Education has significantly evolved in the past years. Any smart educator knows that the 4 C’s of learning in the 21st century has a lot to do with it. Communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity should all be incorporated into every aspect of their educational strategy. One of the best places for that is the classroom.
Whether it’s using your school whiteboard effectively, creating a wider floor space, or choosing the right wall colours, the ambience of a classroom affects the learning capabilities of the students in it. Here’s how you can redesign your classroom into a learning space that can help your students learn more efficiently and help them retain what’s most important from your classes.
Simplify Your Design
It’s a known fact that the learning environment of a student has a huge effect on how much he learns. If your classroom is too modern that it looks like your living room, you might want to revisit your design plans. Simplifying a classroom design means making it both welcoming and conducive to learning whatever it is your teaching. Keep your floor space wide and give each student enough space to do what they need. Avoid displaying unnecessary things.
Create Specific Activity Spaces
For the 21st-century learner, collaboration is key. This means that your classroom must have spaces specifically meant for sharing and exchanging ideas. If your learning methods require your students to read on their own, create a space for that need. You should also have one area to display their achievements. Even older learners love that.
Reduce Clutter
As someone who manages a classroom, it can be easy for you to get carried away with displaying learning materials and visual aids, especially for those with younger students. Try to stray away from this practice. Keeping your walls clean and organised can help a student retain more of what he learns inside your classroom by keeping his mind focused on the lesson rather than on the different things he can see around him.
Create Work-Area Options
Yes, desk chairs will always work for individual learning. However, offering your students other work-area options can also help them with the other 21st-century skills they would need to hone. You can provide them with round tables for collaboration and critical thinking sessions. Give them writable spaces where they can discuss their ideas or large drawing tables to work on their creativity.
Use a Smart Colour Scheme
Just because you want your classroom to be lively doesn’t mean that you should design it with rainbow colours. Choosing a smart colour scheme for your classroom means keeping your colour palette mild. Stick with only two to three colours that will help maintain the harmony in your classroom design. Having fewer visual things going on will help your students focus more on what’s important.
Always keep in mind that your students are the centre of this space your redesigning. You can ask them for suggestions on how you can redesign your classroom. Ask them what works and doesn’t work for them. Any change or modification to your classroom should help them get the most out of the time and effort they’re spending in it. Remembering these things will help you achieve your goal of giving quality education to those who need it.
