The factory classroom is dead: long live the learning community
/Northern Beaches Christian School (twitter @SCIL) is moving into the future by re-conceptualising learning spaces.
- What if schools were no longer organised around separation, but collaboration?
- What if space became flexible and there were no longer 50 classrooms to allocate, rather 100 spaces from which to choose?
- What if inquiry-based collaborative learning became the predominant paradigm?
- What if students were empowered to learn?
- What if school was not only deeply engaging, but fun as well?
5 practical ways to convert a traditional classroom into a flexible 21st century learning space
/1. Remove traditional furniture including all rectangular / square desks and associated chairs
2. Remove any whiteboard that suggests one ‘teaching’ location
3. Introduce ‘IDEA Paint’ on to as many surfaces as possible so that students and teachers can write in multiple places at the one time
4. Choose furniture that allows students to feel ‘at home’
5. Use mobile personal digital devices in a wireless environment
