HIT: Computer Lab in LMC - With or Without Walls? PART III

[Cheryl Townsley <townsley@tenet.edu>]

Dear LM-NET,
     This is the last of the replies; I will be glad to update this hit
if I receive more information.  Thank you so much for taking the time to
answer, I really appreciate it.

We are about to remodel our high school library.  We are scheduled to
get a computer research lab with about 30 computers.

What is the groups opinion on:
     a) Libraries with labs and no walls (30 computers)
     b) Libraries with labs and walls to separate the lab from the
        rest of the library.

Cheryl, we've had a lab in our MC for two years.  It shares one wall
with my office.  That wall is 1/2 glass.  The other interior wall has
shelving on the other side.  2 lab walls are exterior walls, one with an
emergency exit. I would HIGHLY recommend separating the lab with walls.
Our lab is not primarily used for research, but for a wide variety of
things.  Students are only permitted to use the lab when taken in by a
classroom teacher.
Because of heat problems, we frequently have to leave the door into the
MC open, and find that even with the most well-behaved classes, teacher
instruction is disruptive to students working in the MC.  We close the
door whenever possible.
The glass wall enables me to see all the monitors and frequently I see a
problem that a teacher may miss because their attention is drawn
elsewhere.  It also (alas!) allows teachers to more easily get my
attention when they need help.
A drawback we've found to the wall is the heat problem I mentioned
earlier.  The MC heating/cooling system was designed for a large, open
area and isn't as efficient now that the wall is in place.  (It was
added before the lab was installed.)

a) Libraries with labs and no walls (30 computers)
We have this situation in a library w/o walls and classrooms w/o walls.
It works well. The computers become  part of the regular information
flow.  In an elementary school, most of the programs have sound, so it
does get loud.  I doubt that it would at a secondary school.

First of all please post a hit when you get your answers.  I am
also interested, because we are looking at building a new library.  My
problem with computers in the library instead of in another room is I
have some teachers that have no control over their kids.  The kids are
noisy and very disruptive, I fear for the computers and my materials.
Also if computers are in the library, some teachers would just drop them
off on their way to the workroom (I'm a one man show).  Even with glass
seperating the lab from the library, you still have kids sticking their
noses up against the windows.  MD/SR. High School

We're are a junior high and started out life with partial (office
cubicle) walls separating the MacLab of about 25 computers from the rest
of the library.  This was  1)very noisy, 2)even though walls were
partial, it got very warm, 3)but it was fairly easy to supervise,
although it meant a lot of travel to all corners of the library and back
to supervise.  Now, we have a temporary setting in (first) a normal
classroom and now in the staff room, with 1/4 of our books, 15
computers.  This is EASY to supervise, because it is so small, but not
very effective.  We are under renovation. When we return to the library,
we will have a separate MacLab room, which is the "leg" of a "T" and
will have doors and windows into the rest of the library.  As I see it,
it will be very difficult to supervise (I am the only staff person
serving here), the windows, will, at least, tell me that someone has
entered the room.  (It has its own outside entry.)  I will have to
recruit parents to help whenever and wherever, unless they can find
money to fund another person.  Fortunately, here in Silicon Valley, a
lot of parents feel comfortable around computers and in libraries.
That's my opinion.  In a month, I should be moved or moving back, then,
we'll see.

WALLS NO!I have a 1,500 sq. foot room with 17 computers in "pods" at the
center of the room.  The shelves of books are back against the 4 walls.
This is great for watching student activity.  When they sit at the
computers I can see over them clear to the other side of the room.
I understand that MANY people prefer a computer setup where all the
screens can be seen...basically  the computers are placed around the
walls.  In a computer lab situation, that is probably best.  I prefer to
see the STUDENTS and let NetNanny care for the screens.  My shelving is
5 feet tall, so it MUST be against the walls.
Please let me know what you find out.  Our brand-new superintendent was
in here and thought we might take 1/4 of the room for "long-distance
learning" and just whip up a clear plexiglass divider.
In my opinion this is the WORST option.  We have a room that has been
divided like this for 30 years...everyone complains about it.  If one
teacher is responisble, they can't HEAR or even get into the other area
fast enough to be effective.  If a teacher WANTS clear separation, (2
classes simultaneously) then the visual distractions are ANNOYING!

YES! you need walls around each lab--full walls with windows.  Walls
will help cut down on the noise created by the computers and or students
in the labs. If you have half windowed walls, you have easy visual
access to monitor what is going on in each lab.
I have a lab of 18 machines, which will be increased in size and number
of machines over the summer.  It is walled off from the library, however
half of the wall are windows.  This lab is used at times as a classroom,
as I assume yours would also be. Again, think of the noise level.  We
have three other computer labs in the building that are used for
classroom instruction.  The primary purpose of my lab is to allow
students computer access during their free time so they can produce
reports, do research and work on projects--however, if a teacher wants
to instruct a class on a particular program, they can reserve the room
for that purpose. You also need a person in each lab at all times.  This
person needs to be able to trouble shoot and help kids with programs and
simple things like load the printers.  Just having a person there will
help cut down on nonsense and vandalism.  I understand that after my lab
becomes a full sized lab, I will have a teacher assistant who will man
the lab. I feel this is a necessity and have been requesting such a
person since the lab was placed in the library several years ago.  We
supervise the best we can, but....
Hope this helps.  I cannot stress enough, if you have a choice between
walls (with windows) or no walls, take the walls.  Don't think you would
be sorry.

Thank you again.

Cheryl Townsley
Librarian
L. D. Bell High School
Hurst, TX

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