Teachers could do better: if only they had access to the right classroom furniture.

Research undertaken by Bretford and further to research carried out in 2004 by the British Education Communication and Technology Agency (Becta) which found that teachers can maximise the impact of ICT resources by ensuring that they organise their classrooms in a specific way.

The Becta report showed that, with a greater emphasis on whole-class or small group work and by locating computers in classroom clusters and ICT suites, teaching and learning rates increased significantly.

Furthermore, Ofsted found that teachers are more likely to use ICT as part of their teaching when ICT suites are complemented by clusters of computers (Ofsted 2004).

Unfortunately little has changed since then.  Further research by Becta between April 2007 and March 2008 found that the design and visual appearance of ICT classrooms were still not fit for purpose in many schools.

There is often a level of disbelief among teachers that tiny changes of this nature can dramatically affect the way in which teaching and learning progress in the classroom.  “This is the issue we are addressing,” said Colin Craythorne of Bretford.   “The earlier research has been done, but nothing has happened, so we have now introduced a range of furniture which will allow teachers to implement these discoveries, which will otherwise simply be left on the shelf.”

A specific solution to this is pod Desking.  These desks offer a number of mobile ICT solutions that allow a room to be transformed from an ordinary classroom to an ICT suite in minutes.  The design of the desks is aimed at furnishing an ideal group learning environment, whilst also providing the necessary privacy for individual working.

As security is a concern within schools, some of the pod  Desk models offer a locking storage area for up to 16 laptops. The desks can be used in any room and require only a single network point and mains socket.