CONTINUE READING: Classrooms of the Future? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice