New Type of Classroom

Katie Dahlstrom of the Clinton Herald, a newspaper out of Iowa, wrote an article about the innovative new way a high school there is setting up their learning.  Instead of a traditional classroom, they using tables for grouping and a room that is about double the size of a normal classroom.  The number of students is also about double.  The students will use computers to collaborate with their group, other groups, and other classes around the world so that the students are the ones leading the work.  The teachers is used as a facilitator and guider, enabling the students to engage more with their learning and become better prepared for the real world.  The University of Iowa calls these types of classrooms TILE which means transform, interact, learn, and engage and they claim that this is revolutionalry and groundbreaking and brand new, but the model sounds a lot like the inspired classroom to me.  The only difference I really see is that the inspired classroom doesn't enlarge the class size or the classroom size.  There may also be a little more traditional teaching with the inspired model since you can do it at all levels and first graders are going to need some more assistance.  But, either of these new classroom designs seem like the way our education is moving and I think that's a great thing!  I just hope there will still be a need for teachers down the road.