Debate: Should school computer labs be phased out?

NEA Today, Sep 1999 by Barr, Barbara, Serim, Ferdi

Computers belong in all classrooms, not held captive in the computer lab and taught as a specialized subject area at a scheduled time.

All staff and students need to learn how to effectively use this instrument. This can most realistically happen when computers are conveniently accessible in a classroom.

Computer labs have a number of drawbacks. In a lab setting, the computer is learned apart from other subjects and activities. It is much more difficult to integrate technology into other areas of the curriculum within the lab setting. The computer becomes a separate course or activity, rather than a tool used to enhance learning in other areas.

Time limits are another disadvantage to computer labs. Most educators have an assigned time to use the lab. This restricted access limits activities a teacher can conduct with students.

The time limits affect students, too. For example, a student doing a research project on World War II using computers in the classroom has instant access to major databases and can use the Internet to get resources. Research can be performed instantly and on an ongoing basis.

Scheduled time to conduct research in a lab a few times a week doesn't allow ample time to work on projects like this.

Even the physical location of computer labs causes problems in many schools. It is just too inconvenient to have educators take away from their classroom time to shuttle students down the hall or to another part of the school building. Once they get to the lab, there is no access to regular classroom materials.

Having computers located within an educator's classroom setting has a number of advantages. With just one computer in the classroom, we can:

Create a spread sheet of students' names and have each student enter data for daily attendance, lunch count, and records of monies received.

Use a scrolling marquee screen saver for spelling words, new vocabulary, announcements, or information.

Replace messy chalk boards or overheads with PowerPoint presentations or a simple text program using enlarged fonts.

Instantly access encyclopedia programs, museums, libraries, and universities.

Not only are computers convenient, they are the only teaching instrument that can handle all subjects on every developmental level and still keep up with the latest information. When the student is ready to learn, the classroom computer is there!

Teachers must become comfortable with computers in order to use them effectively. This will happen when computers are available in the classroom on a consistent daily basis.

In my 24 years teaching, I've seen programs come and go with varying degrees of success. Never have I found one simple item that added so much to instruction, while instilling a passion for knowledge in students. Why limit this tremendous tool to scheduled sessions in a room at the other end of the building?

I call this the "right shoe vs. left shoe" debate. You need both kinds of shoes to get anywhere. In an ideal world, computers belong on every student's lap. But rather than focusing on where we put them, we need to focus on how the computers will be used. Once we know that, we can make better decisions about how they'll be deployed.

For the past ten years, I've worked as an educator in computer labs, in two different districts. I've seen labs used well, and I've seen them used in ways that make me cringe.

There is indeed a push by some to get rid of labs. Computer labs should not be phased out. Rather, they should be used in ways that make educational sense. There is great value in having spaces where entire classes can use technology at the same time, whether it's a computer lab or a library/media center.

Computer labs are effective places to give all students adequate access to technology to perform meaningful work.

A good example of this is when Shannon Dahl, an 8th grade language arts teacher at my school, had her kids create books using the computer. Students gathered autobiographical information, pictures, and relics. They used a range of desktop publishing technologies to print, bind, and produce these one-of-a-kind heirlooms. The project ended in an "author's breakfast" for 125 kids, their families, and the community.

It took Shannon Dahl three weeks to complete the project using the computer lab. If she had only two computers in her room the project would take all year. Having six machines would have allowed her to complete it in 15 weeks. That doesn't make educational sense.

Before getting rid of labs and putting more computers in classrooms, educators should consider these additional benefits of computer labs:

Most classroom computers are not networked to other school computers. Computer labs allow teachers and students to make projects and information available for collaboration via the school network.

Classroom computers don't often allow for projection devices to support group activity. When teachers used my lab, I'd make "housecalls" to other computers with my laptop and an LCD panel for wider viewing by groups of students. The teachers I worked with would rather have a machine that let "everybody" observe a demonstration than five or six machines that only served a fraction of their class.