The Kloiber Foundation

Searching for the “Classroom of the Future”

In a recent article on nprEd a version of the Classroom of the Future is featured. As one might guess, a good deal of the students learning takes place interfacing with a computer. The novelty of the approach centers around the algorithm that aids the teachers in assigning tasks, work groups, future lessons, and grading the students’ comprehension. The results, unsurprising to us, are mixed. We have found that one size fits all solutions for educational challenges are very hard to come by. This program has reportedly worked exceedingly well in some schools, particularly those that used it for longer, while in other schools it actually resulted in poorer performance.

Each school in the country is made up different individual students with varied needs and learning styles. Teaching those kids are different individual educators with various styles, lead by administrators whose overall programs are tailored to their schools needs but ultimately guided by the counties, states, etc. Different schools have different challenges for different reasons. While the article is critical of the ‘Teach to One” program for not working flawlessly in every situation, what stood out to me is that when if fit the school, the educators were able to accomplish the goals that the program was implemented to accomplish.

It’s a shame that this program doesn’t seem to be the magic bullet that everyone seems to be looking for, but at least it provides one more option, one more tool in the ever expanding toolbox. With careful examination and evaluation, educators may find this program to be a perfect fit to address challenges specific to their school. If it’s not a fit for everyone, does that mean it’s a bad program that no one should consider? No, it just means those for whom it doesn’t fit should keep looking through the toolbox for the right tools for them.