Have you ever been part of the traditional classroom where the lecture room looks like an amphitheater with tiered seating ? The professor assumed the role of a "Knowledge Giver" and the students played the role of " empty jars"!!! In 2018 UoH conducted a survey and it was revealed that faculties need classroom which are more learner centered and promote collaboration. This semester I am taking one of the Graduate classes at the University of Houston's Active Learning Classroom. So what is special about this classroom? In contrast to the traditional classroom, an Active Learning Classroom bolsters engagement through small group activities and students learn by doing. ALC’s are designed to emphasize a learner-centered, technology-supported, collaborative learning environment. Courses taught in this type of environment would use activities that (1) engage students in the learning process, (2) encourage discovery and innovation. What does Active Learning Classroom look like? Each table top acts as a canvas face where the students can write or create diagrams with dry erase markers. For learners like me, who like to analyze things visually , this was a great playground. The table height can be adjusted and then can be also moved to different location. The classroom environment provided flexibility to learn the way as a learner would like to choose. It makes sharing information easier and it also makes learning enjoyable. Portable chargers makes it very easy to power up laptops anywhere in the room! There is a 75" high definition touch screen interactive display - presenters can open web pages, write directly on the whiteboard. Additionally presenters can also cast their presentation from laptop or other devices wirelessly to that board. Now let's look at what I didn't find so easy in this classroom. One has to be prepared to feel challenged in this classroom. For a beginner, technology in Active Classroom could be overwhelming. Luckily we had a IT support system at the next door we helped with lot of our teething problem. If correctly used, Active Learn can instigate a paradigm shift in learning. Active Learning made me feel that we own and control our learning space.
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