How Modern Learning Environments Prepare Students for the Future

Although workplace design has changed vastly over the years, the traditional classroom has remained the standard for many schools. Many of the jobs we’re preparing students for didn’t even exist 20 years ago, which means the learning spaces built prior to the early-2000s are failing to meet the needs of our future workforce. To meet students’ needs, we need modern learning environments that support new technology and pedagogy.

Outdated traditional classrooms are often filled with bulky furniture that is stagnant and isolates students from one another while they learn. Creating a modern learning environment allows students to maintain their individuality and personal space, while also providing ways to connect with the classroom as a whole. This can be done by bringing in innovative pieces of furniture and designing flexible learning spaces that support a variety of student needs.

Here are three ways that modern learning environments prepare students for the future:

Ownership of Learning

Individualized spaces that support a 1-to-1 learning experience help provide students with a personalized education. Students can work at their own pace in these modern learning environments, with a teacher providing guidance to each student on setting individual goals. Additionally, students can pick a learning station that supports the type of learner they are. Each of these factors helps students feel an important sense of ownership and independence in their learning, which is a highly transferrable skill for their future careers.

Collaboration

Creating a modern learning environment that lends itself to high levels of organic collaboration enables students to work together and with teachers. This pathway to learning mirrors how they’ll be working in the real world. Offering varying workspaces that support different forms of collaboration facilitates natural peer interactions. Not only are students able to gain valuable career skills from collaborative work, but they are also able to provide one another with insights and feedback on assignments, helping to deepen their understanding of course content and refine their work.

Flexibility

It is important to accommodate a range of student preferences in any modern learning environment. This includes soft seating, flexible seating, mobile furniture, and other individualized options. Flexible furniture options make it so that a single learning space is functional and comfortable for a group of students with a plethora of unique needs and preferences. Students interact with furniture on their own terms, giving them a sense of ownership of the space and the ability to customize their own unique learning environments.

Modern learning environments provide students with an individualized space to learn and opportunities to connect with peers and teachers in a productive and engaging way. Taking this approach when designing a learning space results in a professional environment that changes the mood and the tone of the whole classroom. It enhances students’ respect for their learning and creates a culture and a climate that’s conducive to future, work-force ready learning.

To learn about how MySchool@Kent overhauled their classrooms to transform the spaces into modern learning environments, read more on SmartBrief.