Imagine if you will…
Zaira smiles as she dresses for the first day of school. Today is the first day she and her peers will have Environmental Studies in the new portable classroom she helped design. Of all the projects Zaira has worked on in her 3 years at Napa New Tech High School, this one was by far the most rewarding. She remembers all the activities with the architects, engineers, educators, and other students last spring imagining the ideal learning environment. They prioritized sustainability, flexibility, interactivity, and connectedness. She knew from the many presentations she attended on the building that the adults involved also appreciated the affordability and ease of construction. Zaira and her friends learned to appreciate that too as they strapped on their tool belts to assist with the construction of the portable this summer. It was surprising how quickly it all came together just like they imagined.
As Zaira walks onto the campus, she meets up with some of the “design” group from last spring: Jewel, Danny, Colin, Jesus, Lily, Sean, Mirsha. They walk by the modular land mods filled with grasses and plants native to the area filling the area with aroma. Walking up the stairs where some students are relaxing they see the photovoltaic panel’s already collecting energy from the morning sun. The water cisterns next to the pv panels are full from last night’s rain storm. Peering into the glass walls that make the building seem to blend with the landscape they are so excited at what they see the learners doing inside - customizing the room effortlessly to fit their learning preferences. Mr. Mahoney greets them and welcomes them to the room as everyone cheers! Then, he explains the project they will be starting today on biodiversity and ecological sustainability. The students gather around a presentation screen with their wireless devices to read the entry document about the project.
Once the students are divided into their work groups for the project, they reconfigure the furniture and partitions to form their workspace. Zaira and Colin are in a group with 3 other students. They discuss their project plan and talk about learning preferences. They all prefer to dim the lights above their work pod using the natural light from the window and create a more informal seating arrangement. They use the window to sketch out their project plan as they talk with markers from the nearby storage cabinet. The work plan includes some research time where they will work in pairs by changing up the partitions and tables. They will also collect some data using probes in the garden mods situated next to the classroom. Using this data, combined with the rest of their research, they will arrive at a solution and ultimately make a presentation to the class about how they created a solution to the problem. They can use the space they are in now to practice the presentation using the collaboration monitors which they can connect to with their laptops.
It is time to move to the next class, and Zaira and her group are surprised at how quickly the time has flown in Environmental Studies. Zaira laughs when she reminds her classmates about how they dreaded coming out to the dark, isolated portables last year. Now, they are complaining about having to go into the “cave” of the school where they have no control over the environment. Oh well, Zaira knows that she can look forward to coming back to Environmental Studies tomorrow!!!
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In order to design this new highly flexible classroom for Zaira and the students at Napa, the design team built a Process to engage the students, which resulted in a Design Concept built around Project Based Learning which adhered to the following Project Goals:
1. Self-sustaining and high-performing
2. Site-Adaptable
3. Flexible for Learning
4. Financially competitive
Process:
To engage students in the design process, the team facilitated two workshops lasting three days each. Students elected to participate based on personal interest in the project and the process. Like all project-based learning exercises, the students managed the process. The first workshop was organized around a series of design exercises including: Site Analysis/Documentation, a Learning Preferences Survey, Classroom Anthropology, and a charette to design the Ideal Learning Environments for Ms. Joanne/Biology and Mr. Paisley/Geometry.
The second workshop included a Learning Tools Survey, a Presentation to Educators and Administrators, and a review of Design Concept Alternatives to select a preferred alternative for development. Throughout the process, the team used a project blog to facilitate communication between the design team and the students.
While we learned many things from our work with the students of Napa New Tech High School, the lessons from the workshop can be summarized as follows:
To support project-based learning and the needs of 21st century learners, the classroom of the future must:
1. Support all types of learning and remove as many barriers to learning as possible.
2. Provide “Just in Time” Space – space that is infinitely and immediately adaptable to meet the needs of learners
3. Provide immediate access to tools and resources for learning.
Design Concept:
Working with the students, the design team developed a concept for a prefabricated modular kit of parts that allow the learning environment to be both specific and highly adaptable to the needs of the users. The users order components, which are then flat-packed and shipped to the site. Once unloaded, a team of skilled or unskilled laborers assembles the components on a prepared site.
The system begins with a lightweight recycled aluminum structural frame based on 12’ (3.6M) module. Once the structure is assembled, 4’ X 12’ (1.2M X 3.6M) insulated panels are lifted and placed by hand and locked together to create the structural floor. Then, 4’ X 12’ (1.2M X 3.6M) tapered insulated panels are lifted and placed by hand to create a self-draining roof. Once the roof is in place, 4’ X 12’ (1.2M X 3.6M) wall panels are lifted and placed by hand to complete the building envelope.
Inside the learning environment, services and conditioned air are delivered from under a raised access floor. This allows users to create comfortable conditions anywhere in the learning environment and connect to power, data, and other utilities “on the fly”. This also keeps the ceiling surface available for daylight harvesting and high-performance artificial lighting systems. Lightweight mobile furniture, equipment, and screen-walls allow the space to be configured at a moment’s notice to meet the needs of the users.
The system also includes a wide variety of landscape modules that can be added to create outdoor learning environments. These modules include everything from wooden decks and pervious pavers to vegetated roofs and vegetable gardens. Further, high-performance systems can be added to generate energy, harvest daylight, capture rainwater, etc. With simple “plug and play” connections, these modules can be added over time as the budget allows.
Simple graphic assembly instructions assist skilled and/or non-skilled laborers in deploying the system. A Users Guide is provided to guide learners and facilitators in adapting the space to meet their needs.
Project-based Learning:
The students at Napa New Tech High School are pursuing their education through Project-based Learning. Project-based Learning is a learning methodology that integrates content and processes by solving real problems through collaboration. One of the reasons PBL is powerful is that it is timely and relevant...based on REAL documents and problems and situations in context.
The process usually starts with an entry document that describes the project or problem. Students then work in small teams of 3-5 to create a project plan that includes identifying prior knowledge that will be useful for solving the problem and also identifying gaps in knowledge and resources required to gather the knowledge needed.
Once research is conducted and shared within the team, they try various approaches to solving the problem or completing the project. Once they have reached a satisfactory conclusion, they develop a presentation to share their solution(s) with their peers on other teams. The teacher takes the role of facilitator throughout the process, providing coaching and mini-lessons on a variety of necessary skills and tools. The teacher is also the creator of the project and the developer of the criteria by which the presentations will be judged by the teacher, a review panel of experts and/or the students themselves.
The ideal environment for this type of learning is “Just in Time” space – space that is agile and responsive to the activities and the learners’ preferences. The ability to support whole group instruction, small group collaboration and research, student presentations, and individual reflection in succession or simultaneously is critical. In addition, the ability of the space to respond to a variety of learning preferences for lighting, temperature, mobility, sound, color, and processing modes enhances the learning experience and provides access for all students to engage in both relevant and rigorous content and processes.
To dig deeper:
http://www.newtechhigh.org/Website2007/about-NTHS-PBL.html
http://www.newtechfoundation.org/press_articles.html
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/5319
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751748
