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Ask Slashdot: Ideal High School Computer Lab?
First time accepted submitter dmiller1984 writes "I am a high school computer teacher and I've been put in the unique situation of designing my ideal computer lab since our high school will be undergoing a major expansion over the summer. I thought the Slashdot community might have some great ideas to help me out. I've never liked the lecture hall labs that I've seen in some schools, but I would like some way to get natural light in the room without worrying about glare on the computer screens (skylights, perhaps?). What are some of your ideas for a great computer lab for education?"
Only thing I can think of is add some vegetation. A few well placed plants does wonders for a room. Maybe some geek paraphernalia around the room to get people in the right mindset
As usual, ergonomics are important. Get chairs and monitors that adjust easily, keyboards/trays with the proper support (and again, adjustable) and maybe educate students on how they should set up their work environment before they. Oh, and a decent amount of desk space. Just because they are working on a computer doesn’t mean they won’t be working from a book or have some other reason to need a little room to work.
Of course once you’ve drawn your balanced, well thought out and researched plan, it will promptly be rejected and the school can proceed to bring in some cheap tables and place an order with Dell ;p
best of luck and have a great life!
Fedora:
-Runs Gnome 3 and hence is easy-to-use and visually appealing
-Similar to Red Hat, so people who can properly administer it are easier to find
they filter out some light but still allow a view to the outside. Pretty good compromise, I have them in one lab and they work well, we leave them down all the time.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
Seriously. Ask THEM what they would like to see in a computer lab. School for me, plainly put, sucked. I did poorly because I never had any reason or desire to motivate or engage myself. Environment is important, as someone else said, but it also needs to be a place that doesn't feel forced. Put meme posters (that are safe for school) on the wall. Interesting trivia. Places students can go whenever they want to learn (slashdot!). Encourage them to learn and understand. Bring in computer parts for display. Show them what real world internet is like. Discuss and have information about the difference between over-security, network security, theatrical security, and how that ties in with laws. I think the ideal computer room should have all the evidence of what I would want to impress upon my own children about computers and the internet.
If they want to get used to working in a real-world computer environment: 1. Terrible and abrasive neon lights. 2. Cubicles. 3. Every 5 minutes someone in the class needs to bother another student with a stupid question. Focus is a perk not a right. 4. Randomly stand over a students shoulder and demand a demo, and a reason why the project is not done yet. 5. If the students work is not progressing, fail them and outsource a student from India.
Separate power strips/UPS for each workstation so no one can accidentally kick the reset button and kill the power for everyone along that wall. Especially after everyone has been coding on their final project for the last hour or so.
:(
Save early. Save often.
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion.
... or your memory modules will walk, even if you don't think there is any opportunity for that to happen.
Someone had to do it.
What is the lab being used for?
What form factor are the computers?
What kind of connectivity will the computers use?
How many students at a time, and are these the top 20%, middle 60%, or bottom 20%?
What size of space?
These are all very important characteristics, and I've worked with all kinds of each. The one defining characteristic I can assert is that enough physical space both in the room and at the worksurfaces is important. When the room is cramped and the desks are cramped, the kids will be cramped, and will probably abuse the equipment more. It'll be harder to maintain and harder for custodial to keep the space clean.
I also suggest that the teacher's station be in the back on a raised platform, such that the teacher can easily see all of the screens.
I suggest a form factor like the "Small Desktop" form factor Dell has used for their Optiplex lines, and that the machines are mounted where with a little effort they can be reached by the user, but are otherwise somewhat out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Technicians performing maintenance will be pissed if they're on the back side of the desk where they can't be reached when in front of the console. Also, don't block too much access to the back, as the technician needs easy access to the connections.
If you won't need to reconfigure the lab, go with permanent fixture desks, run the data and electrical infrastructure in the furniture. Be sure to keep a good separation between data and electrical to minimize interference. If you will need to reconfigure, go with a raised floor like computer rooms use, that will allow cabling to be moved around as needed based on furniture configuration.
If the lab will be used for general ed computer-based learning rather than for technology-subject learning, put in short height partitions to separate students from each other a bit.
Avoid lighting on the blue end of the spectrum, go for yellower tones. Blue will make them fall asleep.
Avoid chairs that are too adjustable and on casters, they'll inevitably get destroyed. Chairs similar to those used in band and orchestra would be a good choice.
If you put up a projector, get one with the same aspect ratio as the teacher's station's screen. If possible, go for the same resolution. Put in a sound system too, at least a set of stereo speakers in the front connected to a small amp. Wire for everything on the projector even if you don't need it now- if you need to hook up a Blu-ray player or VCR or something later it's nice to have cabling.
Good luck. You're going to need it...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I like to have my lab set up with tables put together in the middle of the room with computers around that wall. This allows space for lessons and planning away from the keyboards. Students like to move tables around when they are working in groups. Computers around the wall gives me a view of all the screens allowing me to keep students on task.
You probably arent going to believe me now but in a few years you will figure out what I mean by this post.
A computer lab is better when its not a computer lab. The magic happens when the students collaborate rather than sit in rows behind computers. You should provide them with an active learning environment that has pods rather than rows. Pods of about 6-8 with a large flat screen or two with a switcher that allows each student to put up their screen to share with the pod and interact.
You spread the pods around the room and also have the ability to grab a screen and put it on the main overheads around the room. For instance you want to show what POD1 is doing, then you pull it on the main screens, show, talk, collaborate then go back and work, etc.
I am also a high school computer teacher, and our building got renovated about three years ago. I was able to ask for lots of goodies too, but be prepared for the contractors to ignore whatever suggestions you make.
That being said, there were a few important elements I insisted on. One is that I could see all the students' screens from a central location. Mostly that meant having all the PCs facing outward against three walls, with me in the middle. This was a huge improvement over the back-to-back rows we had before. The downside is that kids have to turn around if they need to see the board or the teacher.
My class is in the Career and Technical Education school, so I'm training kids to be sysadmins, programmers, and technicians. Due to the nature of the class, we have a central rack with networking equipment that's easy for the kids to crowd around. If this is something you need, make sure there's plenty of space on all sides, and use a cable tray to bring in the wiring. Also, I asked for power to be dropped from the ceiling to the center of the room so we could setup work benches to troubleshoot hardware. (That's one of the things they neglected to give me.)
Natural light is a wonderful thing, but I wouldn't worry too much about glare as long as you don't have shiny glass screens. If students will be sitting in front of these things for an hour or more at a stretch, good (and large) LCD displays will reduce eye strain. Similarly, don't expect kids to sit in crappy chairs for long periods of time. But don't get swivel rolling chairs; they'll just race and spin in them.
Probably the most used piece of technology in my room is the projector. I'd definitely get a decent one and install it where everyone can see it. I also like to be mobile in my lab, so I've got an iPad to walk around with and take notes on student work.
As long as you've got space to spare, give students as much elbow room as possible. High school kids need a little personal space so they don't get on each others' nerves. Also, more space per PC makes it easier for students to work in small groups, as they can gather three or four people around one PC.
I've got some software I'm partial to, as well. It's nice having something like Faronics Insight in the lab, which allows me to monitor what everyone is looking at, limit Internet access, or share my screen with everyone. I'm not tied to that particular brand (thought it's what I'm using right now, and works on PCs and Macs), but rather any software system that has those functions.
My lab is due to be upgraded in a year or two. I might go with laptops if it's in the budget, but we've got to work out accountability (for theft), upgradability, and a few other issues. I certainly wish I had one or two for myself, though.
I hope this helps some.
It is hugely more pleasant to work in a computer lab where the noise of fans isn't deafening. Actually, you can pretty much get total silence now, and I strongly recommend it. Specify computers with fanless coolers (usually this is $25 even for a high-powered i7 cooler), avoid rotating disks (use SSDs or etherboot), avoid case-fans, and use silent PSUs (these are usually equipped with fan for use when flat-out, but tend to run inaudibly; they cost a little more, but last much longer).
Ubuntu is the distro for people who don't get Linux.
So it's perfect for all but one or two of the computer geeks in the class.
Or at least with openable cases. Have a drawer with spare parts, allow student to freely play with the hardware. Or at least have some stations that are "fair game".
Have a few stations with arduinos and basic electronics linked.
Give students a homepage with a kind of dynamic pages activated (php, python, perl, cgi, whatever)
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Fill the lab with Winders or fruit and students will tend to skid to a halt at a "power user" level of proficiency. Fill it with uninstalled white box PCs and Linux CDs, and they will learn many valuable things in the process of creating a usable network. Sure, they may never again need to do a lot of that stuff, but at least they will understand why it's necessary.
"You know that teacher we hated in the high school computer course? I just realized I learned something that year that prevented a corporate meltdown today."
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
nonsense, it's 97% Debian, and with newer kernels and software versions to boot.
That's easy. Give every student a laptop and a copy of Ubuntu and let the world be their lab. Hire a few geeks to answer questions and help the students if they get stuck.
And please, no remote control cameras on the computers. Assistant Principals tend to be pervs.
You are welcome on my lawn.
1. Raised floor. 4", a short one. And get extra tiles. Tech changes and you'll need to reconfigure the room every couple years to keep up. With raised floor you can put network and power on flexible whips and move them around where you need them. This'll allow you to move desks, move computers, move everything. You're going to put holes in these tiles. Later you'll discover you need some of the holes filled in. That isn't possible. So you'll need the extra tiles to cut new.
2. Dedicated supplemental HVAC. A room full of computers will get hotter than the ordinary school HVAC can handle during the spring and fall. It'll get even hotter during the winter when the school heating system pumps out the heat. The normal solution - a thermostat-controlled duct damper - isn't going to do you much good. You need a small, inexpensive HVAC that can put out a couple tons of cooling supplementing the normal school HVAC.
3. Second dedicated HVAC for the server closet unless you're remoting the class servers in the school's IT room. In which case, make sure the school's IT room has a dedicated HVAC.
4. 200 amp subpanel in the room. You'll find you need to reconfigure the electrical when you reconfigure the room. Reconfiguring all the way back to a basement circuit breaker panel will be costly and problematic.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
I designed a small space for 6 workstations that was used for 2 years, it was pretty popular among the students, they hung out there and worked all hours of the day and night, usually 4 or 5 of the workstations were occupied during "normal working" hours. Then, I was asked to design the upgraded lab with 18 terminals in a larger space. The main thing I asked for from a lighting/facility aspect was workspace spotlights (in those days, incandescent lights in a can which throw a spot on the desk but not on the screens - today I'd go LED), and I asked for 72" desks because our students worked in pairs. I arranged the 18 desks in a sort of random/scattered layout (both for the 6 and 18 terminal labs), which put most workstations in a semi-isolated space, usually with at most one other workstation in a "hey, can you tell me..." line of sight asking distance.
Well, it was 20+ years ago, so I don't remember if I actually got the can-spots or not, what I do remember was that the man in charge said "thanks a lot for the design, but we're going to lay them out in rows so that when a visitor looks in the window from the hallway they will see all the screens, it's impressive." Yeah, it was impressive alright. The desks shrank to 54" to make 3 rows of 6 work in the available space, people were on each other's elbows all the time and, generally speaking, no more than 3 or 4 workstations were ever occupied at a time because people felt cramped if more than half the terminals were full, so they generally stayed away except for absolutely required lab time.
If you can get away with licensing it, Windows/*nix dual boot machines. Windows because at high school level it's irresponsible not to make the least techie pupil au fait with what they will probably face in the workplace.
Then you have your *nix system for the "real work". Even one years experience will be a good head start for any student wanting to go into science and engineering. If you go with something with a nice GUI then you can introduce the lower level students to the idea that "it's not just Windows..."
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
Not to be pedantic...but labs don't run operating systems, computers do.
That's true, and pedantry is welcome. This is slashdot after all.
I knew things were off to a rocky start when the story started with this quote:
"I am a high school computer teacher and I've been put in the unique situation of designing my ideal computer lab
To be perfectly pedantic: "computer teachers" probably don't need a lab at all.
Just an ssh connection to each computer, and you can program (teach) the computers what ever you want.
Why build a lab, that invariably attracts students, who always mess things up.
Get a Gorilla rack and put it in the basement somewhere, but what ever you do, keep those pesky kids away.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I've used many layouts. For high school I am not sure. Depends on usage.
The silly typing courses many high schools have-- if that is all it is for, then old terminals are plenty good + make it more office like with typical office chairs etc since posture is part of that topic. Adjustable screens, keyboards etc should be part of it-- as the parent post suggests. possibly even have a couple styles to choose from (learning to type is a waste of time, but learning to save your hands and back is so important later...) no desk needed for such a class... Classic typewriters would outlast any computer and work just as well to build that skill. keyboards are cheap; typing programs run just fine on Apple ][s. I might have a WORKING one in the basement, probably still runs typing tutor...
The worst "lab" I've had is a normal room with a parameter of computers desks. This makes it easy to see what people are doing and stand in the center area; its horrible for college lectures because they can't use the computer and see what you are showing; on the plus side, they can't use the computer... Our newer "labs" decided upon this kind of layout to make a clean break between lecture and computer lab time physically; I hate this while others like it. For high school this may work out; despite it requiring more floor space than a normal room - its not all that disruptive to make them move during class; they are kids and likely need some moving around...and some discipline in doing so maturely. Without locked down machines you know they'll goof off and if you lock it down, a kid like myself will be distracted by that challenge... You can easily see what is going on with a parameter layout (plus equip the room far cheaper.)
The coolest lab I've seen was one with individual desks that had monitors IN THE DESK; it was odd to look downward but also really cool. takes a little getting used to-- I've not got that lab, the math dept has it. probably good for their needs.
Daylight is nice; however, a brightly lit room is more important than windows; full spectrum bulbs are enough. When I was in school it was dim all the time; now they seem to have double the lights! A board student or easily distracted student LOVES WINDOWS. I shut the blinds. Skylights waste energy in heating or cooling in most places.
Every computer lab I've used which was full became stuffy after a while; I figured it was the extra heat in the room that caused it to feel that way; except in rooms designed as labs where they had extra venting planned... Those would often seem too cold and dry (I should complain someday.) I would STRONGLY recommend some of the NASA plants... actually, a ton of them would be needed-- hang them around the parameter of the room up high and SOLID. The feeling of the room is greatly improved by this; plus the humidity will be more natural and the oxygen level will be higher. (see snake plant, I think its the best one on the list. I don't have a room of my own or I would do this.) Peppermint. Its a smell, not a taste and its a mental stimulant like ginko (it works, ginko doesn't do jack for me.) Two proven impacts: 1) mental subconscious connection to the room and past situation upon entering the room. 2) it wakes you up mentally although it has to be rather strong for that. There is no official allergy, but I sprinkle the oil around the room secretly before class. The plant doesn't smell as much but you could grow that... (I suggest putting a few drops on the keyboards, haven't busted one yet!)
Metalic PAINT... I hate cell phones... the kids these days (girls) can text amazingly fast... if you could only get them to properly type gossip to each other under their desks...
ANY kind of development work can use LARGE monitors! actually, 2 cheaper ones makes a lot of sense... since most people are going to laptops and will hook up a 2nd display... If you do any graphic work, get nice monitors; if its just typing any crap will do. DO NOT get all-in-one computers. that is just stupid. Also if you do developm
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You might be able renegotiate that requirement. Invite your Microsoft MSAA liaison to a gourmet steak restaurant. Then stab him with a steak knife. Fucker.
Our computer lab was awesome until the district fucked it up. The computers all autoreimaged themselves from a seperate partition on reboot, so you could fuck it up hard and nothing bad would happen. Everyone was admin. It worked great! Need a program installed? No problem! Seriously, do this.
One of the lovely things about IT is that (theoretically) one person can make something that can instantly be used by millions.
Possibly that's a little bit optimistic, but the best motivation for anything I've made is somebody looking at something I've built and and just saying "I like that"
Or maybe even better - "I would like it even more if it did x", then building "x" and then getting the feedback (mainly when you realize not including x was a retarded over-sight).
I'm not quite sure how you support this in the design of the room, but maybe find a way of allowing those not in the class to see what's happening. Windows into the room, something that people can look at if they just wander in - maybe even just a 40" screen outside pointing to stuff available to all on a site of what's been made in the room that day.
I guess my point would be that the room shouldn't just be for people making things (50 ergonomic workstations are lovely - but they'll only ever look like 50 ergonomic workstations) - it should help show the rest of the world what's being produced in that room. 'Selling' what's being made isn't really for the people they're selling to, but to provide encouragement to the creators.
Start with the Infrastructure: wiring, power, desks, layout etc. Computers come and go, and even if you buy brand new computers, they will be gone in 5 years. Infrastructure will last, so make sure it is done RIGHT!!
Second, think about HOW you're going to teach "computers", and what that really means. You asked about "computers" and I'm thinking you don't know what you are teaching. Probably "Word", "Excel", and "Powerpoint", but if you want to do your students a favor, don't teach "Programs" or "Applications" teach what they do "writing", "spreadsheet", and "presentation" ... and make them use a variety of programs to accomplish the assignments.
Finally, make sure you have something like VISION in your lab.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Sorry, it's my last year. With senioritis and all, I can barely be assed to actually pay attention, let alone commit a murder over a class. I mean, hiding a body is hard work, and that my normal dump site is still full from the Adobe Illustrator class...
Besides, I just bring my laptop in and do my work for other classes while waiting for IIS. Or play Unreal Tournament.
I am the entire IT department for a private K-12 school. I also teach an accelerated C++ class to high schoolers in that lab over the summer. We have one computer lab with 25 PCs. Here are some of the things I've done or plan to do to make it a pleasant and productive work environment, in no particular order:
1) Have a good projector. Our projector does not support resolutions above 1024x768 and it can be a pain when the working window is needlessly smaller because of large static elements like the taskbar and toolbars.
2) Install in-ceiling speakers connected to the teacher workstation to distribute sound evenly. I recommend in-ceiling speakers from Monoprice.
3) Have a free-for-all shared network drive for students. We have three shared drives: one for students, one for all staff, and one for just office workers. This is probably one of the features that's easiest to set up yet appreciated the most.
4) Use centralized logins. At my school I have a passwordless "student" account with a mandatory profile, while all other accounts are roaming profiles with redirected folders. I've not heard any complaints about this. Students get the same desktop experience on every computer, and teachers love that their settings are shared between computers. I also offer (through the logon pop-up message) to create roaming profiles to students who want this feature, but no one has yet taken me up on this. Probably because no one ever reads that message.
5) Set up Fortres Grand Clean Slate or Faronics Deep Freeze on at least a few computers and configure them such that every account is an Administrator. There will always be students who'll want to install a legit program you haven't foreseen. Let them.
6) Keep software up-to-date. No one likes using Firefox 2.0 or MSIE 6.0 on locked-down PCs. Do this either through group policy (if you're fearless) or by reimaging PCs on student breaks. Reimaging works because everyone's documents and settings already live on the server.
7) This is controversial, but allow students and staff to attach any personal device to the network. We have a schoolwide wireless network, so this allows everyone to stay connected no matter what part of the building they're in. This has been tremendously popular at my school, and so far haven't had any issues.
8) Use standby. No one minds it, and it saves a huge amount of energy. Use something like Faronics Power Save Enterprise if you want fine-grained control, or just configure Windows power settings to go on standby after X minutes of inactivity. As a bonus, standby is also quick to reveal defective RAM. (Bluescreen, "hardware problem, contact manufacturer")
If anyone reading this is in Cedar Rapids / Iowa City of Iowa, I am an IT consultant and would love to implement this at more schools. :-)
deep freeze is good and you don't need lock down to the point of braking app's and makeing it hard to do stuff.
I am sorry, but nothing you've said is remotely true.
How does ntfsclone replace any Faronics product? I happen to use and love ntfsclone to reimage PCs. It's very nice, and like you said cheap, but it requires a reboot into Windows, a clone process that takes a while, and a mini-setup of Windows where it generates SIDs and other stuff.
Deep Freeze and Clean Slate, on the other hand, allow anyone to reboot or even log off (in the case of Clean Slate) and get everything restored to normal. Now students can get a pristine image for every class period or anytime they want, instead of having me reimage it with ntfsclone daily, weekly, or monthly. In summary, ntfsclone is not a replacement for or a competitor to Faronics or Fortres Grand products. Unless you can point to a free product that has the same functionality, it's not "money wasting."
As far as Faronics being a vendor lock-in -- again I have no idea what you're talking about. Deep Freeze is a single, well-contained product. It does not try to integrate with anything else, take over any other program, or cause any other headaches.
Finally, "mysterious breakage"? Again, Deep Freeze is one of the most reliable products I've ever used. It's reliable because it's simple: it redirects disk writes at the block level, keeps a temporary mapping of these redirects, then purges it at reboot. Clean Slate is similar in results, but it works at the filesystem level, so a logoff is sufficient to reset the PC to a pristine state. Both work very well in my testing and field experience. I'd love to hear about your mysterious breakage.
Please don't focus on making a lab with rows of desks. Research is showing that if you want students to engage with ICTs in the learning process, it needs to move away from how the ergonomics of the room is setup. Will the lab be used across all KLA (subjects areas)? If it is, consider what these subjects need to really engage with the technology. Desks which can be reconfigured to collaborate in breakout spaces should be considered. Read up on some of the stuff that Stephen Heppell has to say about agile learning spaces. Some of the stuff from the UK future labs should be considered also. Consider putting up LCDs on the side walls to replicate what is shown on the front screen. Also if students can collaborate in groups and project on the screens in small groups. Sure, wired Ethernet is king for management. For collaborative learning it's hard to beat ubiquitous wireless. Kids arent tethered to locations. Power pits in floor if you can afford it. Does your school run a 1:1 program? We are slowly phasing out labs, and turning them into general purpose areas. Keep asking. Sure, Ubuntu and the other suggestions might be good, but what's the total cost of ownership? If non-tech teachers are trying to engage in there, make it as simple as possible. Good luck!
Natural lighting is good if strategically placed and diffused to raise the general ambient level. In general though keep those obnoxious old-school fluorescent tube lights to a modest minimum (if at all). They're hell on the eyes, especially if not bounced off a ceiling first. Let them do the job of minimal ambient and save the workspace lighting tasks for point lighting fixtures.
As for environment, light colored wood (think bamboo), some greenery, and pictures--actual props even if possible--themed from the history of computing. Avoid long rows of computer stations. Think small groups or short lines. For instance lecture space up front, short lines of three workstations facing angled to the outside on either side of an aisle such that you can walk up and down and easily see the screens but the students don't have to unnaturally twist all the way around to follow you up at the front.
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
...if you are considering what should be included in a high school computer lab, the obvious answer is....
Girls.
paintball