Lounges, tablets and writable desks engage students in classrooms of the future

Writing on your school desk was once a sure-fire way to get detention, but in some Queensland classrooms it is now being used to promote collaborative thought between students.

With digital tablets and whiteboard markers in hand, students at Peace Lutheran College in Cairns are embracing open plan classrooms and lessons delivered by up to four teachers at a time.

Head of middle school Nick Cheyne said the classrooms were a step towards providing a more engaging learning environment for the next generation of digital-savvy students.

"We're trying to prepare our students so that they're able to develop the skills relevant for both learning beyond school and for workplace skills as well," Mr Cheyne said.

He said every flat surface in the classroom — with the exception of one bench where students can charge their laptops and tablets — was intended to be written on.

"We encourage our students to write on the desks to get their ideas down, to discuss them together as a small group and to draw diagrams in terms of what the concepts are," he said.

"Obviously [the desks] are also erasable, so students are able to write, get rid of it and start again if they need to, and we can clean it all up at the end of each lesson."

Once students have discussed the lessons or problems in groups, they put their individual answers into their books, or just as often into their tablets.

To promote further group discussion, students can project their work from the tablets onto one of the four large-screen televisions around the classroom.

Year 7 student Jezi Robard said for her, the classroom was best suited to English and digital technology classes.

"In English we do a lot of things on the televisions and solve problems together," she said.

"With digital technologies the teachers can show us what to do, then we do it and show it off on the screens."

Fellow student Gaby Briscoe said creating computer code and games was among her favourite things to do in the new classrooms.

"Once we've done our coding and games, we can put it up on the screens for everyone to see," she said.

Hayley Thomas, another of the school's Year 7 students, said the best thing about learning in this way was being free to use the classroom's space and explore the subjects with other students.

"We don't get as bored as we do in a normal classroom," she said.

"And we don't have to sit in the same seat all the time. We can move around and sit on the floor or sit at another desk."

For Mr Cheyne, the positive feedback the classrooms have received from students is a sign that the future of teaching has arrived, and it is popular with those it is designed for.

"If the kids weren't enjoying it and they were less engaged with their work and we had a downward trend, then we wouldn't pursue it," he said.

"You don't want to do something that's either ineffective or isn't popular, but we've been getting really positive feedback from the students."

Source: Lounges, tablets and writable desks engage students in classrooms of the future