Media at the Alfred Wegener Schule

Until now we worked out theoretically how new media can be integrated in teaching and to observe how new media is actually used at school we visited a school. Luckily, this was the Alfred-Wegener-Schule Kirchhain which is awarded as the Media School of the Month (January 2009).

There Mr. Schouler, an informatics and English teacher, showed us the media rooms. The first was a classical computer lab with roughly 30 computers which were placed on tables all next to each other in front of the windows. In the middle of the room there was also a row of tables with computers. So, this lab did not give us a comprehensible reason for the school’s media award.

Going to the next room we found an absolutely satisfactory and modern design. The “Lernwerkstatt” has an open learning atmosphere: upstairs are three or four computers and a printer, downstairs at the entrance there is a library. The most interesting parts of the room are the three group discussion cabins. In there the students can elaborate their research results they have found on the internet or in the books from the library. Surprisingly, the students are silent although there are three different working areas in one room and enough facilities to have a conversation. In fact, everyone who attends the Lernwerkstatt feels the force to behave considerately and tries to be as silent as possible. This is the effect of a big room without closed walls. Therefore, I would love to work there and enjoy the modern and successful idea of the Lernwerkstatt ´s architecture.

The third and last computer lab we have seen is the “Oberstufenbücherei” which also seems to be helpful for learning. The seating arrangement is designed for group work, on their three small “islands” the students can work on the PCs and then they come together for discussions at the “plenum table”. The aim is to avoid ex-cathedra teaching. Upper school students should be warned not to disregard books for research and should not only use the  information on the internet. To support this, in this computer lab there is also a library. As the students are old enough to be responsible they are allowed to come and work here independent from their school lessons and teachers. And I have to mention that the Alfred-Wegener-Schule has a smart board which they plan to assemble in this room.

Even only the architecture of media labs is very important to use the effects of new media at school to full capacity. We could not focus on this aspect in our seminar and that is why I chose this topic for my blog entry about our field trip to Kirchhain. But the new experiences we gained is not limited with this, for more (general) information you can check out our group blog  Field Trip- Answers. Also, I would recommend you other informative entries which have included photos of the media labs I have described e.g.  Our visit to the Alfred-Wegener-Schule (AWS).

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