Teachers are using the Internet to take their students on virtual tours of Africa, Native American artifacts, and Colonial America, just to name a few. The Internet offers a tool that not only allows students and teachers to find meaningful text, but also offers the learner the experience of new sights and sounds. This year we already have experienced three major accomplishments. First, when students come into the lab, they no longer have to share the computer. Each student now has his or her own computer, which means we have little to no down time.
Students are fully engaged and on-task the maximum amount of time.
They are encouraged to move around the lab, share their work and ideas, and assist one another as needed. This allows the natural progression of students learning from their peers while maximizing the time spent on-task. These 40-minute periods were made available through carefully planned restructuring, and they allow classroom teachers or specialists to take their students to the lab for a thematically based lesson during otherwise unscheduled times. An open block allows classroom teachers or specialists to be in the lab on an as-needed basis while it maximizes the use of the lab. This newly implemented feature has become very popular, and now there are no unscheduled open blocks.