Blyth, A. 2018. How can teachers move from traditional to innovative learning environments? Apprendimento… tesori nascosti : Learning... The Treasure Within. Bologna, Italy 01 - 02 Mar 2018
| Title | How can teachers move from traditional to innovative learning environments? |
|---|---|
| Authors | Blyth, A. |
| Type | Conference keynote |
| Abstract | The spatial design of learning environments is evolving in response to profound changes in learning and teaching. Single-subject teacher-centred pedagogies and learning spaces, which describes much of contemporary education, are no longer sufficient to meet the diverse needs of societies and individuals. How is the design of education space changing? How will the design of learning environments develop in future? Healthy societies demand that people are better educated and socially inclusive. The development of computing and automation means that many types of manual and routine clerical jobs are fast disappearing. Employers expect their employees to be equipped with a broader set of skills than those merely relevant to specific job types. Skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, creativity and innovation as well as interpersonal skills such as empathy have become key. Education systems are expected to help students develop ways of thinking, ways of working and ways of living together. Students are no longer being seen, or see themselves, as being passive recipients of knowledge, but active participants in learning, each learning in their own unique way. Technology is enabling learning to happen in different ways in and beyond formal learning settings at any time through both access to information and enabling different forms of collaboration. The role of the learning environment is changing from being predominantly teaching-centred to being learning-centred. An environment that goes beyond school buildings to include all those places where learning happens. School buildings themselves are no longer being seen as static boxes merely containing education but as dynamic environments integrating both internal and exterior space able to facilitate different learning modes and styles. There is a focus on the experiential and the impact of the environment on health and well-being of its occupants as it touches all of the human senses. This recognition is itself not new, but is perhaps more widely recognised as being important in the design of the learning environment. Spatially this is being translated into learning environments with a greater variety of spaces both inside and outside, more connectivity (spatially and technologically), a greater sense of openness and opportunity to reconfigure the environment to specific needs. |
| Keywords | Learning environments; school buildings |
| Year | 2018 |
| Conference | Apprendimento… tesori nascosti : Learning... The Treasure Within |