Today’s children are born with a tweet. Generation Z has technology in hand from their earliest memories and they grow up and learn in a world unlike any experienced by generations before them. Writing is becoming obsolete. Colors are becoming essential for concentration. Learning through peers is becoming necessary for information retention. So how do teachers teach to this rising Gen Z classroom? Focusing on space is a good place to start.
Do you know what a makerspace is? It’s a dedicated creative space that is taking the K-12 world by storm. Classrooms across the country are providing these small satellite areas where students can use STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills to create something new. These spaces can be used for robotics, three-dimensional planning, or even recording music and posting it to the internet. The sky is the limit with makerspaces.
Looking beyond individual spaces, a better classroom environment as a whole helps students to learn better in our increasingly complex world. The Third Teacher, a collaborative project by renowned A&D firms around the world, explains the importance of a classroom’s environment as a “third teacher” for students and details ways classroom design can be used to transform teaching and learning.
Gen Z needs to shift throughout the day. Mobile pieces in the classroom allow students to get up and move around, keeping their brains sharp and engaged. Group work is vital to today’s generation. Many classrooms today gather students around to learn as a group, allow them to pull away to process information, then bring everyone back in again to make or discuss something together.
Continental Office is skilled in the design of today’s learning spaces and we offer a variety of furniture to meet your classroom’s needs so that you can focus on engaging your students in active, collaborative environments. The classrooms of tomorrow are the classrooms of today. The future is now.
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