"The Classroom of 2010" by Kurt Harper (c) 1989 From "Vision" Magazine, Riverside County Office of Education, Riverside, CA (Fall 1989) Scenario Michael Lichter looked up from the keyboard at his desk to the large screen monitor at the front of the room. Earlier that morning the teacher had asked him to develop the idea he had posted on the large, thin, LCD display through the fiber optic interface that connected his desk and the screen through the teacher's workstation. From his worksta- tion the teacher could control all of the technologies in the room. Michael especially liked the displays. Although they were only using one at the moment, the walls all had them. With a few movements of the wrist the teacher could have the class sitting in the dungeons of the Bastille or on the surface of Mars---or both at the same time or even the same screen, since digital transmission had replaced analog transmission years earlier. After researching his idea first through the extensive data bases available on CD-ROM, he had checked through the data bases available nationally and internationally through satellite hook-up. Excited by what he had learned, he had then picked up the stylus and sketched his idea on the digital drawing pad at his desk, adding text notes at appro- priate places using the keyboard. When he had presented the results, he had been pleased to see a number of his classmates nodding "Ah ha!" as they studied the screen he had drawn. There was no doubt about it---the digital drawing pad had raised doodling in the margins to a powerful classroom communications method. With some further work, he might even be able to make his idea pay. Talk about motivation! He sent a message home to remind himself to check on the possibilities. The modem and fiber optic connections be- tween the school and his home, among other places, made sending elec- tronic mail easy. It also made it much easier for teachers and parents to communicate about his progress in school since neither was confined by time. In Michael's opinion, that was a mixed blessing. He had been glad of the capability when he had been hospitalized the year before since it had enabled him to participate in classes with his friends anyway. When he didn't like it, though, were times like when his parents got a message from his teacher insisting he get his video term paper turned in on time. He sighed. Reminded of the term paper, he entered a note in his personal computer reminding him to use a digital minicamera to record some digi- tal images of tomorrow's game. Later he could edit the pictures on the disc to include in his video term paper on JFK's book Profiles in Cour- age. It saddened him when he thought about it. Watching the laserdiscs of the Kennedy years had really made him aware of the tragedy the young President's loss had been. He closed the case on his notebook-sized personal computer. He turned around when he heard his friend David say, "Good morn- ing," as he came into the room. The sensor at the door recognized Da- vid's voice and automatically updated the attendance records. Michael knew the data would become a part of the demographic and instructional data available to teachers, administrators, even the district office on the local area network. Some districts, he knew, were even connected to the State Department of Education. Beside Michael his new friend Tom was conducting an experiment on explosives at his personal computer by using one of the optical disk simulations the library provided from the media center. Tom had arrived at the school only two weeks before and had missed when the class had done the simulation as a group. The computer had given him the assess- ment tests, and by using its powerful expert systems, had assigned him to specific courses in a specific order so that he would catch up fast. Knowing Tom was a visual concrete learner, Michael offered to help him set up laser holographic images of the molecules involved in the chemi- cal processes leading to the explosion so he could see the reactions taking place in 3-D. Tom gratefully accepted his help, so he and Michael used the laserdiscs available in class to review how to use the holo- graphic projector before beginning. A lot of such unchanging data was available on CD-ROM or laserdisc. It helped students help themselves. As they set up the experiment, their teacher suggested that Tom might want to sign up for the interactive television course on physics broad- cast by satellite from a university two states away. The teacher assured him he would get credit for it and would be able to participate as he had time. In another corner of the room Karen was working with another of the teachers on designing the book the class would use for English next period. They were in one of the areas set aside for cooperative learning and work groups. There were only two in this class, but in others there were so many that they used infrared or radio frequency networks to connect the computers rather than fiber optic ones. The teacher had chosen the two novels and several short stories they would use, and the district office would pay royalties on the exact number of the specific novels and stories the class would use, rather than having to buy a series of books containing things they didn't need anyway. Now they were using the computers' graphics and desktop publish- ing capabilities to put everything together. When Michael walked in, Karen smiled and the teacher invited him to join in. Michael knew Karen was planning to use her considerable talents at doing this when she graduated. As they worked together merging the novels, stories, and the teacher-generated materials, they all got an idea of what they would be looking for when the class began. Michael suggested a particular art- ist's reading of one of the short stories be added to the unit. This ability to individualize even resources like this was one of the best parts of cooperative learning. After he returned to his desk, a soft chime from his computer told him someone wished to speak to him. When the faculty moderator of the student government appeared on the screen, the resolution was so good she might as well have been there. Well, almost. The picture was a little smaller than she was, he thought with a smile to himself. Digi- talization and fiber optics had made telephones, televisions, and com- puters interchangeable channels since audio, video, and data were simply different aspects of the same integrated communications system. At the end of the day, Michael signed off his computer and asked Tom if he wanted to stay for the game tomorrow and then ride home with them later. Tom said yes, indeed. They met Karen and Christina outside. It would take them awhile to get home because of the dense traffic, but they left with a good feeling. It had been a good school day, this September 12, 2010.