May 2006 — Smart Classroom
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Room With a View
Outfitting group study spaces requires careful deliberation, to create an environment most conducive to learning.
THE DESIRE TO CREATE an effective group study space leads naturally to the questions: What do we need, and how much is it going to cost? Depending on the type of learning activity intended for the space and the appropriate level of technology, the answers about cost can range from “Not much!” to “Goodness gracious!”
Group study spaces are really group learning spaces; they are an alternative environment to the classroom and aren’t meant merely for student use. The educational activities that take place in them can often be peer-to-peer, teacher-led, teacher-moderated, teacher-monitored, or any combination thereof. To drive the outcome of a group study space project, it is important to determine what is appropriate and necessary by answering questions about the needs of the users:
- Will users of the space be making formal presentations to each other?
- Is the space going to be used for viewing media (videotape, DVD, streaming video, Webcasts, etc.)?
- To what degree will users be using technology to collaborate?
- What resources will users need to be connected to while in the space?
SPACE MATTERS: The study
area
should
be cozy, but not
stifling or too small.
Starting With the Basics
A group study space needs to be conducive to small-group learning. The room itself needs to have a cozy feel, without feeling oppressively small. Additionally, acoustics play a large role in learning, in and out of the classroom, and group study spaces are no exception. Informal exchanges among the group can result in a great deal of learning, and so are every bit as important for users to hear clearly as is a lecture delivered in a classroom. Therefore, it follows that the basic room design should keep classroom acoustical best practices in mind:
- Reasonable isolation from outside noise sources.
- Care taken to reduce rumble and excessive sound from air-handling systems, elevators, bathrooms, electrical transformers, and other sources of distracting noise.
- No square layouts.
- Use of sound-absorbing materials to limit reverberation within the room.
