The+Future+Classroom

=media type="custom" key="11557070" align="right"= =Welcome to the Classroom of the Future= Although educators will certainly continue to exist, they will appear in many different forms including physical, virtual, and animated. Here you see an avatar created with Voki introducing a global classroom to a lesson about the history and culture of Sydney, Australia. This example welcomes learners into an online, on-demand learning environment that can be utilized to share information with learners regardless of their physical location and time zone.

=How will the future classroom look?= A 2003 study on environments suggests that the environments in which we live, learn, work, and play are neither neutral nor separable from the activities we perform in them, but rather they are settings that afford a wide range of human activities while affecting and being affected by social and cultural behavior. (Kalay, 2003) The future classroom will be designed for community learning with peers in classrooms as well as peers in the global community. The availability of technology will make it easier for educators to assess their students knowledge and provide feedback to the learners in a more timely fashion. Schools will need support for funding renovations and technology to their school, to make the learning environment more friendly and allow for easier access to tools for assessment and communication.

= = =Classroom. Deconstructed.= media type="custom" key="11276260" align="right" Forward thinking, immersive classrooms are being designed with an eye on the future. Here is a glimpse into the learning space at Marsh Academy that was designed to satisfy the learner of tomorrow. It is modular and open, providing ample opportunities for collaboration both with learners who are physically in the same location as well as those with whom they are collaborating online. Areas are designed to be accessible, interactive, and engaging. Hands on participation is encouraged and the atmosphere is inviting. No detail was left unaddressed, everything down to the lighting was taken into consideration when the design was envisioned. Putting these concepts into practical application gives schools the opportunity to see how environment impacts learning, and helps administrations understand that the cost of these modifications is justified.

Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)
Virtual Learning Environments, Managed Learning Environments, Course Management Systems, and Learning Management Systems are all terms used for a "collection of integrated tools enabling the management of online learning, providing a delivery mechanism, performs student tracking, assessment, and access to resources." (iadt, 2011). Virtual classrooms will play a dominant role in educating future learners and platforms such as Second Life, Moodle, Blackboard, Pearson eCollege, OLAT, ATutor, and Dokeos all offer similar features and tools, but differentiate in their accessibility and affordability. The features that these tools offer will continue to expand and classrooms will meet face to face both in person and virtually.