Research Focus (1): Learning Environments: From IWB to Decomposed Class
Most of the reflection on ICT is concentrated on “physical” or “functional” aspects, that is, on the changes in the learning environment determined by the presence of a device and consequently on the different organization of spaces. Hence the concepts of a “liquid class” (3) or a “decomposed class”.
«The new “decomposed class” is a classroom where there are no longer fixed seats (or roles), but desks that are moved (or removed) in accordance with teaching needs, multimedial stations with internet access, multimedial projectors to see videos taken perhaps from Youtube, (…). A liquid class changes shape continually…» (Bardi, 2014).
It is clear that the introduction of an IWB in class, the substitution of books with tablets and of exercise books with laptops, the renewal of the old-style school furniture with modular desks - unavoidable transformations, respect to which it is futile to propose nineteenth century models - constitute a revolution that is producing learning environments in line with the evolution of the times, in a process that can no longer be arrested, but it should be accompanied by intuitions linking the knowledge of medical science, psychology, architecture (and Universal design) with the demands of education, in order to ensure the well-being of students and teachers at school.
We mean by this that the concept of “learning environment” should not be interpreted in a merely functional sense, but must maintain a pedagogical connotation. So the most appropriate way to intend the concept would seem to be that of a “context”, as developed in the ICF perspective and experimented in 92 schools in a national project carried out from 2010 to 2015(4). Take for example a paraplegic child who goes to a school without specific accessibility criteria and whose classroom is on the first floor of the building and is furnished in the usual manner; then imagine the same child in a different school, with a classroom that is easily accessible on the ground floor, with specifically designed furniture, a “smart desk” (Zappaterra, 2013), adapted mouse and teachers trained for disability. In this second case, the learning context/environment plays an important facilitating role and takes differentiated teaching into account.