Learning+Environments

21st Century Learning Environment and Context: Where Learning Happens, How It Is Structured, and Who Interacts with Whom

//As IT has become ubiquitous throughout organizations and central to mission-critical operations, // //employers have placed an increasing emphasis on IT workers' business skills and soft skills, // //such as the ability to communicate effectively and to work in a collaborative environment. // -- U.S. Department of Commerce

Please view the following video to gain an understanding of "The Connected Student."
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﻿Schools can make the organizational and cultural changes needed and provide 21st century facilities for new, and tried and tested methods of learning and teaching. This will enable all young people to unlock their skills and talents, giving them the opportunity to be fully engaged in meaningful learning. Considering how learning experiences might change to meet the needs of the students in the 21st century, it is essential to explore classroom and school design. Young people will have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills required to become successful participants in, and contributors to, 21st century society and the global economy.  Rather than simply be invested in short-term fixes, any new support for school facilities that districts receive should go to develop tomorrow’s facilities as infrastructure responses to an educational philosophy—one whose goal is not to control students, but to empower them to take charge of their own learning. A recent article in //Education Week// addresses the problem with American Schools - Don't Just Rebuild Schools--Reinvent Them. An article by Randy Fielding and Prakash Nair, "[|A Comfortable Truth: Students Don't Have to Squirm to Learn]," was featured in //Edutopia//. Explore additional publications by Randy Fielding and Prakash Nair, school architects and founders of the DesignShare company.

Linking Pedagogy and Space
... pedagogical activities require specific spatial qualities to be effective. Each principle requires specific pedagogical approaches to support that principle, and these pedagogies are applied through the five core activities or modes. These modes have direct implications for learning settings design