FIVE FUNDAMENTAL LEARNING SPACES

EDFD459 Assessment Task 2Rebecca Del Vecchio S00107272

RETHINKING OUR LEARNING SPACES

As a teacher in the 21st Century, we need to be able to adapt to the accelerated change in the way students live and learn. While in the past educational settings were often similar in their style, and delivery of lessons were based on a teacher centred learning space. Who remembers a classroom like this one?

Image source: Cinar, (2010)

It is time as educators to think about the learning that we wish to occur in the spaces we are teaching in, and ensuring we can provide students with varied opportunities to interact with each other and enrich their learning through engaging with different spaces.

Within this presentation we will look at five different learning spaces that we can use in the 21st Century education setting and their strengths and weaknesses.

What learning do you remember from this space?

The Classroom and school

Within a harmonious and flexible space teachers are able to engage in diverse pedagogical practices that cater for the individual learner. This could be said to be best equipping students for the 21st century society and its inevitably changing nature.

The changing social and political nature of society had a great impact on classroom design and curriculum priorities in the 19th and 20th century (Schratzenstaller, 2010), so it makes sense that educational settings for today and into the future adapt to 21st century learners’ needs.

In a traditional teacher centred setting where children sit in rows and the teacher stands at the front it places students in the back rows at a disadvantage who are more likely to lose focus and be disengaged (Cinar, 2010). This set up does not encourage positive interactions between teacher and students and more collaborative learning (Makialo-Siegl, Zottmann, Kaplan & Fischer, 2010).

Classroom design can have a great impact on the way students and teachers engage with each other and with their learning. In creating a space that is warm, welcoming and provides flexibility, every member of the learning community feels like they are a valid member. It is important to create a space that appeals to children aesthetically as well as being functional to create a harmonious setting (Read, 2010).

As we develop educational settings to suit a more contemporary learning style, it is important as teachers that we ensure our classrooms are set up in such a way that promotes respectful interactions as well as providing spaces that cater for different curriculum and learning needs.

Reading corner and Writing corner Image Source: The Write Stuff Teaching Blog http://www.thewritestuffteaching.blogspot.ca

A contemporary primary school classroomImage source: http://kinderspot-jodi.blogspot.com.au/2011_08_01_archive.html

Beyond the ClassroomIt is important for students to have experiences outside the classroom and school setting. Excursions that go beyond the classroom walls allow for an enhanced learning process where students engage in much more experiential learning as it is presented in a much more contextualised form (Johnson, 2009).

In looking at the social nature of learning (Lorenza, 2009), excursions enable students to interact with the wider world and provide a shared experience that can be drawn from for further work in the classroom. Students should be encouraged to be a part of the entire learning process (Johnson, 2009) including when going beyond the classroom, and as educators we must encourage their ideas and setting of learning goals for these experiences.

The benefits for students and teachers easily outweigh the anxiety of the preparation.

In order to create a meaningful learning experience for students on an excursion, as a teacher we must ensure it has been prepared for appropriately (Lorenza, 2009). Not only are there the practical and logistical preparations of risk assessments and ensuring all details are considered, but we must also determine the relevant learning that is possible, discussing this with students prior to the visit. If the preparations are limited or there is little follow up on excursions, students the experience could be a wasted one (Johnson, 2009; Lorenza, 2009)

One of the weaknesses of going on excursion is the risk that comes with leaving the safety of the school ground where the elements beyond your control can cause a disastrous day out.

Making connections with the wider society can help students gain a greater understanding of the world they live in through new and exciting experiences. In making these connections and participating in a more social learning experience, students could be seen as engaging in a community of practice beyond the confines of the classroom walls (Smith, 2009).

Image source: Del Vecchio, 2014

The Bird Show, Healesville Sanctuary, Vic

Children enjoying The Sydney AquariaumImage Source: Green Car ToursRetrieved from http://www.greencartours.com.au/sydney-shuttle-bus-services/school-excursions-and-field-trips.html

The Electronic Learning SpaceTechnology is such a driving force in our society today, that it is irresponsible as a teacher to ignore the electronic space as being a valuable learning experience. However it seems that the potential that this learning space offers does not yet match its use in an education setting. The electronic learning space has the potential to transform educational practices by enabling students through mobile technology access to learning tools they may not otherwise have access to (UNESCO, 2012). The capabilities of the electronic learning space are changing all the time so it is the responsibility of educators to ensure they are able to support students using these to this space to its best possible use. Collaborative learning could be greatly enhanced for students through the use of the electronic learning space, which is one of its greatest strengths (Murray & Olcese, 2011). Online learning can generate greater connection to communities and knowledge that was not previously possible.

The electronic learning space can give students and teachers a great opportunity to engage with each other and the wider community in a new way, which has the potential to not only support traditional learning methods, but also create new ones (Murray & Olcese, 2011).

The electronic learning space is something that can be utilised to assist students in interacting with other spaces, such as those beyond the classroom as discussed earlier. As a way of further connecting with the excursion space through engaging with their online presence such as websites or social media accounts.

One of the challenges of using the electronic learning space is in the way that teachers approach its use, with safety a key concern, teachers and education policies limit its use (UNESCO, 2012), or teachers may use it simply as a tool in replacement of something else (eg using word processor).

Perhaps it is up to us as educators of the future to ensure we are able to ensure students are not only provided with the technological tools, but also equipped with the skills to extend on their own learning in innovative ways.

The Group Learning Space

Working with others is a skill that is important for everyone to learn, so as a teacher concerned with equipping students with the skills to help them in every aspect of life, it is vital to encourage students to engage in a group learning space.

The way in which groups are organised and the work is structured will depend on the success of the learning involved in group work. In order to ensure each group member is contributing and noone gets a ‘free ride’, each member could be given a set time for sharing, or giving each member a defined role (TVO Parents, 2010).

Group learning has become an important part of today’s educational settings, highlighted throughout this presentation in various elements of other fundamental learning spaces. It is generally categorised into one of 3 areas peer tutoring, cooperative learning or collaborative learning (Tolmie et al, 2009). The cooperative learning space has been said to emphasise higher order learning and thinking skills, which is most successful when students are given opportunity for success and individual accountability (Slavin, 2010). While collaborative learning focuses on working together to create shared understanding (Tolmie et al, 2009). Every aspect of the group learning space is important and it is vital for teachers to ensure that students have the opportunity to work in varied group experiences- with structured tasks as well as more informal group discussion work (Slavin, 2010).

It is extremely important as teachers to incorporate the group learning space within our teaching, however it is in knowing your students and what you are wanting them to learn that will allow for you to best structure groups for truly enriching collaborative work.

Image Source: http://openlearningspaces.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/collaborative-teaching-what-might-it.html

Images source: http://openlearningspaces.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/studios-and-cave-spaces-hingaia.html

Physical Spaces supporting group learning

The Individual Learning Space

Self-directed learning relates to an individual guiding their own education predominantly through setting their own learning goals, finding resources and evaluating what they have learnt (Smith, 1996).

This style of learning is something that can encourage greater motivation in the learning, but also requires students to be able to manage their own learning. This goes very well with inquiry learning models, which have become much more common in contemporary education settings.

Self-directed learning is going to be most successful when teachers are able to support a students confidence and motivation in learning (Kop & Fournier, 2010). This comes down to the teacher ensuring that students are scaffolded in their learning skills and supported in their individual approach to learning, shifting focus from teaching the content.

The individual learning space is something that depends greatly on (as it suggests) the individual. Every person has their own preferred approach to studying whether it be sitting on a couch with a lap top or notebook on your lap, or sitting at a desk, being in a quiet space or having music playing, the optimal study space is something that cannot be defined by any one definition. In relation to an educational setting it is important for us to provide opportunities for students to engage in individual learning in the best possible way. In order for students to make the most of individual learning space they need to have a certain level of self-directed learning skills. Self-directed learning as described by Knowles (1975 as cited in Smith, 1996) is a much more proactive approach to learning and can as a result will learn more things and learn better.

The individual learning space is one that cannot be controlled by an educator as it is up to the student to ensure they best utilise this space, however it is up to the educator, especially in the 21st century to teach students how to learn and how to enjoy their learning.

My individual learning space

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Johnson, J. (2009). Beyond four walls: experiential and situated learning. Teacher, (198), 18-20

Kop, R., & Fournier, H. (2010). New Dimensions of Self-Directed Learning in an Open-Networked Learning Environment. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, 7(2), 1-20.

Lorenza, L. (2009). Beyond four walls: why go beyond the bounds of school? [online].Teacher. (198), 22-25.

Makialo-Siegl, K., Zottmann, J., Kaplan, F. & Fischer, F. (2010) Classroom of the Future: Orchestrating Collaborative Spaces. Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

Murray, O., & Olcese, N. (2011). Teaching and Learning with iPads, Ready or Not? TechTrends, 55(6), 42-48

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Smith, M.K. (1996) Self-Direction in learning , Infed.org. Retrieved from http://infed.org/mobi/self-direction-in-learning/

Tolmie, A.K., Topping, K. T., Christie, D., Donaldson, C., Howe, C., Jessiman, E., Livingston, K. & Thurston, A. (2010) Social effects of collaborative learning in primary schools, Learning and Instruction, 20, 177-191.

TVO Parents (2010) Does ‘Group Work’ Work? Is it the best way for children to learn? (video). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdt-b4yMp-M&feature=youtu.be

UNESCO. (2012). Turning on Mobile Learning: Global Themes. France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.