The classroom as one learning environment of the f

TheClassroomasONELearningEnvironmentoftheFutureMartialVivet(laboratoireinformatique,UniversiteduMaine,[e-mail])Abstract:Firstly,weconsiderimportantconceptstobetakenintoaccountwhenthinkingabouttheclassroomorganisationandthedesignoflearningenvironments.Theconceptofclassroomintegratesdifferentfacetsincludingatfirstinteractionbetweenchildrenandasystemofavailableknowledgecarriedouteitherbyhumanbeingsormulti-mediacontents.Averyimportantfacetisthattheclassroomisalsoacontextforsocialinteraction.Knowledgeacquisitionbyhumanbeingsmakessenseonlyifwetakeintoaccounttheneedforsocialisationofknowledgeandaprocessthatallowsthesharingofit.Wethenconsiderrecentresultsincognitivesciencesespeciallyinthestudyoflearningtheoriesandfocusonwhyandhowthisistobeconsideredwhendesigningandimplementingeducationaltechnologies.Weneedtoconsideruser-centeredapproachesandhumanfactorsintheclassroom.Wethendescribethemajorcharacteristicsoftheclassroomforfuture.Themodelweproposefortheclassroomistobesplittedintwoparts:thekernel(asasetofrealplaceswherepersonscanmeetphysicaly)andthecloud(asasetofrealorvirtualplaces)reachablefromthekernelvianetworks.Thekernelplaysaroleofafixpointveryusefulforpeoplehavingroots.Thebalancebetweenactivitiestakingplaceinthekernelandthecloudisthenanalysed.Thisleadsustodiscusssomebasicprinciplesunderlyingtheglobalorganisation.Thiskindofapproachhelpsustospecifymorepreciselydifferentpoints:teachers’rolesandconstraintsonteachers’education.Theneedformediatisedresourcesmeetingtheneedsinsuchschoolsleadsustopropositionsformethodologiestodesigneducationalresources.KeyWords:conceptofclassroom,distributedlearningenvironments,educationaltechnologies,educationalresourcesdesign,learningtheories1IntroductionInthefirstpartofthetext,weconsiderimportantconceptstobetakenintoaccountwhenthinkingabouttheclassroomorganisationandthedesignoflearningenvironments.Theseconceptsconcernmainlyhuman,socialaspects,rolesoftheclassroomsandthelinkwithlearningtheories.Fromthisbackground,itbecomesJournalofUniversalComputerScience,vol.2,no.10(1996),663-678submitted:15/10/96,accepted:15/10/96,appeared:28/10/96SpringerPub.Co.possibletoanalysemajorcharacteristicsfortheclassroomofthefutureandproposeamodelforitsorganisationbasedonaconceptofakernel(seenasafixpoint,realplaceallowingsocialinteractionanddirectcontactoflearnerswith„live“knowledge)andtheconceptofacloud(seenasavirtualplaceallowingremoteaccessto-orinteractionwith-knowledgeandpeople).Theeffectsofsuchanorganisationonteachers’roles,teachers’education,multi-mediaresourcesdesigncanthenbedescribed.2ConceptofClassroomTheconceptoftheclassroomintegratesdifferentfacetsincludingatfirstasystemofinteractionsbetweenlearnersandasystemofavailableknowledgecarriedouteitherbyhumanbeings(oneteacherorpeers)ormediatisedcontents(booksinlibrary,multimediatools).Themaingoalistohavethelearnersacquiringof,re-buildingforthemselvesthisknowledge.Itisclearforusthatacquisitionisheretobeunderstoodas„re-creation“,„re-construction“ofknowledgeinthelearners’headratherthan„transmission“ofknowledge.Sodesigningalearningenvironment(andtheclassroomissuchaplaceevenifnotreducedtosuchfunctions!)meansdesigningaplaceallowingforsuchare-construction.Anotherveryimportantfacetisthattheclassroomisfirstofallacontextforsocialinteraction:theroomitself(oncethedoorisclosed)isaplaceallowingakindofmicro-socialintegrationbetweenchildrenandtheteacher.Itisaplacewhereequalityofchancebetweenchildrenistobeguaranteed.Equalityofchancemeansherethateachchildmustfindthepossibilitytoreachherhighestopportunityforpersonaldevelopementandacheiveherbestpersonallevel.Thisdiffersnotablyfromequalityinreachedlevels.Knowledgeacquisitionbyhumanbeingsmakessenseonlyifwetakeintoaccounttheneedforsocialisationofknowledgeandtheprocessallowingthesharingofit.Theschoolinitswholeisaplaceforsocialinteractionincludingthatinvolvingadultsplayingroleslikeadministrationorparents.Weconcludefromsuchremarksthatwhenimplementingeducationaltechnologies,wemustconsidersuchaprocessofsocialisationincludingsharingofknowledgebetweenpersons.Theclassroomisnotonlyaplaceforlearningcontentinvariousseparatedisciplines,itisaplacewhereitispossibletointegrateknowledgefromvariousdisciplines,discussandfeelthesocialroleofknowledge.So,eveniftheclassroomis,amongalotofother„moremodern“possibilities,onlyoneofthepossibleplacesforlearning(evenifsomeconsideritasanexpensiveone),wemustkeepit.Besidessocialeffectsareimportant.Forlearners,learningaboutsocialcomplementarities,learningthatothersmayhavebetterorweakerpossibilitiesorskillsforlearning,learningmanagingdifferencesincompetenceswithrespecttodomains(somecangetgoodmarksinmathematics,othersinarts,othersinliterature)isquiteimportanttoeducatingpeoplewithopenminds.WhatIwouldcall„learninginthelarge“isfarricherthanhavingpeoplelearningspecifictopics,focusingalltheirattentiononlyonwell-delimitedissuescenteredontheirpersonaldirectinterest.A664VivetM.:TheClassroomasONELearningEnvironmentoftheFuturepossiblebutworryingscenariowecanimaginetodaywouldbetohavechildreniso