I came across a post on the Upside Down Education blog today that discusses the effect that furniture can have upon elearning pedagogy in a classroom http://upsidedown.edublogs.org/2011/11/06/learning-spaces/ In my Building a 5th Wall in Your Classroom  I suggest how this can be done by simply moving furniture around.  The presentation is below:

I was inspired to make this conclusion having seen the excellent presentation by David Jakes who describes how the layout of furniture in a classroom has a direct impact upon the learning that it can facilitate, it is well worth a look. http://www.slideshare.net/djakes/would-you-want-to-learn-here-3015221

The earthquake of 22 February 2011 was a tragic event that will forever mark a point in time for Cantabrians and all of New Zealand. The impact upon the families directly affected by the loss of life and the loss of everything else is one, that for those of us unnafected, can not begin to imagine. The immediate and everlasting change that the shaking ground has wrought on the architectural heritage of Christchurch is a social history marker. And while many are suffering, the events of 22 February and its aftermath are also an opportunity in time to record the impact and change to the fabric of an entire city for all to see.

A tool like History Pin should be used by all the people in Christchurch. I am suggesting that every single home owner, tennant, property owner and business owner (when they are allowed into the restricted cordon) photograph their building as it is today, as it will become over the coming weeks and months; as services are replaced, repaired and life returns to normal and finally when the repairs to each building are completed, each stage of this healing process be recorded in photographs. These photographs should be posted to History Pin and placed in the appropriate Google Maps Street view orientation. Doing this, future generations will be able to see what Christchurch was before the quake, what it is currently and what it will become. It will provide a slice through time for every suburb so that we, who were not affected, can see the true scale of this devastating quake on ordinary people.

From this terrible event it is possible for Christchurch to record the total impact on each suburb, each street corner, each home without prejudice and to document the transition back to normality. If everyone does this simple recording task, with their own home or place of work, a complete record in images of the destruction and rebuilding of Christchurch can be recorded. The web2.0 tools such as Google Maps and History Pin offer us the opportunity to record change as never before. From this bleak moment in time there is the opportunity for clarity, one I think that is too important to ignore.

If you have been inspired to have a go at changing the layout of your class in time for the start of the new term/academic year, as a result of the slideshow I highlighted in my last post then this tool might be just what you need.  Using this tool you can play with your space and the furniture within it, from the comfort of your computer and not have to get all hot bothered moving furniture until your design is just right.  http://classroom.4teachers.org/ allows you to do this.  You can create a scale model of your room (imperial units only) and once you have arrived at a design you are happy with, save it and print it off.  Let me know how you get on and share images of your new design layout and the impact it has.

Have you heard the one about the C19th architecture, the C20th trained teachers and the C21st students they teach and how they are all mutually exclusive to one another? It is the, if only, argument. Teachers in old schools look enviously down the road at schools that have just been built and are therefore, in their eyes ideal C21 learning spaces. The reality is that an architect who endured 13 years of school in a box of four walls is going to be an expert on the needs of the modern education environment, right? Yeah Right! It is not necessarily true that a modern brand new school will provide the ideal space for the C21 curriculum.  The presentation above makes this point, but slide 28 says it all for me: “The right space does not guarantee success, but the wrong space can make success unlikely.”  This is a challenge for us all.  How can we adapt the physical environment that we have been endowed with to foster the right space dynamics for a classroom of the twenty first century?  Slide 36 says “School is no longer constrained to how far the bus can travel in the morning.  Schools will be the last to notice.”

Room dynamics can be changed as simply as moving desks.  Often we group and organise the furniture based on behaviour minimisation strategies.  Satisfied at our ploy of containment and suppression we then wonder why our pupils are not performing!  What would happen in your class if you designed your students’ desks arrangement around  a class philosphy of engagement, collaboration or interaction?  The last few slides are of  the same classroom, empty of all ornament except the desks and several configurations of the same desks.  You can feel the different vibes and energy from these desk arrangements, imagine the positive and negative impact the arrangement of your class is having on your students.  Over the holidays, move your desks around to create a vibe of engagement.