Having made the decision to do away with the classical stand-alone computer lab, and having determined that laptop-based mobile labs were not a viable option, I began to look for ways to bring standard, desktop computers into the normal classroom. Clearly doing this would require some specialized equipment. It wouldn't be possible to outfit the standard classroom desk/chair combination unit with even the smallest desktop computer.
      I had seen labs in magazines with specialty tables that housed the computer under a glass top. This allowed the user to have a full desktop workspace and still have easy access to a computer. While this option looked appealing on the surface it quickly became apparent that there were some significant design flaws. Firstly the glass top was prone to glare, making it difficult to see the computer screen below it. The companies that sell these desks also offer partitions that can be placed on top of it to block out the glare, but they take up valuable desktop space and contribute to another problem with this desk design. With the computer placed below the desk, teacher supervision becomes almost impossible. Not only can the teacher not see what's on the computer screen, they can't really know if the computer is even powered on.
      That led me to two different pop-up style desks from two different companies. The first was the Evolution Flat Panel Desk from Spectrum Furniture and the second was the Flip Top series of desks from Electronic Classroom Furniture Systems. Both of these desks hide the computer under the desk when it's not in use, providing a full-sized desktop- more than twice the size of a typical student desk/chair combo. When the student needs access to a computer it simply pops up from inside the desk. These desks allow for better teacher supervision of computer use (you can't use the computer without it being obvious that you're using it) and eliminate the glare inherent in a glass-top desk.
      I asked each of these companies to provide a sample desk for our planning committee to inspect, and both were happy to do so. After almost of month of hands-on experimentation our teachers decided they liked the flip-top model from E.C.F.S. the best. They decided that it offers a cleaner line-of-sight than the Spectrum desk and it's flip-top compression hinge design is less likely to be abused by the students than the pneumatic push-button assembly of the Spectrum design. Both desks were superbly designed and solidly built. Both companies offer outstanding warranties and both were willing to tweak their designs to produce a custom model specifically for our installation. In the end, I think it really came down to the collective personal preferences of our staff.
      The architect firm that is handling the design and construction of our new campus provided a very nice scale drawing of what one of our 750-square-foot classrooms will look like with these desks installed. The rooms are designed to accommodate up to 32 student desks, and will be initially outfitted with 24 desks, with the understanding that we can pull desks from rooms with fewer than 24 students to put into rooms with more than 24 students. Each wall will have enough network and electrical connections to feed the rows of computers, and the desks will have built-in power and network extension channels. This should keep all of the wiring completely out of sight (and out of reach) and produce a clean, professional-looking classroom/lab setup. Preliminary estimates show that we should be able to install 16 of these technology-heavy classrooms, including the desks and the computers, for less than the construction cost of the five labs that were originally proposed.