By Anne Houston, annemh@umich.edu

On the morning of June 27, 1999, LIRT presented its annual program at the New Orleans Marriott.  "Technology in Action: Getting the Most from Your Electronic Classroom," was attended by approximately 200 ALA conferees and received excellent reviews.  

The program was designed to address the pressing issues of electronic classroom design in its relationship to teaching methods. Now that more institutions are gaining facilities for hands-on teaching, how do we optimize the use of these facilities?  How can we best design a space for learning?  And, how should we change our teaching methods?  Possible answers to these questions were offered by two presentations, followed by poster sessions.

The program began with Michael Miller, Director of Information Services at the Media Union, University of Michigan.  During his presentation, "Design Considerations for Computer Classrooms," he discussed some practical issues in the design of electronic classrooms.  He began by defining possible types of learning rooms: i.e. hands-on labs as well as classrooms.  A well-designed classroom can be used as both a lab and a demo room. 

Basic requirements for students using a classroom, Miller said, are that they can easily see and hear the instructor, and are physically comfortable.  Physical comfort can be affected by temperature, air flow, comfort of chairs, and position of keyboards.  Instructors have similar needs, as well as the need to easily control the room's technology; and access to adequate technological support before and during the class.  

Few Librarians will be given the opportunity to design a room from scratch, but will inherit an existing room to turn into a classroom.  Whenever possible, the room should be oriented so that the doors are at the rear of the room, avoiding disturbance by exits and entrances.  Screens and whiteboards should be placed so that whiteboards can be seen if the screen is down.  A matte finish whiteboard can double as a screen.  Whiteboards, rather than chalkboards, should be utilized to avoid harming electronic equipment with chalk dust.  The instructor's station should be placed so that it blocks neither the screen nor the instructor.   

Miller also gave advice for the design and placement of furniture, showing several diagrams of existing rooms as examples.  In general, furniture should be placed to facilitate communication and collaboration.   For example, the instructor should be as close to the students as possible, and eye contact should be enhanced by using recessed monitors.  Room lighting should be designed to reduce screen glare and windows should be blacked out.  Dimmers or appropriately placed accent lights can also reduce glare.  Lighting controls should be placed where the instructor can easily access them while teaching.  

Hardware considerations should include plans for the effective distribution of wiring, adequate technical support, and the regular upgrading of equipment.  When choosing a projection system, consider resolution, portability and brightness.  The placement of the projector in the rear of the room is optimal.  Teaching is also enhanced by using a system that enables the instructor to control the students' use of the computers.  A control system allows the instructor to see what each student is doing, or to determine exactly what each student will see on their screen.   

The second speaker, Gale Burrow, Coordinator of Library Services at the Honnold/Mudd Library, The Claremont Colleges, spoke about "Learning to Teach in the Learning Room."  Burrow began by asking the audience to write down a few issues that they have encountered when teaching in an electronic classroom.   A number of issues were raised, both practical and theoretical.  

When building an electronic room, Burrow stated that librarians should consider teaching issues as well as design issues.  When Claremont gained a new electronic teaching room, librarians found that expectations had changed.  Classes needed to involve less lecture and more student involvement, but not all librarians were sure how to accomplish this.  

To aid librarians, the instruction team created a five-part exercise for use in freshman classes: 1. students create a research statement or question, 2. they identify types of information needed, 3. they select appropriate resources, 4. they use the databases, and  5. they select and retrieve sources.  The exercise is designed to allow teaching flexibility.  Parts 1-3 can be assigned before class, or worked during class.  The librarian can mix lecture and hands-on in different combinations.  During the exercise, librarians were given step-by-step directions for using the learning room's capabilities. Finally, evaluations were sought from faculty, students and librarians, and possible ways to improve the exercise were identified. 

At the conclusion of the two presentations, attendees were invited to stay and visit the poster sessions.  Poster sessions were presented to illustrate the myriad ways that different libraries have used technology in a library classroom setting.  Presenters and topics included:  

• Cynthia Akers, Emporia State University, "Get it in Writing:  Policies and Procedures for Library Electronic Classrooms"
• Gale Burrow, Claremont Colleges,  "Learning to Teach in the Learning Room"
• Barbara Cressman, Eastern Illinois University, "Shopping for Hardware/Software: Where to Go for Product Info"
• Mark Christel, Hope College "A Room of Our Own: Developing an Instructional Space That Really Works"  
• Robert W. Fernekes, University of South Carolina, Aiken, "Going Beyond Generic Browsers: The Next Step"  
• Stephanie Michel, Radford University, "The Audience is Listening: Using COMWEB to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Electronic Classroom"
• Trisha Stevenson, New York University, Melinda Raine, Pepperdine University, and Elizabeth Parang, Pepperdine University, "Redesigning Freshman Seminar Library Instruction"
• Ru Story-Huffman, Cumberland College, "Take This Exit: Teaching With the World Wide Web"
• Haiwang Yuan, Gay Perkins, Elaine Moore and Elisabeth Knight, Western Kentucky University, "Techniques to Expand the Impact of Our Electronic Workshops."