A new Google-inspired HSC learning centre has opened its doors with a mission to train the brightest young minds in Sydney for stellar careers in science, medicine, mathematics and English. The first of its kind in Australia, the Talent 100 centre is the brainchild of Richard Chua – a former Business Strategy Associate at Google’s Mountain View Headquarters in Silicon Valley.

With design thinking that focuses on 21st century learning, the new centre delivers a holistic and aspirational learning environment. The fusion of everyday mindfulness with digital technology, including digital yoga, brain training via smart screens and interactive screen technology will be available to students along with informal open community learning spaces – a famous feature of Google offices around the world.

Via interfacedesignface.com >

Research shows that classroom design has a significant impact on student performance. Constant use means that classrooms suffer a lot of wear, and can quickly look tired and outdated. Unfortunately, shrinking maintenance budgets mean many classrooms go years between redesigns, and student performance suffers as a result.

Via millikencarpet.com >

Your school’s library makes a vital contribution to student success, complementing classroom learning and providing an additional learning environment.

Research has repeatedly shown how important classroom design is for student performance and outcomes, and it’s clear that this holds true for all learning environments, not just traditional classrooms. Therefore, your school’s library design is just as important as classroom design.

Via millikencarpet.com >

Rapid advances in technology have stimulated changes in educational delivery. Initially, industry leaders touted the ‘virtual classroom’ as the answer to personalized learning and improved outcomes. In reality, it is the combination of instruction, technology and space that enhances student engagement, resulting in improved academic success and greater student retention.

Studies have shown that interactive classrooms improve academic outcomes. However, as we design space and the necessary technology infrastructure to maximize collaboration, we must gain in-depth knowledge of how spatial configuration influences behavior. This seemingly simple concept impacts things like adjacencies, room size and orientation, accessibility, furniture and system selection, future infrastructure requirements, and additional collaboration opportunities.

Via dlrgroup.com >

In part two of our three part series, Arnold Levin explores what the workplace design and strategy profession can learn from design initiatives adopted by schools that focus on children with learning differences.

In the first article of this series, I set forth my hypothesis that learning differences (LD) represent both an overlooked area of attention by workplace strategists and designers in our approach to developing workplace strategies. LD can also be a lens though which we can better understand the relationship between workplace design and organizational performance, based on the notion that there is a direct correlation between learning styles and work styles.

In this second article, I will expand on the importance of understanding the nature of learning differences, it’s ability to be a roadmap to better understand the importance of learning styles, and how the workplace design and strategy profession can learn from the design initiatives being adopted by many schools that focus on children with learning differences.

Via workdesign.com >

Every year for the past 15 years the New Media Consortium and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) have been taking the pulse of where education technology stands among K-12 educators. A panel of 59 experts from 18 countries discussed major trends in education that are driving the adoption of technology, as well as the big challenges to effective implementation. This collaborative effort helps to paint a picture of where things stand now and where they might be going. This year NMC and CoSN have also put together a digital toolkit to help educators and policy leaders start conversations about these trends in their community, with the hope that some of the changes they see happening in pockets around the world will become more broadly accepted.

Via ww2.kqed.org >

Anyone who has recently sat in or observed a college classroom knows: the times of lecturing to a large group of students is coming to an end. While some large universities still prefer the lecture format, increasing numbers of smaller institutions are looking to smaller groups to improve learning experience and knowledge retention. It’s becoming a significant trend in higher education, and one worth monitoring as it relates to classroom design.

via tangraminteriors.com >

In a pilot study by the University of Salford and architects, Nightingale Associates, it was found that the classroom environment can affect a child’s academic progress over a year by as much as 25%.

The year-long pilot study was carried out in seven Blackpool LEA primary schools. 34 classrooms with differing learning environments and age groups took part.

Via salford.ac.uk >

One year after receiving an Active Learning Center Grant from Steelcase Education, a Michigan high school classroom is taking stock of the changes it’s already seen in students and teachers.

Traditional classrooms are geared toward lecture mode and do not foster student participation. The goal for this new classroom was to transform an old computer lab into a space that promoted active learning through collaboration and student engagement.

Via steelcase.inc >

Tasked with imagining the newsroom-classroom of the future, Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, CA journalism teachers and students envisioned a Media Arts Center that would promote multi-platform publishing, collaboration, a sense of community, transparency and innovation.

Read the blog post on corbettinc.com >

It's all about using open architecture to nurture young minds.

Read the article on fastcodesign.com >

The seats, space, and stuff that idyllic learning environments are made of.

Students need to be in classrooms that inspire them—spaces that are light, airy, and filled with examples of work that they aspire to do. Each school will have a variety of spacious classroom settings. Some will be more traditional in the way that we envision classrooms now, but others might be set up outside or within an atrium or amphitheater. There might be desks, cushions, or benches arranged in rows or circles—however the teachers want them, as not every classroom will follow a template. 

Read the article in theatlantic.com >

Hundreds of schools, from Ivy League universities to community colleges, have remade their libraries as colorful hubs of college life. Gone are bound journals, miles of musty books and rules governing proper behavior. In are on-site cafes, group study areas where talking is encouraged, 24-hour access and sofas designed for dozing.

The welcoming touches reflect the latest thinking about the millennial generation's learning habits and recognition that students with laptops and Wi-Fi access can study anywhere, said Julie Garrison, Western Michigan University dean of libraries.

Read the article on voanews.com >

Texas A&M researchers have shown, for the first time, evidence that standing desks in classrooms can slow the increase in elementary school children’s body mass index (BMI)—a key indicator of obesity—by an average of 5.24 percentile points. The research was published today in the American Journal of Public Health. 

“Research around the world has shown that standing desks are positive for the teachers in terms of classroom management and student engagement, as well as positive for the children for their health, cognitive functioning and academic achievement,” said Mark Benden, PhD, CPE, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Texas A&M School of Public Health and an author of the study. “It’s literally a win-win, and now we have hard data that shows it is beneficial for weight control.”

Read the article on vitalrecord.tamhsc.edu >