Education environments undergo radical transformation
This post has primarily been sourced from OFS Brands’ Enriched Learning Environments report.
Technology, collaboration, and “connected” students are transforming education. Research shows that 25% of a student’s success is related directly to the learning environment. Educators and commercial interior designers are creating more “learner centered” spaces that are designed for teamwork, problem solving, and group discussion. Learning can happen anywhere, so each space has to be flexible. And provide students with access to power and technology.
Designing for education now involves creating engaging, flexible spaces that better support today’s working, learning and teaching styles. This is what it must do for the following spaces:
Classrooms
Create high-function rooms that quickly adapt to change and provide students with spaces to learn, share, and connect.
New approaches to learning are transforming the classroom. Today’s students are social learners, equipped with unlimited access to information and digital media. Research shows that the learning environment should combine work, learning, living, and play. Incorporating these elements creates a stimulating environment that promotes learning and allows students to discover and explore their passions.
Product solutions
Applause tables by First Office are great for the reconfigurable classroom.
Teacher Stations
Supportive furniture that allows for a mobile and flexible learning environment.
Teacher Stations must unlock instructors from a single teaching style. By supporting multiple postures and mobility, instructors can transition seamlessly to whatever style suits their needs and captures their students’ attention.
Product solutions
Layer teacher stations from First Office are just right for the classroom.
Collaboration Spaces
Open areas where students can come together organically and choose how they want to work.
Learning can—and does—happen anywhere. Creating natural spaces for interaction throughout campus is an effective way to support that process. Providing a variety of settings within an open area gives students the freedom to choose the environment that best serves their needs.
Product solutions
Loewenstein’s Banda lounge seating makes it easy to stay powered up. And First Office’s Boost seating is great for collaboration spaces.
Cafeterias
Dynamic spaces where students can interact, dine or study.
No longer just a place to eat, many cafeterias have become multi-purpose environments where students can also socialize or gather for studying or community events. To support all of these uses, cafeterias should be flexible, promote interaction, and offer a variety of seating options.
Product solutions
Roco tables from Loewenstein are a stylish high-quality option for hospitality applications.
Libraries
Libraries have become the focal point for student activity. Students visit them to access printed and digital information, meet with groups, and study. It is important for these spaces to be flexible and provide students with unlimited access to power and technology. The library should encourage interaction and give students the freedom to choose how they want to work and learn.
Product solutions
OFS Element reception desks are great as check-out stations.
Administrative Areas
Administrators and educators can also benefit from flexible spaces that support teamwork and technology. Rethinking administrative areas can improve staff communication and interaction, leading to improved support services for students.
Product solutions
First Office Stacks desking system is perfect for open office areas.
The spaces where people learn are changing and education furniture is adapting. Great products like these from OFS Brands and others can maximize the potential of today’s students for learning. Well-designed products, smart interior design, and a furniture provider can deliver a successful learning space enivronment.