TECHNOLOGY CLASSROOMS often ignore many of the basic premise of good teaching. Effective classrooms are arranged so that students have unrestricted visual and auditory access to the teacher and the various media which the teacher uses to present their respective curriculum. Traditional computer labs often restrict the view of both the teacher and their chosen mode of presentation by arranging the furniture and actual computers in the line of sight of the learner. (see fig.1) Milam Aiken, faculty member at the University of Mississippi’s School of Business, suggests "recessed terminals and hidden main units, leaving the desktop clear." Aiken also adds: "Lighting is important. It should be easy to adjust." Most current technology presentation systems necessitate a variety of lighting schemes to be fully viewed by its audience. 

Computer ClassroomEven if the machines do not block the instructional focus area of the classroom for a student, the keyboard and monitor can be distraction to the eyes and hands of anyone in its close proximity. For that reason, it is important that a computer lab contain area free of computers. In this area, students can focus on instruction and collaborate on ideas for assignments and projects. (see fig. 2) Instruction in this configuration becomes more effective and efficient.

Brent Frey, Supervisor of Educational Technology in Pennsylvania's West Shore School District, suggests the layout of the lab is often "often constricted by the physical size or shape of the room". The placement of the equipment and furniture is often predetermined by the placement of the physical network or power supply. The size or shape of the room itself often determines the labs configuration. Most labs exist in older buildings where traditional classrooms were modified to support a collection of computers. These are situations where space and money require the lab designer to be creative in making the space a computer "classroom" which addresses the needs of the learner. It is in the new schools that are being built that the lab designer can embrace the new "classroom" approach to technology in the schools.

Finally, computer labs are becoming more individualized in their function as part of a school. Many schools are creating labs to meet the needs of very specific areas of knowledge. Frey states that

The curriculum and course content dictates the lab design. For example, if you are teaching just keyboarding then the lab should probably be set up with all computers facing forward in rows (traditional). In a lab designed for collaboration, the use of hex or round tables with work space or planning areas in the center of the room may work best.

The designer must assure student access to information by arranging the room and its contents in a relationship with the instructor that allows learner to acquire information and use technology to process that information meaningfully.

Peter Ryan Dougherty, SDSU Graduate Student
Hoffman, B. (2003). Lab design and learning. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology.