In this scenario, the teacher is at the front of the class and computers are in front of students.
Advantages
- If a student poses a question the whole group can benefit from the answer
Disadvantages
- If the teacher stands at the front of the class he/she will not be able to see what students are doing on their computers; students may be doing something else such as checking emails, etc. Nevertheless, this can be overcome by the installation of classroom management software which allows the tutor to view/lock/display the students’ screens from his/her machine.
- Depending on the distribution of the furniture in the PC lab (for example in rows) it can take more or less time for the teacher to move about the class and get to the students (sorting tables, chairs and cables).
A way to get around some problems in this space scenario might be that the teacher stands at the back of the class facing the computer screens – being able in this way to see what students are doing. Additionally, students need to have appropriate chairs (such as swivel chairs) to be able to rotate and face the teacher, and to turn around and work on their PCs.