K -12 INSIGHTS
CONTENTS 3 Introduction 5 Insights The Future of Learning 5 Designing for Change 6 Re-Inventing the Classroom 7 Sit/Stand 9 Human-Centered Design 10 Ruckus Grant Program 11 Planning Ideas 13
17 Inspiration
For more inspiration, visit ki.com/K12
CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
Insightful, Responsive Educational Spaces Supporting active, learning-centered approaches. As we look toward the future, what might the learning environment of tomorrow become? Supporting the development of world-class learning environments has been – and always will be – at the very core of KI. It’s what we do best. KI built its reputation for excellence in education over 70 years, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our educational partners to support a “customer of one” experience and develop a roadmap for future innovation, specific to your unique learning culture.
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INTRODUCTION
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INSIGHTS
The Future of Learning If learning can take place anywhere and everywhere, what is the point of the classroom? As education providers head into unchartered territory, how will their physical spaces need to adapt and evolve? In response to an economy evolving away from the industrial era, there is an enormous transformation underway in education and learning – from rote-based to more active learning,
more active learning – where students are taught not WHAT to think, but HOW to think – the physical environment where these new pedagogies are delivered must also evolve. Educators must challenge orthodoxies and explore extreme models that are disrupting education.
The future of learning is freelance. It is estimated that 65% of jobs available in the coming decades don’t yet exist, and our education system must reflect the new employment landscape. Technological advances including automation will have a dramatic effect on the kinds of skills that will be required. As education moves away from rote-based to
Freelance learning environments teach students how to think critically, collaborate and communicate — the abilities hiring managers say they are missing.
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Designing for Change Defining what is right for your school. There are many trends related to learning styles and teaching methods...but what is right for your school? The Design -Thinking process is central to helping learning cultures change their behaviors and spaces and scale the changes to be authentic to a particular school or situation. By working through this process, we lay a foundation for new ideas and innovation; turning your vivid imagination into a realistic solution. Learn how to design for change through our interactive learning space workshop. Visit ki.com/LearningSpaceWorkshop.
DESIGN-THINKING PROCESS Empathize – with the needs, wishes, wants, and desires of students, faculty, administration, and community
Empathize
Define – create definitions of these needs
Test
Define
Ideas – propose ideas on how to meet these needs Prototype – form prototypes of pedagogy and/or space
Prototype
Ideas
Test – expose the prototypes to human interaction – let students populate the prototypical spaces INSIGHTS
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Re-Inventing the Classroom Designing learning spaces that transition from one task or learning tactic to the next. Today’s kids learn differently. Research shows that games, technology, and practical applications speak to them. Schools need to respond by redesigning the classroom to allow teachers to put these methods to work. To fully deploy these newer, more effective teaching methods, schools will have to redesign their classrooms and use classroom furniture so that teachers and students can seamlessly transition from one task or learning tactic to the next. Teachers also need to be able to mold learning environments to fit each lesson. For example, if a teacher wants to break students into small teams for a project-based learning assignment, she should be able to reconfigure lightweight, mobile tables and classroom seating. Schools must adopt newer, more effective teaching methods – and give teachers flexible classrooms that make such tactics feasible.
MAKER-CENTERED LEARNING Maker-centered learning spaces promote uninhibited exploration, support curiosity and encourage high levels of interaction and collaboration. The maker movement is really a sign of what tomorrow’s learning will look like and it’s time to draw inspiration from and embrace this movement! Maker culture features a connected and personal focus on active learning and doing. Maker-centered learning develops agency, meaning students become independently capable of expressing creative confidence and curiosity within their environment. No longer do we find educators at the front of a room lecturing. Instead, we see an inspired shift, from teacher to mentor, whereby distributed teaching and learning is occurring throughout a fluid, interdisciplinary process. STEM and STEAM live here. Students use technical tools (i.e. 3D printers) that proclaim that a “different” kind of learning is happening within this space. Download or order the Maker-Centered Learning Environments brochure at ki.com.
Read more at blog.ki.com: To Educate the Next Generation, Reinvent the Classroom
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VIDEO GAMES They’re no longer just ways to avoid doing homework. They’re effective teaching tools. A study from the University of Southern California found that fifth-graders who played an iPad math game about fractions for just 20 minutes a day for five days boosted their test scores by 15 percent.
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING Project-based learning doesn’t just teach the “what” – the subject matter. It teaches the “how” – how to work together and solve problems. These sorts of skills are in high demand in the workplace. Projectbased learning is collaborative by nature, instructionally driven, and geared toward “career readiness”. Students develop a conceptual understanding derived through contextual projects. The result is expert-
level growth, inquiry, and challenge within an extended process. Key elements include reflection and feedback as the forms of assessment as well as exhibition and presentation to public audience (not teacher).
VIRTUAL LEARNING Teachers can also enhance students’ skills by simulating real-world events in safe environments – otherwise known as “virtual learning.” For instance, instead of merely watching a nurse administer medication or oxygen to a real patient, nursing students at New York University practice their skills on Human Patient Simulators. Because they offer almost limitless opportunities to perfect a skill, simulators can dramatically improve students’ performance.
INSIGHTS
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Sit/Stand
Improve student achievement. Two out of three kids today don’t get recommended levels of activity. And, childhood obesity is on the rise - near epidemic levels. So, what’s behind the sit/stand trend? When Sit/ Stand furniture is used in classrooms, it encourages students to move – thereby improving attention, engagement, cognitive function, health, and academic achievement.
Standing in the classroom can improve health and student achievement by: • increasing hear t rates and burning more calories • increasing circulation (more oxygen), resulting in greater student attention, on-task behavior, aler tness and classroom engagement • sustaining healthy metabolism, leading to better focus and faster thinking (and better test scores) • reducing sedentary behavior Read more at blog.ki.com: To Sit or Stand? The Argument for Standing in the Workplace Additional resource: www.corbettinc.com/blog/2017/5/3/ keep-kids-moving-introducing-kis-intellectwave-sitstand-desk 9
Human-Centered Design Focusing on the needs of students and teachers.
Human-Centered Design is essential to designing spaces that suppor t learning and build a positive experience. A Human-Centered Design process simply means that we design for the humans who will use the solution. Design is not based on our preconceived notions of what an effective learning environment is or “me too” inclinations. Human-Centered Design creates the “why” and also lays the foundation for authentic creation. People – students, faculty, administrators and community – are the core of all learning. Human-centered design puts their needs first. All too often, features outweigh the functional merit of products. Shifting the focus from what a product is, to what is does, dramatically alters its value. Design teams immerse themselves in learning environments to see how people actually interact, live, and learn within the real world. They observe. They listen. They become part of the learning experiences.
“Being there” allows our understanding of design to evolve and respond to not only the physical needs of people but more importantly their behavioral needs as well. This process reinforces the belief that products and environments are for and about people. Start with empathy. Share an experience with a student and/or teacher. Viewing a challenge, a learning environment, or their education goals brings perspective, removes guesswork and prevents ideas from being put in silos by our “me too” tendencies. Collecting qualitative data about user’s behavior leads to design drivers that make great design, human-centered design, possible. Read more at blog.ki.com: • The “Human” in Human-Centered Design • Human-Centered Design Defies Convention
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Ruckus Grant Program The Impact of Furniture Within Learning Spaces THE IDEA
THE PROCESS
In the past, research has been done by others on the effects of the environment on learning. However, for these studies, the complete environments were altered (curriculum, walls, teaching styles, as well as furniture) so results were generalized to the complete environment.
KI reached out to education leaders, schools and universities across the country asking for participants in a controlled research project to determine the impact of furniture on learning spaces. A simple application garnered information on pedagogies, existing learning space configurations and more.
So, KI decided to test on an un-biased, datadriven basis, the impact that furniture alone has on student learning and teacher facilitation within the classroom.
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From a pool of 200 applicants, nine facilities were selected; three K-5, three 6-12, and three Higher Education. Participants then
THE RESULTS agreed to freeze their respective “control” environment – no changes to anything; not flooring, wall color, lighting, technology, etc. They also completed initial surveys to establish a baseline measure of overall effectiveness of the furniture within the environment.
The survey questions focused on five things: • Movement • Comfortable Tech Use • Group Work • Engagement/Participation • Enjoyment/Retention
KI then swapped the existing furniture with a kit of new furniture (included KI’s Ruckus Collection, MyPlace Lounge, Instruct and Connection Zone Screens).
The findings show that adaptable furniture solutions provide a positive increase in all these areas. While positive in all age levels, the younger the grade, the more pronounced the positive impact. The top driver in all age levels was the freedom to move.
After a semester of use, the survey was repeated. Results were contrasted to the initial survey results (the established baseline).
FINDINGS • Move “however I want” – 61% increase • Work Comfortably with Technology – 36% increase • Work in Groups – 34% increase • Engagement/Participation – 32% increase • Enjoyment/Retention – 32% increase
WHAT’S NEXT KI is committed to the continued development of world-class learning spaces. We will continue to delve into the role of furniture on learning dynamics. The results of this research provide empirical context to shape our new product development both now and in the future. Datadriven results showing a desire for mobility/ adaptability in furniture, also aid specifiers and designers in furniture selection that can improve student engagement and much more.
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Planning Ideas Be inspired!
This layout features regenerative, focus and ideation spaces. Integrated within the work area, MyPlace offers the convenience of soft seating for taking a break, reading or reviewing ideas with a peer. An ideation room is highlighted with Connection Zone Screens for writing out ideas, while Ruckus chairs on casters allow easy movement and collaboration.
This layout is designed to accommodate a variety of learning and work styles with an emphasis on interactive areas and spaces for ideation. The layout includes a conference room ideal for large gatherings, a large lounge area for collaboration, a more enclosed, private lounge space and finally an open, configurable work space.
FOCUS
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INTERACTION
I D E AT I O N
R E G E N E R AT I V E
SCALABILITY
This collaborative environment is ideal for project work and casual team meet-ups. CafĂŠ-height Pillar tables support both individual and group work. Mobile Ruckus chairs can easily be grouped together for a quick huddle. This space is easily reconfigurable for fast-paced students and workers.
This layout features a multi-purpose learning space with a variety of seat heights. MyPlace lounge and Apply stools serve as overflow seating or perfect pods for small group discussions after a presentation.
FOCUS
INTERACTION
I D E AT I O N
R E G E N E R AT I V E
SCALABILITY
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This layout supports casual interaction and regeneration. Itoki and Sway provide additional seating around the central MyPlace configuration. Along with markerboard table surfaces and Connection Zone screens, these elements create a flexible collaboration space.
In this layout, Lightline glass panels create two enclosed rooms. While one room features a cafĂŠ-height Backbone media platform, the other utilizes MyPlace lounge pieces for a more relaxed learning space. Additional touchdown spaces outside the rooms act as landing areas for quick meet-ups or follow-up discussions.
FOCUS
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INTERACTION
I D E AT I O N
R E G E N E R AT I V E
SCALABILITY
This layout is divided into two spaces via Unite panels. On one side, a lounge area features MyPlace squares and rounds to create a regenerative social hub. On the other side, Ruckus worktables and stools support collaborative learning or team huddles.
This space was designed to support collaboration with comfort. Reconfigurable lounge pieces create endless ways of seating and provide a clear sightline to the speaker. Markerboards placed throughout the space promote ideation and encourage interactions.
FOCUS
INTERACTION
I D E AT I O N
R E G E N E R AT I V E
SCALABILITY
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Ruckus 4-leg chairs w/casters, Pirouette tables
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GET INSPIRED! Learning can take place anywhere and everywhere. Visit ki.com/k12 for insight on furniture solutions that support the learning environments of the future.
Top: MyPlace lounge seating, Hub modular seating Bottom Left: MyWay lounge chair, Strive 4-leg chairs w/casters, Pillar tables Bottom Right: Strive 4-leg chairs w/casters, Pirouette tables
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Top: Connection Zone benching, Strive 4-leg chairs w/casters, Sway lounge chairs Bottom: Affina lounge seating, Intellect Wave chairs, Sela table
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- 4-leg chairs w/casters, Pillar tables Doni
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- cafĂŠ stools, Backbone media platform Top: D oni Bottom: Strive HD chairs, Pirouette tables Back Inside Cover: Ruckus stack chairs, stools, and worktables, Pillar tables
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Los Angeles 2840 N. Lima Street, Unit 110 Burbank, CA 91504 818.333.3160
Orange County 23303 La Palma Avenue Yorba Linda, CA 92887 714.312.3755
bluespaceinteriors.com