By Gouldian Finch, ViewSonic, May 31, 2018 https://www.viewsonic.com/library/education/classroom-design-trends-layout
21st Century Design
A key to today’s classroom design is flexibility. The ability to rearrange components supports the many faces of constructive learning.
21 century classrooms design trends utilize many new layouts, including:
- Flexible seating
- The modular classroom
- Starbucking the classroom
- Classroom cribs
- Next generation classroom design
- Evidence-based learning environments
- Learner-centered spaces
- Active learning environments
How Classroom Design Affects Student Performance
- Color: Providing enough visual stimulation around the classroom using color on walls, floors and furniture
- Choice: Quality furniture including interesting and ergonomic tables and chairs. Furniture should support a sense ofownership
- Complexity: Providing novel surroundings and attention-grabbing décor in balance with orderliness
- Flexibility: The ability of a classroom to accommodate students without crowding them. The ability to rearrangefurniture for a variety of activities and teaching approaches.
- Light: Quality and quantity of natural light, and degree of control of the level of lighting
Flexible Furnishings
Selective seating: Offer a variety of seating options. The goal: enable student choice and support different work stylesand activities. Options can include couches, floor pillows, bean bag chairs, traditional chair/ desk combos and DYI seating.
Mobility: Look for wheeled bookshelves, chairs and other furnishings. Engage students in rearranging them to open the room or create cozy collaborative nooks.
Collaborative configurations: Replace single workspaces with large round or rectangular tables. Put desks together to form collaborative workspaces.
Huddle spaces: Take a cue from the business world where huddle spaces reign. These spaces offer convenient seating plus tech like audio, display, and sharing software. They’re ideal for small group work. In education, they go by a variety of names. Teaming tables, media tablets, and lounges, learning suites, informal learning environments or learning labs. By any name, they’re ideal for 21-century cooperative st learning.
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This article is beneficial to my research because if provides detailed examples on how to make classrooms more suitable for collaboration. This article provides the opportunity to make a correlation between classroom spacial design and libraries.
