Giving Compass' Take:

• The Lab Rotation is a popular blended learning model that incorporates computer lab use for teacher-facilitated online learning. 

• What other classroom tools will still be useful as edtech takes over education? Which tools will students not need at all anymore? 

• Read about the reports surfacing that detail what is working for blended learning practitioners. 

Recently, an education leader remarked to me that “the concept of a computer lab is obsolete”. The comment surprised me. In our blended learning research at the Christensen Institute, we see schools implement blending learning using technology along a wide spectrum, from a lab of desktops to 1:1 hand-held devices, 3D printers, VR headsets, and more.

We also observe that at the end of the day, technology isn’t the most important component of a strong blended-learning program. Rather, good pedagogy partnered strategically with technology (even a plain-old computer lab) holds great potential to make a powerful learning impact.

In fact, computer labs are still a key stepping stone for many schools aiming to transform instruction.

The Lab Rotation is a popular blended-learning model that integrates teacher-facilitated online learning in a lab setting with face-to-face instruction and other offline learning modalities in the classroom. Overall, in our BLU database of 640 schools and districts (and counting), there are over 100 examples of schools implementing this computer lab-based model, from Louisiana to California to India.

Do computer labs symbolize the “future of learning”? Probably not, particularly as mobile penetration grows rapidly. But with pedagogical savvy, educators continue to take advantage of them to help create better learning experiences for students in the present.

Read the full article about computer labs by Jenny White at Christensen Institute