Bringing Down the Wall: Schools Are Using Configurable Chairs, Whiteboards, and Even Walls to Give Students Control of Their Environment and Inspire Them to Work Together

This is the second in a six-part monthly series examining how different technologies can help schools enhance collaboration among students. You can read the first part, about social media, here. In this installment, we look at the benefits of furniture that allows students to shape their own learning environment. Could new types of pedagogy that involve more classroom projects and peer instruction encourage school districts to replace outdated furniture and redesign classrooms? Or could new classroom designs using modular furniture have an impact on how teachers engage their students? are just a few of the questions that educators, instructional technology leaders, and space-planning experts have been grappling with for the past several years as student-centered collaboration becomes increasingly important to the 21st century curriculum. Studies on the topic indicate that the classroom setup does indeed have an effect on instructors' habits as well as student participation and collaboration. Schools across the country are accommodating this mode of thinking by unbolting furniture and tearing down some of the more physical impediments to learning. (For an architect's perspective on how design can inspire learners at all grade levels, see Design for the Ages on page 25.) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kate Mraw, an interior designer at California-based LPA, an architecture and design firm focused on education, says school districts and charter schools are increasingly asking her to help design spaces to support project-based learning. They want to provide students with the opportunity to work in collaborative teams, develop career awareness and knowledge, and use a variety of technologies, she says. Collaboration-focused features include classroom clusters, common and furniture that facilitates group work. Even schools that can't afford to invest in modern furniture are redesigning or building new spaces with more awareness of technology issues and BYOD options, Mraw says. For instance, campuswide WiFi can support learning models that emphasize mobility, flexibility, and collaboration. Learning on the Move At the Princeton City School District in Cincinnati, district leaders are currently designing new middle school and high school spaces to foster project-based learning. (The middle school is scheduled to open in August and the high school in 2014.) Every area of the high school has been designed to facilitate learning, notes principal William Sprankles: Even open stairwells and lobbies can be meeting spaces. Hallway corners will have semicircles cut out for booths where students can sit and collaborate. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The wings in each school end with three classes with retractable glass walls so that smaller rooms can suddenly become much larger group spaces, Sprankles explains. These classrooms have a whiteboard wall that is actually a jigsaw of much smaller whiteboards that can be taken down and worked on by student groups, then reassembled. Sean Corcorran, general manager of the education division of furniture company Steelcase, has also seen a significant shift toward project-based instruction that doesn't all happen in the classroom. If you want to create a learning environment, we think the right approach is to start with what you are trying to accomplish and then choose the technology and space to support that, he says. To respond to the demand for mobility, flexibility, and comfort, Steelcase has developed classroom furniture with names like Verb and Node. We were finding support among education customers for more active learning and furniture that supports teamwork, so we put a chair on casters and added the capability to swivel 360 degrees, Corcorran says. That supports dialogue and a sense of community with everyone, and allows them to follow the context of the conversation more easily. …