short video about the Zone - 21st century learning in practice
“Don’t imagine SCIL as a division within a bigger organization – imagine SCIL as the creative spirit, the philosophy, the leading vision of this entire school.”
Can you create 21st century learning spaces in existing awkward spaces?
Challenge: convert the smallest older style “classroom” in the school into one of the most desirable learning spaces by just re-considering the furniture
Outcome: it works! students and staff have given it the big “thumbs up” - it is possible to convert old space into a configuration suited to 21st century learning modalities, without having to re-build. The learning space can cater for ‘campfire’, ‘watering hole’ and ‘cave’ - and have a larger ‘empty’ zone all in a compact area.
(The new chairs - ‘the Scofa’ - ‘looks like a lounge, acts like a chair’ - perfect for changing student’s perception of a “classroom” into something “just like home - I can work here”.)
The SCIL building – some reflections
/When creating a new multimodal, multimedia ‘library’, our best decision was not in creating an iconic and distinctive building, but to realistically appraise the ‘book situation’ and decide to create two satellite mini-libraries for K-6 and send about 90% of the Years 7-12 collection to the classrooms. There the books are used. In a library they sit in shelves not borrowed.
This in turn creating an amazing opportunity – to take a flexible open space and turn it into a true playground for learning. The result – our SCIL Building with its interwoven learning spaces led by pedagogy, not technology. The space itself can shape the learning pathway and help teachers make the jump to the 21st century context. And the kids love it!
