In tomorrow's classrooms, students no longer need to face a podium, teacher's desk or writing board.

Learning stations are distributed along walls, in island clusters or in zigzag patterns. For small study groups,

workspaces are triangular rather than square. Rooms are wheelchair friendly with wide, unobstructed passageways

and low handles and switches.

This futuristic classroom resembles a television studio with two monitors, three cameras and related

equipment. One of the monitors displays presentation broadcast within the school building, while the other displays

students and teachers at other locations – anywhere in the world. The television cameras are directed at

students and the teacher, or focus on visual aids used in teacher presentations. Bright overhead spotlights enhance

the quality of video transmission.

Flush mounted microphones on student desks assure that everyone can hear and be heard. Materials used

for walls, ceilings and floors are especially chosen to optimize voice clarity. Echoing linoleum hallways are

outdated.

In the school of the future, there are no computer labs with rows of monitors and miles of tangled cables.

Electrical outlets and communication ports are strategically located throughout the building. Wide conduits inside

walls and beneath floors accommodate wires and cables.

More than ever, school design is modular. Rooms are added to, divided and reconfigured as the curriculum

changes and technologies evolve. Portable carts allow computers to move freely throughout the building. Movable

partitions permit teachers to shift from small to large group activities. Moreover, since furniture design is

standardized, workstations may be moved and reassembled anywhere in the building.

No one knows what the future will bring. New technologies and revised theories of teaching could make

the best-laid plans obsolete. Nevertheless, interesting innovations are already making their way into classrooms

being built today.

Active Vocabulary

1) familiar – обычный, знакомый

2) semicircle – полукруг

3) to vary – изменяться

4) equipment – оборудование

5) impractical – непрактичный

6) foreign – незнакомый, чужой, иностранный

7) possibility – возможность

8) overcrowding – переполнение, большое скопление людей

9) facilities – удобства, приспособления

10) application – применение

11) cluster – группа, скопление

12) passageway – проход, коридор

13) visual aids – наглядные пособия

14) to enhance – увеличивать, усиливать

15) transmission – передача данных, транслирование

16) to mount – устанавливать, монтировать

17) outdated – устаревший

18) to tangle – запутывать, перепутывать

19) outlet – выходное отверстие

20) conduit – изоляционная трубка

Exercises on the Text

Arrange the sentences in the right order

1. of / to / today / the / seem / tomorrow / will / schools / foreign / us

2. important / for / learning / appear / good / student / an / facilities / precondition / to / be

3. than / groups / are / for / triangular / small / spaces / rather / study / square / work

4. walls / cables / wide / floors / inside / and / wires / conduits / beneath / accommodate / and

5. future / knows / bring / no / wait / one / the / will

Translate the following word combinations from Russian into English

1. казаться незнакомым

2. хорошее оборудование

3. телевизионная студия

4. улучшить качество

5. мобильные компьютерные столы

Decide whether the following statements are true or false

1. In a futuristic classroom students will have to face their teacher’s desk all the time.

2. Learning stations are distributed along walls, in island clusters or in zigzag patterns.

3. Work spaces are square for small study groups.

4. Rooms are wheelchair friendly with narrow, obstructed halls and high handles and switches.

5. A classroom of tomorrow will resemble a television studio.