What 21st century dream classroom could look like?
21st century education should provide students the skills they need to succeed in new, rapidly changing world, and helping them grow the confidence to practice those skills. Therefore, education is affected by social and cultural trends, advances in ICT and more and more schools are redesigning classrooms according to the needs of the 21st century students.
Learning environment has got a big impact on teaching and learning, so classrooms have to be adapted to foster students’ development in critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration they will need in work and life. New concept of 21st century classroom must be focused on creating personalized, student-centred, flexible, encouraging and motivating learning environment integrating digital technologies in order to build skills for future success. Schools making even a simple change can make a big difference in creating a positive school culture and it can have an important impact on teaching and learning.
http://fcl.eun.org/blog
When thinking of redesigning and adapting learning spaces in order to create interactive and creative learning environment and to enable the introduction of innovative pedagogy using technology, schools often look up to the European Schoolnet Future Classroom Lab, which is an inspirational learning environment in Brussels. By the FCL model, the way to ensure development of the 21st century skills in students is to design six learning zones in the classroom: investigate, create, present, interact, exchange and develop.
Six learning zones reflect what a good teaching should be about: being connected, being involved and being challenged. A dream classroom should have various learning zones where students are active and they facilitate different types of learning using technology, so the furniture should be flexible and easily rearranged.
Open and colourful spaces, flexible furniture and modern technology should ensure interactive teaching and learning. Different learning zones ensure mobility of students, modularity and flexibility of furniture and safe and invisible use of technology. The role of teachers is therefore changing to a facilitator, providing support and being creative in designing activities for students with maximizing the resources in the classroom. The teacher can organize different activities for students which encourages students to be active participants in learning. Activities can be implemented at the same time because of modular classroom equipment and students can easily collaborate and communicate using different technologies.
High School Ivanec
Integration of technology in education opens new and wide possibilities to achieve goals in a different way than was possible before. It enables the teacher to perform interactive teaching focused on the student. It can be easily implemented in everyday classes and it offers a number of opportunities to enhance teaching and learning spaces. Subjects become closer to students, and teaching and learning more interesting and purposeful.
Design of the classroom should provide pleasant and stimulating atmosphere, so the colours in the classroom are also important. Colours in the classroom can make an important influence on learning outcomes, brain development, students` attention, motivation and engagement. Choosing the right colours can change the environment and make it modern and stimulating, but choosing different colours will have different effects on students.
More and more schools recognize the need to create innovative learning spaces so students can learn in new ways, that engage, inspire and motivate them. Therefore, it is clear that in those spaces students shouldn’t be entertained but actively engaged, in order to ensure the foundation for long-life learning and prepare students for rapid changes and skills for the 21st century.