The floor is covered by artificial lawn. The TV screen simulates a standard football court. Students are learning the goal shooting skill of Cristiano Ronaldo with their creative football they have printed with 3D technology and the APP they have developed independently...The above-mentioned used to be the expected future football class of Song Fengwen, the headmaster of Wujiaochang Primary School. Such a brand-new classroom that has embraced IT teaching methods and innovative teaching approaches will be present in the school in near future.
In this semester, three innovative “future classrooms” in different forms and with different contents have been set up as trial projects in Wujiaochang Primary School of Yangpu District, Gaoan Lu No.1 Primary School in Xuhui District, and the Primary School Affiliated to East China Normal University in Putuo District respectively. These classrooms will forge an all media interactive space by using the Internet and mobile terminals, providing brand-new innovative experience to the students.
However, the future classrooms are not only innovative in terms of hardware.
The future classroom in Wujiaochang Primary school is on one side of the playground and has taken primary shape. The classroom with an area over 160 square meters has been divided into three zones: Football Cultural Impression, Football Creation & Production, and Football Sports Exploration. The traditional football class now has three components, enabling students to learn football culture, make football and sportswear and professional skills and capabilities. IT teaching has been applied to each of the three zones. For example, the school has developed an APP for students to learn football culture. The APP includes the contents of three textbooks, football clubs, football stars and their skill characteristics, and the demo of famous football players garbing or goal shooting. The students can learn from professional “teachers” using the APP. Another example is the Football Sports Exploration zone. The big screen has recorded the sports data of all children on the playground. The teacher can work out different rehabilitation solution for every student based on their own cardiopulmonary parameters.
In the Primary School Affiliated to East China Normal University, the Future Classroom teaches the 24 solar terms as the theme. There is 3D printer in the classroom. Students can observe the plants growing in the 24 solar terms, draw them on the paper and then print the drawing which is real and tangible.
The conventional classroom has one teacher for one class. There will be several teachers in the Future Classroom for one class. Integrative teaching will be one of the innovative responsibilities of the Future Classroom.
Football teaching is the characteristic of Wujiaochang Primary School. Every student here will learn football. To Headmaster Song Fengwen, football is not only one sport skill but embeds abundant teaching functions. How to present the teaching functions then? Future Classroom now meets her demands. “The Future Classroom will be handled by three teachers, one PE teacher, one IT teacher and one teacher in charge of general arrangement and practice. In Song’s point of view, one football class includes professional football skill, football culture and history, and the capability to create and produce sportswear and trophies, etc.” she said. It should be a classroom with teacher of different disciplines. In Gaoan Lu No.1 Primary School, the Future Classroom integrates science, art and sports as the school has the characteristic science course “maritime models”. There are Engineering Tables, Information Port and Design Area, etc. The Future Classroom in the Primary School of East China Normal University is in the charge of three teachers, one for Chinese, one for Fine Art and one for Nature. They conduct integrative teaching based on the groups of students.
However, is the advanced hardware sufficient enough? “The Future Classroom is not only an innovative classroom but redefines the learning approaches of students, the classroom, teachers and teaching,” said Song Fengwen.
The classroom has been extended. The APP in the Future Classroom in Wujiaochang Primary School makes learning more solid and breaks the limitation of time and space. “For example, students can practice the skill of football stars after class with the APP. They can also take video of their movements, upload the video and compare it with the football stars or their classmates,” said Song. The after class activities will supplement what the students have learned from the class effectively and terminates the conventional learning for 40 minutes in the classroom. Learning now can happen everywhere.