Note to readers: I have been going through my blog and finding old blog posts that I had not published. This post about TEAL classrooms was written after I had visited Boston at the end of 2014 (I need to find the exact date), when I was working at Wits. I have only published the post now (August 2024). Still have to add photos.
As enrollment at Wits have grown, the teaching and learning infrastructure (lecture halls, libraries, computer labs) has had to expand to cope with larger student numbers. Larger classes require larger teaching venues, which means a bigger lecture hall with more tiers of seating and larger boards. There’s no doubt, that students, who have gone through 12 years of schooling, can grasp concepts more successfully when they are able to discuss and apply their thoughts through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning. However, the architecture and design of current large learning spaces mitigate against this kind of learning and engagement between lecturer and students, in such large venue, suffers, simply because of the constraints that everyone find themselves in.
A classrooms that allows for conversations, should be designed to encourage students to meet face to face with their fellow students. So instead of making connections after class, via networked media, students should be using technology at the same time as they are in conversations. Yes, out pedagogical models are playing an increasing role in design of the curriculum, but as yet, these pedagogical models have not called into question the eggbox and crate model of classroom design.
The Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) classroom is an exception to this rule. This structure is arranged and designed specifically to promote active learning in a large class setting. TEAL classrooms were spearheaded at MIT by John Belcher. They offered students and lecturers an innovative educational method that facilitated collaboration and hands-on learning. This was assisted by technology, strategic design and rigorous assessment.
The TEAL studio flattened the lecture hall and made sure that the lecturer was not the focus of the class, as in traditional theater’s. The venue can accommodate 126 students and is specially equipped to support active and group learning. The room’s 14 tables each seat nine students and include video cables which can be used to project from students’ computers onto screens. The room includes five projection screens, 10 flat screen displays (corresponding to each of the student tables), and ubiquitous whiteboard space including eight whiteboards with dedicated video cameras. There are carts of laptops for students to use during class. An instructor station in the middle of the room controls which sources are displayed on the screens.
In the MIT TEAL classroom, the physical layout and technological setup of the room are designed to facilitate student-to-student, student-to-teacher, and classroom-wide collaboration. While I was at MIT I had the opportunity to observe a TEAL class in action with Peter . Nine students sat round 13 tables and the lecturer and assistants circulate and engaged. In Peter’s class I noticed that there were elements of lecture, discussion, hands-on experiments and feedback in one class. The lecturer was doing exam revision, and presented the class with discussion questions, visualizations, and pencil-and-paper exercises.
The design of the room supports a new style of teaching that encourages students to teach each other and solve problems in a collaborative way. The teacher becomes more of a facilitator and walks around between the tables. The room also has screens on every wall in the room, so that the classroom is able to shift focus to a specific group’s work or the teacher’s podium computer at any moment.
21st century technology, used in a 20th century learning spaces often reinforce this passivity. If blended learning is indeed to be a reality and the blend of online activities and face to face activities are going to be a good mix, then class time needs to be spent on tangibles, poderables and visibles where hands on activities and discussions can be designed to help them understand concepts. Lecturers in a teal classroom need no longer lecture from a fixed location, but walk around with a wireless microphone talking to students about their work, assessing their understanding, facilitating interaction, and promoting better learning.