We recently had several faculty members retire and as we prepared for the transition and the parties I went through our archived yearbook collection to find some classic snapshots of our retirees. The frightening thing to me was looking at the pictures of our classrooms and instructional facilities from thirty years ago and noticing that not much has changed. The hairstyles back then were funny, and everyone wore glasses, but other than that- the students are sitting at desks in rows, listening to teachers lecture, taking notes with their textbooks beside them. The chalkboards have been replaced with interactive whiteboards but are being used for the same thing. Teachers now simply type their lecture notes into PowerPoint instead of writing in chalk.

Information is available at your fingertips today, so how has your educational environment changed to incorporate this immediate access to the world of information? The world has changed so drastically in the last ten, twenty, and thirty years- but has your school and classroom integrated those changes into your daily practice?

Today, our students now have access to a virtual high school and schools all over the country are looking towards moving more coursework online so that users have continual access to the information and resources that an old-fashioned brick and mortar school and classroom provides. As your building moves towards additional online learning environments what will happen to your classroom?