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Classroom Design Evolves to Address Active Learning
February 27, 2020
Part 2: Focus on Education
The Channelnomics Staff
Education in the classroom is no longer a spectator sport. The days of the teacher pacing back and forth at the front of the room pointing at a blackboard and throwing out information, with students sitting in rows of forward-facing desks passively taking in that information, are dwindling. Students are increasingly taking an active role in the learning process – discussing subjects, peer reviewing, practicing what they’ve learned, solving problems, and collaborating in groups to explore new concepts.
Active learning – essentially the ability to engage with the information that’s being taught – leads to students performing better. They can more easily retain and remember the information and can better process that information than in passive, lecture-focused classrooms. And the trend toward active learning is transforming not only how students learn and instructors teach but also the learning environment itself – how classrooms are configured and the furniture and other resources within them are used.
Active learning really began in the elementary and secondary school levels but is now making its way into colleges and universities. EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit that advocates using IT to improve higher education, wrote in its 2019 report that 73% of universities are either planning or implementing active learning classrooms in 2020.
Texas A&M University is a good example. The university built a new 525,000-square-foot building for its engineering program and opted for larger active-learning classrooms rather than traditional classrooms and lecture halls. Eight of the classrooms can handle up to 100 students each; 14 others hold up to 48 students.
Steelcase, a furniture company that’s been at the forefront of workspace design and technology, came in and helped set up those classrooms with equipment and furniture that fully integrates the required technology. That included working with Texas A&M and TreanorHL, the architecture and design firm for the school’s Zachry Engineering Education Complex, to develop a classroom table that would facilitate active learning, enabling students to face each other and collaborate in groups.
The table needed to be mobile. It also needed to offer access to power outlets and include a 32-inch flat-screen monitor that could automatically lift when needed. It had to feature an attractive design, be durable, and offer a future-proof design. In addition, it had to be big enough to accommodate students who carry at least three to four devices each. Network connectivity would enable the students to collaborate online with people outside the classroom.
Steelcase was able to gather insights from the Texas A&M project to help inform an ongoing study by the company of active learning at all educational levels and create new offerings for its Verb portfolio of classroom furniture. That includes the Verb Active Media Table, which meets the requirements of Texas A&M’s active learning classrooms and includes other valuable features, such as analog whiteboard integration and storage, quick-release monitor mounts, and an integrated wire manager.
Active learning is only one of the ways that Steelcase WorkSpace Futures – an internal group of researchers, strategists, and futurists – is seeing technology change education. Other trends:
Mobility: Students at almost every level are carrying at least a smartphone and a laptop with them, if not a tablet and wearable devices as well. They’ve become foundational to their lifestyles and how they want to learn. They want to get educational content on their phones, and many of these devices have software that enables mobile collaboration. As classrooms evolve to address the changing demands brought on by mobile devices, they need to include a number of things, including accommodations for more personalized learning, support for both virtual and face-to-face interactions, and power outlets for student devices.
Blended learning: With mobile devices and the Internet, learning is now happening both online and inside the buildings. An example is the flipped classroom, where homework assignments involve going online to access information and class time is used to apply that information. Like active learning, blended environments do away with teachers as front-of-class lecturers, placing an emphasis on facilitated learning, collaborative activities, and open space.
Massive open online courses (MOOCs): These are becoming wildly popular as a way to take classes that can’t be accessed in person because of distance, time, cost, or some other reason. Many colleges and universities, however, are looking for ways to improve student-teacher interaction. Examples include social networking portals based on geographical proximity and blending the MOOC online experience with in-person meetings between students and teachers.
Ultimately, the way students learn is changing, and Steelcase’s research is showing that classrooms increasingly are becoming places where knowledge is created rather than simply consumed. The best learning spaces are those that innovatively bring people and technology together.
Stay tuned for part 3 in our three-part series on vertical market workspace trends.
Active learning – essentially the ability to engage with the information that’s being taught – leads to students performing better. They can more easily retain and remember the information and can better process that information than in passive, lecture-focused classrooms. And the trend toward active learning is transforming not only how students learn and instructors teach but also the learning environment itself – how classrooms are configured and the furniture and other resources within them are used.
Active learning really began in the elementary and secondary school levels but is now making its way into colleges and universities. EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit that advocates using IT to improve higher education, wrote in its 2019 report that 73% of universities are either planning or implementing active learning classrooms in 2020.
Texas A&M University is a good example. The university built a new 525,000-square-foot building for its engineering program and opted for larger active-learning classrooms rather than traditional classrooms and lecture halls. Eight of the classrooms can handle up to 100 students each; 14 others hold up to 48 students.
Steelcase, a furniture company that’s been at the forefront of workspace design and technology, came in and helped set up those classrooms with equipment and furniture that fully integrates the required technology. That included working with Texas A&M and TreanorHL, the architecture and design firm for the school’s Zachry Engineering Education Complex, to develop a classroom table that would facilitate active learning, enabling students to face each other and collaborate in groups.
The table needed to be mobile. It also needed to offer access to power outlets and include a 32-inch flat-screen monitor that could automatically lift when needed. It had to feature an attractive design, be durable, and offer a future-proof design. In addition, it had to be big enough to accommodate students who carry at least three to four devices each. Network connectivity would enable the students to collaborate online with people outside the classroom.
Steelcase was able to gather insights from the Texas A&M project to help inform an ongoing study by the company of active learning at all educational levels and create new offerings for its Verb portfolio of classroom furniture. That includes the Verb Active Media Table, which meets the requirements of Texas A&M’s active learning classrooms and includes other valuable features, such as analog whiteboard integration and storage, quick-release monitor mounts, and an integrated wire manager.
Active learning is only one of the ways that Steelcase WorkSpace Futures – an internal group of researchers, strategists, and futurists – is seeing technology change education. Other trends:
Mobility: Students at almost every level are carrying at least a smartphone and a laptop with them, if not a tablet and wearable devices as well. They’ve become foundational to their lifestyles and how they want to learn. They want to get educational content on their phones, and many of these devices have software that enables mobile collaboration. As classrooms evolve to address the changing demands brought on by mobile devices, they need to include a number of things, including accommodations for more personalized learning, support for both virtual and face-to-face interactions, and power outlets for student devices.
Blended learning: With mobile devices and the Internet, learning is now happening both online and inside the buildings. An example is the flipped classroom, where homework assignments involve going online to access information and class time is used to apply that information. Like active learning, blended environments do away with teachers as front-of-class lecturers, placing an emphasis on facilitated learning, collaborative activities, and open space.
Massive open online courses (MOOCs): These are becoming wildly popular as a way to take classes that can’t be accessed in person because of distance, time, cost, or some other reason. Many colleges and universities, however, are looking for ways to improve student-teacher interaction. Examples include social networking portals based on geographical proximity and blending the MOOC online experience with in-person meetings between students and teachers.
Ultimately, the way students learn is changing, and Steelcase’s research is showing that classrooms increasingly are becoming places where knowledge is created rather than simply consumed. The best learning spaces are those that innovatively bring people and technology together.
Stay tuned for part 3 in our three-part series on vertical market workspace trends.