At Tampa Preparatory in Tampa, Fla., we created Active Learning Environments (ALEs) to provide students with a technologically advanced, student-centric atmosphere. We started this complete transformation of our traditional classrooms in the lower school, which houses students in grades six through eight, in 2014.

Our goal with this undertaking was to create environments where students could spontaneously collaborate and have equal visual and auditory opportunities regardless of where they were in the classroom. In traditional classrooms, students pay attention to the front of the room, so sitting in the back of the room can be detrimental to a student’s learning. Essentially, we wanted to completely throw out this idea, and choosing the right technology — and furniture — played a big part in making this a reality.

In each of the 12 lower-school classrooms, we installed two Epson BrightLink interactive projectors on opposite walls. We also purchased Steelcase mobile desks for students and an Ergotron mobile desk for teachers, a voice-amplification system, glass walls and LED lighting. We installed dry-erase coverings on the walls to transform all of the wall surfaces into interactive spaces when used with the interactive projectors. Each student is also required to bring an iPad to school. Now, students can project content from their iPad onto the surfaces and annotate it on the wall in real time using their fingers. Students can also see projected content and hear their teacher’s voice from anywhere in the classroom, thus giving every student a virtual “front row” seat in the classroom. The addition of the mobile desks enables increased collaboration and small-group work, as students can now wheel their desks together and spin to see various projected content.

During the planning stages of the redesign, we considered installing interactive flat-panel displays, but a head-to-head comparison proved they did not fit into our new design or our budget. In fact, we were able to buy two projectors for the price of one flat-panel display. These projectors transformed entire walls in our classrooms into interactive surfaces, as their image size was significantly larger than that of the LED display. Our decision to opt for interactive projectors, as the predominant display technology, has been further reinforced by a recent study conducted by Radius Global Market Research. The group evaluated the readability of content displayed on a 70-inch flat panel in an average-sized classroom and found that 58 percent of students could not read content displayed.

By redesigning our classrooms and implementing the technology that we did, we were able to improve the teaching and learning process. Students collaborate and engage with each other more, and teachers have more freedom. They can use small-group work activities to differentiate instruction and then visit with groups of students, talk to them and provide additional guidance as needed because they are no longer tethered to their computers at a desk in the front of the room. The ability to easily project multiple examples of students’ work at once now facilitates classroom-wide group discussions and critical thinking. We are now replicating this same ALE model in our upper school and are confident we will see the same positive results.

Overall, we’ve found that taking an innovative approach to classroom design has changed the way our teachers teach and our students learn, and we are looking forward to seeing the success of having ALEs in every classroom at Tampa Prep. To learn more about Tampa Prep and the school’s ALEs, visit: www.tampaprep.org/page.cfm?p=1271.

Chad Lewis is director of technology at Tampa Preparatory School in Tampa, Fla.

The post Choosing the Right Education Technology to Support Active Learning appeared first on School Construction News.

According to the DoDEA, 21st Century Schools specifically support 21st Century Teaching and Learning, a student-centered approach to education that builds on responsive and inclusive teaching to engage students through technology and the environment. As such, DoDEA seeks to develop schools that are both flexible and adaptable, facilitating new and innovative ways to deliver instruction and meet the educational needs of all students. Also emphasized are curriculum delivery, use of technology and the growing expectations for sustainability and energy conservation.
Educational facilities that support the 21st Century Teaching and Learning model are built to function as teaching tools, with systems and components exposed to provide real world relevance and examples to reinforce STEM curriculums. Building designs and standards as related to the DoDEA’s 21st Century Educational Facilities, are guided by “prudent, fiscally responsible thought processes that will result in flexible, adaptable, student-centered and technology infused learning environments that will have an anticipated lifespan of nearly 50 years,” according to department literature.
These student-centered, energy-efficient facilities also accommodate multiple learning modalities, and allow the buildings to grow and adapt with the school programs. The DoDEA plans to transition the majority of its schools across the United States and Europe to the 21st Century Teaching and Learning model.
SchenkelShultz has already designed more than 50 million square feet of K-12 schools, including more than 4.3 million square feet of DoDEA 21st Century Schools. The firm’s previous work for the department includes the newly constructed Evans and Oak Ridge High Schools, in Orange County, Fla., as well as the recently announced University of Florida P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School’s New Middle/High School Building.

Currently, SchenkelShultz is designing four new schools on U.S. Army and Air Force bases in Germany, and is in the programming and planning stages for six additional projects within the U.S. and Europe. The expansion has required SchenkelShultz’s Orlando-based education design team to add two new employees to accommodate its state-of-the-art workload. SchenkelShultz President and COO, Tom Chandler, AIA, estimates the firm’s partnership with the Department of Defense has created a $3 million to $4 million economic impact in central Florida architectural and engineering fees, including those to local sub-consultants.

The DoDEA is now in the midst of a major construction and renovation program that will eventually result in the replacement or renovation of more than 70 percent of its 194 schools. DoDEA currently has 49 projects in design, with eight more in construction. During the last year DoDEA has initiated 40 school designs and made five school construction awards. In the upcoming year, the department anticipates an additional 21 designs and 13 construction awards. The Department of Defense and Congress have allocated a nearly $3.7 billion increase to the DoDEA construction program over the next five years.

The post Florida Firm Designs 21st Century Schools appeared first on School Construction News.