Redesigning Education: Why Can't We Be in Kindergarten for Life? "The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people—artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap society's richest rewards and share its greatest joys." —Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind I remember when my twins entered kindergarten at our community public school. While listening to the teachers' presentation at my twins' school, I had a moment of clarity: The kindergarten classroom is the design studio. Even the kindergarten classroom's physical environment supports dynamic teaching and learning. The status quo of classroom design from first grade through high school graduation, courtesy Steven Errico, Veer The learner-centered paradigm should extend beyond the kindergarten classroom. Take classrooms from elementary through high school. Kindergarten photo courtesy VS Furniture
Ørestad College, Copenhagen, by 3XN architects Ørestad College is a new educational building in Copenhagen, Denmark, designed by 3XN architects. Here are the facts: Ørestad College Ørestad, Copenhagen, Denmark The Ørestad College will be the first in Denmark to fulfil new educational visions regarding subjects, organisation and teaching systems. Communication, interaction and synergy has been key issues. The college is interconnected vertically and horizontally. The rotation opens a part of each floor to the vertical tall central atrium and forms a zone that provides community and expresses the college’s ambition for interdisciplinary education. Address: Ørestad Boulevard/Arne Jacobsens Allé, Copenhagen Client: Copenhagen Municipality Award: 1. prize in invited competition 2003 Completion: 2006 Size: 12.000 m2 Budget: DKK 200 mio. / € 27 mio / $ 32.5 mio Architect: 3XNielsen Kim Herforth Nielsen, Bo Boje Larsen, Kim Christiansen Engineer: Søren Jensen A/S Adviser: Helle Mathiasen, cand. pæd. ph.d. Kim Herforth Nielsen, 3XN
THE LEVELS OF THE DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE COMPASS | Design to Improve Life Education The Design to Improve Life compass consists of four phases that can unfold into six layers, where you start by moving from the outer layer, focused on the user and the four phases to the inner layer, where you find concrete techniques that support the actions your students go through in the different phases. The Compass represents a holistic and non-linear process that alternates between repetitions and progressions related to the goal, form and content. The UserThe user is always the center of attention in the Design to Improve Life process. The phasesThe Design to Improve Life process covers four defined phases (Prepare, Perceive, Prototype and Produce). In the Prepare phase, the students are introduced to Design to Improve Life and are divided into resourceful design teams where they distribute responsibility and roles. In the Produce phase the students gather all the material they have produced in the previous phases in order to gain an overview of the process.
Learning commons Learning commons, also known as scholars' commons, information commons or digital commons, are educational spaces, similar to libraries and classrooms that share space for information technology, remote or online education, tutoring, collaboration, content creation, meetings and reading or study.[1][2] Learning commons are increasingly popular in academic and research libraries, and some public and school libraries have now adopted the model.[3] Architecture, furnishings and physical organization are particularly important the character of a learning commons, as spaces are often designed to be rearranged by users according to their needs. Learning commons may also have tools, equipment, makerspaces, and/or publishing services available for borrowing or use. Along with the so-called "bookstore model," which is focused on customer service, bookless or digital libraries, the learning commons or digital commons is frequently cited as a model for the "library of the future."[4]
Redesigning Education: Rethinking the School Corridor "I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder how we could have tolerated anything so primitive."-John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, "No Easy Victories" (1968) Education reform is in the air and taking root in thousands of classrooms across the country. From overhauling No Child Left Behind to closing poorly performing schools and raising student expectations, the push for change is powerful. Even before students set foot in a classroom, most schools still are built like factories: long hallways, lined with metal lockers, transport students to identical, self-contained classrooms. School designers have used the double loaded corridor for easy circulation. Photo courtesy of the American Architecture Foundation Let's design hallways with human beings in mind. Photo by Nigel Young/Foster+Partners Photo by Dan Forer Trung Le is a principal education designer at Cannon Design.
Codecademy Looks Like The Future Of Learning To Me So CrunchFund invested in Codecademy, along with Union Square Ventures and a whole pack of others. Codecademy teaches people how to code. Starting with the assumption that you know absolutely nothing at all about coding. And, suddenly, you’re coding. It gets a lot harder from there. I also like that Codecademy is asking users to create new lessons. There’s a great reason for investing. That’s two months since launch. 750,000 people have used it. There are hugely obvious business models down the road. Codecademy says that their goal is to become the way that anyone can learn complex coding concepts, even people who’ve never coded before. What really excites me about Codecademy is that you can learn almost anything this way. All I can think of is how if this was around when I was in college I may have actually learned calculus this way. I’d still have gone to college because college was four years of concentrated fun. I’m very excited to see how this turns out. Like this: Like Loading...
Intrapreneurship Intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. Definition[edit] In 1992, The American Heritage Dictionary acknowledged the popular use of a new word, intrapreneur, to mean "A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation".[1] Intrapreneurship is now known as the practice of a corporate management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches, as well as the reward and motivational techniques, that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of entrepreneurship. History[edit] The first written use of the terms ‘intrapreneur’, ‘intrapreneuring,’ and ‘intrapreneurship’ date from a paper[2] written in 1978 by Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot. Employee intrapreneur[edit] Examples[edit] Another example could be 3M, who encourage many projects within the company. See also[edit] Notes[edit]
September | 2011 | kingsquadrangle It’s been a wonderfully fascinating three days observing you all here at the Strand Campus of King’s College London. You are a terribly interesting bunch.As our 3 days of intensive on site research draws to a close we’d like to open some discussion on the blog about some of the learning trends we’ve noticed. The campus seems to have an extremely social atmosphere and we’ve seen a great deal of students studying and socialising at the same time. Jenny It’s been a good first day in the Kings Building foyer (above a photo of my location) – we’ve had some excellent feed back and insights so far and some truly fascinating insights from freshers too. Antonio p.s we had a lot of people yesterday reluctant to take part as it was only their first week. A learning commons is a student centered flexible learning space located on campus. The Nomad team will be on site on the 27th, 28th and 29th of September. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts Nomad Team Thanks for helping out
Education Design Showcase Project Miami-Dade County Prototype Schools - West Hialeah Elementary SchoolM. C. Harry and Associates, Inc.Honorable Mention Winner 2008 Education Design Showcase MDCPS Prototype Elementary Schools: West Hialeah Elementary School Overview The goal of the ‘prototype system’ is to achieve a high performance school that delivers meaningful civic presence; responds well to varying site conditions; and creates an inviting educational environment for impressionable young minds. The library, an iconic expression of lifelong learning, is located on the second floor directly over the entry breezeway, and is a key element in the composition of the school’s main entrance. The interior design of the ‘cafetorium’ accommodates not only the school’s lunch activity, but also the special acoustic and lighting requirements of a 400-seat performance venue for staged productions, musical events, and public address. The architectural vocabulary for the campus is based on a ‘tilt-wall model’. Aesthetic Use of Tilt-Up
WhiteyPaint Turns Walls Into Whiteboards Without Cramping Your Wallpaper’s Style Feeling useless? The folks over at WhiteyBoard seem to have a solution: WhiteyPaint. As WhiteyPaint’s motto so clearly points out, “you’re useless without it.” While the verdict’s still out on that one, it does seem like a pretty nifty little product. It’s basically a quick-drying translucent paint that you can write on with whiteboard markers, and according to the maker, it erases well too. WhiteyPaint can be used both indoors and outdoors, and on just about any surface you can find. 30 square feet of paint will get set you back $75, but that’s basically a steal compared with competing products. Learning Spaces Space, whether physical or virtual, can have a significant impact on learning. Learning Spaces focuses on how learner expectations influence such spaces, the principles and activities that facilitate learning, and the role of technology from the perspective of those who create learning environments: faculty, learning technologists, librarians, and administrators. Information technology has brought unique capabilities to learning spaces, whether stimulating greater interaction through the use of collaborative tools, videoconferencing with international experts, or opening virtual worlds for exploration. This e-book represents an ongoing exploration as we bring together space, technology, and pedagogy to ensure learner success. Please note: In addition to the e-book's core chapters on learning space design principles (chapters 1-13) , this site also offers case studies illustrating those principles (chapters 14-43), including links to examples of innovative learning spaces. Diana G.
A 21st Century School on the Cutting Edge of Learning [Slideshow] We are instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many keys that are struck by the nature that surrounds us and that often strike themselves. -- Denis Diderot If form followed function in today's schools, then there would be no need to change the current learning environment. The current model that pervades today's school design is based on an outdated 19th-century model -- what academics call age-specific grouping, contain and control, didactic instruction, prescribed knowledge, uniformed progression, fixed schedules, and standardized assessment through memorization. In walking into many of today's schools, you are instantly transported to the familiar experience of the double-loaded corridor, self-contained boxes with minimal daylight, and giant, impersonal lecture halls. Artists and architects Bosch & Fjord rejected this Victorian thinking in their design of Ordrup School.
Education in Finland Education in Finland is a system with no tuition fees and with fully subsidised meals served to full-time students. The present Finnish education system consists of daycare programs (for babies and toddlers) and a one-year "pre-school" (or kindergarten for six-year-olds); a nine-year compulsory basic comprehensive school (starting at age seven and ending at the age of fifteen); post-compulsory secondary general academic and vocational education; higher education (University and University of Applied Sciences); and adult (lifelong, continuing) education. After their nine-year basic education in a comprehensive school, students at the age of 16 may choose to continue their secondary education in either an academic track (lukio) or a vocational track (ammattikoulu), both of which usually take three years. Tertiary education is divided into university and polytechnic (ammattikorkeakoulu, also known as university of applied sciences) systems. Basic comprehensive education[edit]