Visualizing 21st-Century Classroom Design

With the educational system keeping pace with the changing times, students cannot be taught effectively by using the decade’s old resources and approaches.

Educational institutions and teachers are required to keep up with the modern times and adapt themselves to the transformation in the education sector. This is the age of innovation and abundant creativity, thus students should not be forced to follow the age-old pattern of education that required students to obey rules and regulations unquestioningly, conform to the views of others, focus on their lessons and get good grades, and choose the tried and tested methods.

We are living in the golden age of innovation and entrepreneurship where the pioneers, creators, and thought leaders harnessed their gifts and achieved their goals not by following the set of rules established a long time back but with their own intuition and set of principles.

So our education system needs to make some changes that will help to spur the creativity, teamwork, enthusiasm of students. The designs of classrooms are important so as to enable students to learn better, remain engaged, and have fun all at the same time.

The design of a classroom has a profound impact on the learning of a student and helps them to be spontaneous and creative.

School authorities and teachers need to take some steps that will help in the effective designing of the classrooms.

They can design their classrooms in a better manner with the following steps.

• To provide greater flexibility to students and prevent monotony, the teachers and school authorities can create separate meeting zones for mini-lessons, wrap-ups, class meetings, etc. This will help the students to feel refreshed and increase their focus and efforts on their tasks.
• They can use their imagination to maximize the students’ space by adding spaces that can enable students to work independently, jointly, or in a group. By doing so, teachers can assign different types of tasks to students in the same room. Also, teachers can give choices to students to work as they like, quiet introverts can work independently. The collaborators can work with groups to accomplish their tasks.
• Instead of covering the entire floor area of class with chairs, teachers and administrators can lay a few beanbags and rugs. This will give students the liberty to choose their own space and make themselves comfortable. This will also enhance the spontaneity of students and will help them to sit as per their choice.
• Arrange furniture in an imaginative manner that will enable students to give attention to their teachers as well as help them to discuss with each other in group discussion sessions and group activities.

Teachers can work on the design to integrate technology in their classrooms by the following ways.

• Teachers can use overhead projectors for teaching. Teachers can teach and explain better by demonstrating slides and PowerPoint presentations. Overhead projectors enable teachers to see and teach their lessons in a better and faster way. All students also can see the slides and texts clearly when overhead projectors are used.
• Teachers and administrators can place laptop tables and power points for the students to use their laptops and charge them in a seamless manner. Encouraging students to bring their own computers will make it easier for teachers to communicate with students via mail and send their assignments online.
• School administrators and educators can introduce biometrics recognition system in classrooms to do away with frequent roll calls. This will save the time of teachers and students and will give them more time to focus on the topics.