Education Expo Features `Classroom Of Tomorrow'

Four years ago, it took Thuan Nguyen nearly a year to persuade his ninth-grade teacher to let him turn in an interactive, multimedia presentation on the Vietnam War instead of the required 10-page double-spaced, typed research paper.

The project he finally produced at Kentlake High School - complete with written history, recorded interviews, film clips and photographs made during the war - is exactly what many educators say is the future of education.

Tomorrow, more than 250 teachers from across the state will gather at the Kingdome to offer demonstrations and presentations on all aspects of technology in the classroom. Titled "Tomorrow's Classroom: Teaching in the New Millennium," the event will feature a life-size, three-dimensional exhibit representing the classrooms of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Students of the future can look forward to classrooms equipped with wireless laptop computers, flat-screen digital televisions, mobile computer work stations, desks on wheels, ergonomically correct office chairs and plush couches.

"Technology has really brought the walls down in the classroom," said Pam Scott, a fourth-grade teacher in Kennewick who uses technology in 30 percent of her lessons. "My kids actually choose to stay in during recess to do research on the computer."

In one project, Scott's students sent e-mail to see how far it would travel, sticking pins in a map for each destination. Along the way, they learned about geography, time zones and the way to locate a city based on its longitude and latitude.

Diana Eggers, the instructional technology coordinator for the Kent School District, set up a video-conferencing project at five Washington elementary schools.

On the day of the conference, each school presented 10 facts about its city in a video production, computer presentation or even a rap song. The other schools used maps, reference books and the Internet to figure out which city the school was in.

"If you give teachers training and good tools, they can pull anything off," said Rick Feutz, the director of instructional technology for the Bainbridge Island School District. "This gives us another way to engage kids, and that's what teaching's all about."

Instead of just studying French, he said, students can now correspond with pen pals in France.

"The Internet also gives kids an opportunity to publish their work," Feutz said. "When you display kids' work, they know you value it and they work harder."

With its beige walls, gray furniture and vinyl tile floors, the "Today's Classroom" exhibit shows the optimum present learning environment, according to Celeste Tell, the exhibit's designer. "We're trying to show the tension between the nature of the work and the environment the work is being done in," she said.

The sterile, angular room merges into the circular comfort of "Tomorrow's Classroom," where all furniture is on wheels to maximize mobility and innovation. "The whole idea of `Tomorrow's Classroom' is to be provocative - to make people think of new ideas of what the classroom should be like," Tell said.

A painting on the wall includes a quote from a Washington public school superintendent in the 1800s who said, "People just don't understand why we need blackboards."

A similar situation exists today with computer access, said Donna Dunning, the director of learning and education policy for the Washington Education Association.

"We need the public here to see and understand what a difference computer access makes for children," she said. "This is about getting equal access to all classrooms, including the remote, rural schools and the center city schools."

According to Les Foltos, the director of instructional technology for the Seattle School District, every classroom in Seattle public schools will have Internet access within six years - with a minimum of one computer for every five students across the district.

Tracy Jan's phone message number is 206-748-5812. Her e-mail address is: tjan@seattletimes.com

---------------------- The Future of Learning ----------------------

-- "Tomorrow's Classroom: Teaching in the New Millennium" will be held 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Kingdome. The event is free and open to the public.

-- For more information about the event, check out http://www.learningspace. org/future/