School Furniture Blog

Yahoo Inc. is developing a free online service designed to make it easier for educators to create, find and share lesson plans, worksheets and ideas. The product, Yahoo for Teachers, is a sort of social network that allows teachers to collaborate on course work and store information that they find online and want to showcase in class. The service, which has been quietly tested by teachers for several months, is expected to premiere in autumn.

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For Yahoo, focusing on teachers is a departure from its usual mass-market business strategy and may signal a new willingness to cater to more-specialized users. Doing so may be intended to make the company’s services more indispensable, particularly in social networking, a rapidly growing business dominated by Facebook and MySpace.

Teachers have long complained about a lack of time to prepare for class and of the difficulty in collaborating with colleagues, even those just down the hall. Curriculum requirements that vary by state have also complicated the issue. Yahoo started work on the service last year after inviting a group of teachers, librarians and media specialists to spend a week brainstorming at its Sunnyvale headquarters. After a year of working on the product, the company gave educators a sneak peek this year at the National Science Teachers Association conference in St. Louis.

Yahoo for Teachers will be accessible from teachers.yahoo.com, which features a brief description of the service, video tour and announcement that the site will soon be open to the public. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment other than to confirm that the product is being developed.

The service allows teachers to create and store lesson plans, worksheets and projects online rather than preparing class materials using a Word document, for example. Teachers can also search lesson plans posted by others and leave comments. Queries can be narrowed by grade, subject and state, such as fourth-grade science teachers in California. Material that earns the most points by being viewed the most often will get top placement in the results.

Drag and drop To save material found on the Web, teachers can use what is called a gobbler, a feature that allows them to drag and drop text or images into an online portfolio rather than having to cut and paste the material. The gobbler may be expanded to other Yahoo products, according to a comment posted by Bradley Horowitz, a Yahoo vice president, on the blog of another Yahoo manager. continue reading

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With classroom Internet access nearly universal in public schools and computers ubiquitous on every school and university campus, classroom furnishings have evolved to accommodate the machines so students can take full advantage of the technology.

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The desks, tables and other furniture that a school chooses for its computers will depend on the types of machines being used, but the key features most sought after are comfort, mobility and flexibility.

Comfy chairs

For computer users who expect to spend extended amounts of time in front of a monitor, having comfortable seating that wards off fatigue or injury is crucial.

Ergonomics is important for all classroom furniture, but especially for pieces that will be involved with technology. Concerns about users’ posture and the repetitive nature of many computer tasks make ergonomics a critical feature for chairs, desks and other furniture.

The key elements of proper ergonomic design include having the top of the computer monitor at eye level and having the keyboard positioned so that a user’s shoulders can relax and arms can rest at his or her sides. When using a keyboard, a person’s forearms should be parallel to the floor, and elbows should be at about a 90-degree angle (see sidebar, p. 30).

If tables or benches are used, have enough space for students to work side by side without interference.

Making adjustments

In a computer lab, a school might have to accommodate students of differing ages and sizes, so having furniture that is flexible and adjustable is paramount.

Having tables, chairs and keyboard trays whose height can be adjusted enables students to find the level that matches their size and provides the greatest comfort.

Whether computers are on desks, tables or workstations, schools need to have a way to manage the tangle of wires that connect components to each other, to networks and to power sources. With trays and compartments built in to desks, tables and workstations, schools can conceal all of the wires necessary to make classroom technology function.

The wires still should be accessible to accommodate technical workers that need to repair or upgrade systems.

For many schools and universities, a better solution is to eliminate the need for managing wires by eliminating the wires.

Unfettered access

As wireless connections to the Internet, as well as laptop machines, become more commonplace and affordable, schools may find that they no longer need to acquire as many pieces of furniture dedicated to desktop computer workstations.

When schools first began incorporating computers into learning spaces, they often installed a handful of bulky desktop machines along the perimeter of an existing classroom. In most cases, the educational benefits of technology more than compensated for the space crunch created by the machines and the accompanying furniture.

The trend toward flat-screen monitors has reduced the footprint required for desktop computers, but converting to wireless laptops frees up even more space. Wireless technology and the improved quality of laptops enable schools to tap into the benefits of technology just as easily, if not more so, than they can with desktop computers, without having to surrender valuable square footage in a classroom.

The National Center for Education Statistics estimated that in 2005, 15 percent of public school classrooms had wireless Internet connections.

In some of those schools, sets of laptops are available to travel from classroom to classroom and make wireless connections to the Internet. Students feel more at ease remaining in their own classrooms, and a traveling caravan of laptops can free up a classroom that otherwise would be set up as a computer lab.

For administrators selecting furniture, the growing prevalence of school laptops means shifting from computer workstations used to accommodate desktop machines, and looking at easy-to-maneuver mobile carts that can hold and transport a classroom set of laptops throughout a school.

The carts come in various sizes to accommodate different numbers of machines, have electrical plugs to connect to power sources and keep the laptops charged, and typically come with security features to deter theft or vandalism. And, of course, they’re on wheels.

Hot tip

One negative aspect of laptop computers is the heat they generate. When the machines are used the way their name suggests — on one’s lap — the heat can be uncomfortable or even injurious to a user.

"The heat from some laptops can be enough to cause superficial skin burns, even through clothing," says the Cornell University Ergonomics Web.

To counteract the potential harm from laptop heat, manufacturers offer trays, lapdesks, cushions and pads that can protect students and their thighs.

Kennedy, staff writer, can be reached at mkennedy@asumag.com.

Computing posture

Sit. It might be a simple command to give to a dog, but when it’s applied to students of all shapes and sizes using computers or other technology, how they sit, where they sit and what they are sitting on can become a complicated set of choices that can affect students’ health and academic performance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compiled recommendations regarding the ergonomics of computer workstations that shows the amalgamation of options school administrators must be aware of as they select the furniture in their learning spaces.

"Contrary to popular belief, sitting, which most people believe is relaxing, is hard on the back," the CDC says. "Sitting for long periods of time can cause increased pressure on the intervertebral discs. … Sitting is also hard on the feet and legs."

The CDC has the following advice about furniture used with computers:

• The chair back should have a lumbar support. The user should be able to adjust the height of the backrest to support the natural inward curve of the lower back. It may be useful to use a rolled towel, lumbar roll or cushion to support the lower back.
• The trunk and upper legs should form an angle between 90 to 115 degrees. The height of the chair should allow users to rest their feet flat on the floor. Adjust the seat so that thighs are parallel to the floor and knees at about the same level as the hips.
• The back of users’ knees should not come in direct contact with the edge of the seat pan. There should be 2 to 4 inches between the edge of the seat and the back of the knee.
• The height and width of armrests should be adjustable so they allow users to rest arms at their sides and relax or drop their shoulders while keyboarding.

Use a footrest when furniture adjustments fail to keep the user’s feet on the ground.

Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Mike Kennedy

It’s often said — and statistics back it up — that the campuses of the nation’s schools and universities are typically the safest places in a community. But the trying 2006-07 school year confirmed the need for those tasked with security at education institutions to remain constantly vigilant to protect students, staff and visitors from harm.

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A disturbed intruder unleashes deadly violence on unsuspecting students in a quiet Amish schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania. An unbalanced college student on a bustling campus in Virginia cuts down fellow students and instructors in a grim fusillade of gunfire. Education administrators and security personnel don’t have to look far to see painfully graphic evidence that violence can come at any time from any direction.
It is impossible for schools and universities to eliminate violence or dangers; neither can communities at large. But they can—and must—absorb lessons from the tragedies that have befallen other campuses as they incorporate new strategies and tools to make their facilities and grounds safe environments for learning and living.

Virginia Tech
On April 16, heavily armed student Seung-Hui Cho decided to release his pent-up rage by opening fire on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. Cho killed 32 people and injured another 24 before taking his own life. It was the most deadly shooting in U.S. history. While thousands of students, faculty and staff mourned the devastating loss, investigators began to look almost immediately at security procedures to determine what happened and what steps should be taken to prevent similar incidents.
Attention has focused on the adequacy of the mental-health resources available to students who need counseling or other intervention. In a presentation to the Virginia Tech Review Panel convened by Va. Gov. Tim Kaine, Jerald Kay, a professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on College Mental Health, said that depression and suicidal behavior have become more common among college students.
The Virginia Tech tragedy prompted government officials and administrators responsible for safety at the thousands of schools across the country to review their security arrangements to see if the tragedy suggested any flaws that needed correcting.
In the days that followed, President Bush directed three federal departments—Health and Human Services, Education and Justice—to suggest ways the federal government could help schools and state and local communities address security concerns.

Report to the president
The agencies delivered their report to the president in June, citing five key findings:
• Education officials, healthcare providers, law-enforcement personnel and others are not fully informed about when they are allowed to share information on people who may be a danger to themselves and others. "We repeatedly heard reports of ‘information silos’ within educational institutions and among educational staff, mental-health providers and public-safety officials that impede appropriate information sharing," the report says. The report urges state and local governments and agencies to collaborate more effectively and to provide accurate information to ensure that family members, educational administrators, mental-health providers and other appropriate persons understand when and how they can share and receive information about mental illness. It also recommends that the Education and Health and Human Services departments clarify how a patient’s private information can be shared legally under the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Those departments should look at "whether further actions are needed to balance more appropriately the interests of safety, privacy and treatment implicated by FERPA and HIPAA."
• Accurate and complete information on individuals prohibited from possessing firearms is essential. State laws and practices do not uniformly ensure that information on persons restricted from having firearms is appropriately captured. Reports after the Virginia Tech shootings indicated that Cho would not have been able to purchase the firearms he used in the massacre if his mental-health status had been revealed in background checks. Only 23 states provide any information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) on persons disqualified from possessing firearms under federal law for reasons related to mental health, the report found. "For the NICS to be maximally effective in keeping firearms out of the hands of persons prohibited by federal law, including those prohibited by virtue of reportable and qualifying mental health history, all states need to understand the full scope of the existing federal laws and submit, or make accessible, appropriate information to the NICS," the report states.
• Parents, students and teachers need to learn to recognize warning signs and encourage those who need help to seek it. Schools and universities should work to "develop cultures within schools and institutions of higher education that promote safety, trust, respect and open communication," the report says. "[They should] create environments conducive to seeking help and de-stigmatize mental illness and mental health treatment."
• It is critical to get people with mental illness the help they need. Meeting the challenge of adequate and appropriate community integration of people having mental illness requires effective coordination of community service providers who are sensitive to the interests of safety, privacy and provision of care. State and local agencies should "evaluate state and local community mental-health systems to ensure their adequacy in providing a full array and continuum of services, including mental health services for students."
• For the many states and communities that have already adopted programs to address school and community violence, the challenge is putting these programs fully into place through practice and effective communication. The report recommends that state and local agencies communicate emergency management plans to all school officials, school service workers, parents, students and first responders. Schools and local agencies should have a clear communication plan and tools to communicate rapidly with students and parents to alert them when an emergency occurs. It also says the Department of Education should make sure that the information and guidance it supplies regarding emergency management planning is pertinent to the needs of institutions of higher education.

Other threats
The focus on school security in the last few months is understandably centered on what happened at Virginia Tech and how to prepare and respond more effectively to such incidents. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11th attacks and anthrax scares, schools and universities directed greater attention to preventing and deterring acts of terrorism. After flooding from Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the Gulf Coast, education institutions reviewed what they could do to improve their response to such natural catastrophes. The killing of five Amish girls at a Pennsylvania school last fall prompted officials to focus on how schools could better guard against an intruder coming onto campus. The next time violence or traged
y strikes a school or university, it might raise issues administrators have not anticipated.
That’s why education institutions should take advantage of all the resources and strategies available to them. For instance, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, responding to the Virginia Tech carnage, has urged schools to consider several steps when dealing with a potential threat:
• Increase physical checks of critical facilities during periods of increased alert.
• Establish a single point-of-access for each critical facility and institute 100 percent identification checks.
• Increase administrative inspections of persons and their possessions entering critical facilities.
• Assess the adequacy of video monitoring.
• Assess the adequacy of physical barriers outside sensitive buildings and the proximity of parking.
• Ensure the adequacy of emergency alert and communication systems for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The federal government and other agencies and organizations have completed numerous studies and reports (see sidebar) that can help schools and universities address the numerous issues that make up an effective approach to security. 
For schools and universities that are looking for guidance and recommendations about improving security and having effective emergency preparedness plans in place, a multitude of online resources are available:

Reports
• American Association of State Colleges and Universities, "Addressing the Challenge of Campus Security" (http://www.aascu.org/policy/special_report/campus_security.htm).
• "Keeping North Carolina Schools Safe and Secure," (http://www.governor.state.nc.us/news/pressreleases/Attachments/SchoolReport_Nov15Web_2.pdf).
• National Center for Education Statistics, "Crime, Violence, Discipline and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2003-04" (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007302rev).
• National Center for Education Statistics Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities, "Providing a Safe Environment for Learning" (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/maintenance/chapter4_3.asp).
• U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, "Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2006" (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007003.pdf).
• U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, November 2006 one-hour webcast on school safety and emergency management (http://www.connectlive.com/events/edschoolsafety/).
• U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing, National Summit on Campus Public Safety, "Strategies for Colleges and Universities in a Homeland Security Environment" (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/NationalSummitonCampusPublicSafety.pdf).
• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe And Drug-Free Schools, "Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide For Schools And Communities" (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/crisisplanning.pdf).
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, "Campus Public Safety Preparedness For Catastrophic Events: Lessons Learned From Hurricanes And Explosives" (http://www.iaclea.org/visitors/PDFs/LessonsLearnedReportFinal.pdf).
• U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services, "Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy" (http://www.hhs.gov/vtreport.pdf).
• U.S. Government Accountability Office, "Emergency Management: Most School Districts Have Developed Emergency Management Plans, but Would Benefit from Additional Federal Guidance" (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07609.pdf).
• U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Education Department, "The Final Report And Findings of The Safe School Initiative: Implications For The Prevention of School Attacks in The United States" (http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf).
• U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Education Department, "Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide To Managing Threatening Situations And To Creating Safe School Climates" (http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/ntac/ssi_guide.pdf).
Security-related websites:
• Access Control and Security Systems, security in education articles and resources, (http://securitysolutions.com/education/).
• American School & University, Security Resource Center (http://asumag.com/security).
• California Department of Education Office of Safe Schools (http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/).
• Center for the Prevention of School Violence (http://www.juvjus.state.nc.us/cpsv/).
• Center for Safe Schools, Pennsylvania (http://www.safeschools.info/?refpage=/index.html).
• Center for School Safety, School Climate and Classroom Management, Georgia State University (http://education.gsu.edu/schoolsafety/).
• Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado (http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/).
• Florida Gubernatorial Task Force for University Campus Safety" (http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/campusSecurity/).
• Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence, (http://www.hamfish.org/).
• Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, University of Oregon (http://www.uoregon.edu/~ivdb/).
• International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Officers (http://www.iaclea.org).
• Keep Schools Safe (http://www.keepschoolssafe.org/).
• National Alliance for Safe Schools (http://www.safeschools.org/).
• National Association of College and University Business Officers, Emergency Preparedness and Recovery Resources (http://www.nacubo.org/x2748.xml).
• National Association of School Resource Officers (http://www.nasro.org).
• National Education Association, School Safety Resources (http://www.nea.org/schoolsafety/nearesources-schoolsafety.html).
• National School Safety Center (http://www.schoolsafety.us/).
• Nebraska School Safety Center (http://www.nde.state.ne.us/Safety/index.html).
• School Violence Resource Center (http://www.svrc.net/default.htm).
• Security on Campus (http://www.securityoncampus.org/).
• The Safetyzone, a clearinghouse for school safety information (http://www.safetyzone.org/).
• U.S. Department of Education "Campus Public Safety: Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Protective Measures" (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/campussafe.html).
• U.S. Department of Education, Campus Security (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/campus.html).
• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, "Campus Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool Website" (http://ope.ed.gov/security/).
• U.S. Department of Education, Emergency Planning (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/index.html).
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Police Services, "National Summit on Campus Public Safety" (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/NationalSummitonCampusPublic
Safety.pdf).
• Virginia Tech Review Panel (http://www.vtreviewpanel.org/).

Jul 19, 2007 3:59 PM, By Mike Kennedy