Electronic classroom

A large or small classroom filled with multimedia devices. The usual context is that of a lecture hall where the instructor has fingertip control of multimedia aids such as computer images, video tape images, videodisc images, audio, CD-ROM players, Internet connections, cameras that transfer images to large screens, etc. Some electronic classrooms have student response hardware such as response pads or even computer terminals. Usually, however, the electronic classroom is not viewed in the same context as a computer/multimedia lab or a language lab. In a lab setting the student usually works alone or in small teams in front of computers. In an electronic classroom, the instructor is usually focusing the attention of the entire class upon the same learning media. However, labs can be equipped with central screens so that combinations of instructor-focused materials can be combined with individual learning. Large lecture halls can also be equipped with students who combine large lectures with "studio classroom learning." See DeLoughry (1995a). (See also Studio classroom)