“Design for Classroom Orchestration”, position paper Pierre Dillenbourg, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland Orchestration refers to how a teacher manages in real-time multi-layered activities in a multi-constraints context. Many pedagogical scenarios integrate individual activities (e.g. reading), teamwork (e.g. problem solving) and class-wide activities (e.g. lectures.). Some of these activities are computer-based, some not; some are face-to-face while others are on-line. This pedagogical integration is mirrored by the technical integration of different tools (simulations, quizzes, wikis, etc.) distributed over multiple artefacts (laptops, sensors, tablets) These integrated scenarios require forms of management referred to as orchestration. Orchestration originates in some frustration. Why are technologies under-exploited in the schools, despite the fact that, in Western countries, computers and Internet access are ubiquitous, teachers are computer literate, educational software is available, … ? This question – mostly sociological - is analyzed here from a technological viewpoint: is there something in the technology that prevents their usage? This paper addresses formal education 1 from an evolution hypothesis (technologies could incrementally improve school efficiency), not a revolution hypothesis (technologies could radically change schools). Is orchestration different from instructional design? Extrinsic activities Designing effective learning scenarios is and will remain a priority. However, classroom life is populated by activities that are not part of the scenario. There is a continuum of activities from those intrinsic to the scenario to activities extrinsic to learning. This continuum includes, from the center to the periphery: 1. Core activities (designed, adaptive): the activities of the scenario are pre-defined, with certain possibilities of adaptations performed by the system or by the teacher. Adapting the activities to the learner behavior students is the first layer of orchestration, but is not novel. What maybe novel is that orchestration relies on shallow learner modeling such as whether the student is active or attentive. Orchestration tools provide teachers with data that are simple enough for the teacher to cope with 20 or 30 of them (one per student). 2. Emergent Activities (designed but contingent): Some scenarios include activities whose contents are not predictable because they build upon what learners have produced in earlier phases of the scenario. Examples of ‘debriefing’ activities are presented hereafter. These activities have been designed, but require elaborating in real time from what is available. They are hence especially demanding from the orchestration viewpoint. 3. Envelope activities (non designed but necessary): Some classroom activities do not belong to the pedagogical design but to established school practices. For instance, students often have to copy what the teacher wrote on the blackboard. This time consuming activity answers to constraints (see hereafter) such as leaving a trace of learning activities for the learners or for the parents. Another example is the multiple tests. The fact that students reach once the objectives is not the end of the learning scenario. In schools, the same content is covered along multiple sessions, through summaries, homework, revision, synthesis and feedback sessions. 4. Extraneous events (non designed but unavoidable): A designed scenario bumps into many unexpected events: (i) A teamwork is designed with 3 complementary roles but one team member drops out the course at mid term (ii) During a guided discovery activities, the first kid who found the solution was so proud that he shouted it out loud for the whole class (iii) Sophie was sick last week and missed the first half of the kernel, (iv) A crane stops in front of the class window… Do technologies enable the teacher to adapt to these events in real time, hopefully in a positive way (use the crane to teach rotation). 5. Infra activities (non designed but necessary): Some activities are not a important parts of the scenario but are necessary to run it: finding the right document, or moving chairs and tables to set up teams. These logistic details may waste precious time, and if they fail they can spoil the best pedagogical design. If students spent 3 minutes for login, do the functionalities that require to log in compensate or the lost time? Learning technologies are designed intrinsic activities (1-2), how could they be design for with extrinsic ones? I do not suggest neglecting on intrinsic activities, but paying attention to the other ones. 1 I do neither address informal learning, nor virtual classrooms.