Friday, September 16, 2011

What I Learned Today....In order to achieve great things we have to take a risk!

I believe that in order to create change we need to take risks.  These educators did just that!!!

New GR innovation high school opens on the Kent ISD campus



Updated: Tuesday, 06 Sep 2011, 12:47 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 06 Sep 2011, 12:47 PM EDT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - One hundred ninth-graders started class Tuesday at the new Kent Innovation High School.The students are from every district in the Kent Intermediate School District.
Ground was broken in June on the school located in a wing of the Kent Career Technical Center on the Kent ISD campus. The new school features "glass studios, towering ceilings, futuristic furniture that encourages interaction and walls of flat screens for research and presentation," according to a news release.
The school is designed specifically as an incubator, intended to inspire innovation in every district, officials said. Innovation High is focused on learning through projects and problems, with teachers as facilitators. Students work together in teams. Technology also plays an important role in this new school, with every student working from a laptop and the Internet. There are no textbooks.
Courses feature blended content, such as the Bio-Lit class, where students will study both biology and literature together, viewing topics from both lenses. The format and content are based on the New Tech Network from Napa, Calif.
Advisors from the community and the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce will assist students in their research and final presentations.
"We are so excited to see this first day of school in a very new learning environment. The superintendents and our staff have worked hard for several years to make this school a reality," Kevin Konarska, superintendent of Kent ISD, said in a statement. "We believe this initiative will demonstrate how to personalize learning and engage students in their own education. We know this collaborative school is already inspiring and encouraging new programs and initiatives."
Another 100 students will enroll in each of the next few years until the school reaches its capacity of 400.
The public will be invited to tour and meet staff at the new school at a community open house this fall, with more information to be available at the school's website.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

What I Learned Today....You learn something everyday if you pay attention. Ray LeBlond

As we approach the last quarter of the year, I can't help but reflect on how fast this year has gone by.  Some things have stayed the same and others are changing at exponential speeds.
  
Take the library, for instance.  When I was growing up the only way that I remember being able to have a book of my own to read was to go to the library and check one out.  I remember going into the Oak Street Library in Saratoga, an old beautiful building probably built in the late 1800s.  The first rule was shush! No talking, no interacting, be as quiet as a mouse. It was intimidating; certainly not very welcoming.  All I wanted to do was get the book and go home where I could read the book.  If I had trouble with the words, I could sit with my brother, and he would help me.  To me, the library felt more like a bank that a place for learning and sharing.
Today, I am happy to say that thel library is now turning into a place not only for getting a book but a place to read, learn and share and One Workplace is helping to make this happen!!








Check out the great pictures of the New “Napa County Library” recently completed by Andy Anzar in conjunction with Marian Morioka of KYOOB Design firm.

Monday, July 11, 2011

What I Learned Today: PolyVision is a hit!

At the recent International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) conference, PolyVision was a major hit with the attendees! Check out the videos below for details.




More about ISTE:
"ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education.

ISTE represents more than 100,000 education leaders and emerging leaders throughout the world and informs its members regarding educational issues of national and global scope.

ISTE members include individuals, affiliate organizations, and corporations:

  • 20,000+ individual members
  • 80 affiliate organizations
  • 89 individual member countries
  • 6 affiliate regions worldwide
  • 65 corporations worldwide

ISTE membership is a powerful and meaningful way for educators to connect with peers, to gather in a variety of forums to share the challenges and excitement of teaching, and to be part of a community that leads the transformation of education."

Monday, June 6, 2011

What I Learned Today: Space Does Matter

From Jan...

I had the honor of representing One Workplace this past weekend at the Ohlone College Citizen of the Year event. At the event, Ohlone College Foundation proudly honored the Spring 2011 scholarship recipients. 211 scholarships were awarded, totaling more than $114,300!!

Many of these students attended classes at the Ohlone “Newark” Community College Campus. They couldn’t wait to share with me their individual experiences of learning in a 21st Century Learning Environment. Space and Place do matter!

Read future blogs about how the “Newark” Campus at Ohlone Community College  helped them achieve a unique learning experience.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

What I Learned Today...media:scape in Stanford


Stanford’s SCIL Center is still relevant and a great tool for educators to see what works in the classroom…Not just for Higher Education but for all levels including k-12.

Friday, May 20, 2011

What I Learned Today: media:scape in High Schools

media:scape can be used in so many ways. Check out the ways how one teacher is using it in their high school classroom:

  • Quick exchange of evidence during a debate, such as the ones held in US History, AP US History, and International Relations
  • Switching between PowerPoint Presentations in multiple classes
  • For showing graphs and working equations for Math class
  • Using a tablet to write and share notes
  • Quickly change between videos on different student’s computer for the documentary presentation, such as done in English 11
  • Compiling student’s research data
  • For teachers to see what their students are working on.
  • White board presentations for Physics
  • StoryCorps presentations for US History
  • For showing strategy as a coach to team members

For more information, check out the link below:
http://vvrotny.org/2011/05/17/rethinking-furniture-use-of-mediascapes/

Monday, May 9, 2011

What I Learned Today...Just Bring It!

Education in the largest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual.

In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another.

Etymologically, the word education is derived from educare (Latin) "bring up", which is related to educere "bring out", "bring forth what is within", "bring out potential" and ducere, "to lead". (Source Wikipedia)

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What does education mean to you? Let us know in the comments!

Monday, May 2, 2011

What I Learned Today...The “ Double- Loaded Corridor”

In the traditional educational institutions of the past, school corridors were used as a way to transport students to identical, self- contained classrooms…the factory model of control and direct.

Today “ double loaded “ has taken on a new meaning….. 21st Century Learning environments are now using the “double loaded  corridor” to  transform student  learning.
Stanford  School of Engineering “ Huang Building”

Every space is a learning space!

Monday, April 18, 2011

What I Learned Today…Educational Furniture ..."Node" as a learning tool

Activity based learning can incorporate all kinds of tools.  Steelcase’s new innovative Classroom Seating product "Node" has been a big hit with the teachers as well as students in a unique way.  See how Livermore Valley Charter School incorporated the use of the Steelcase Node Chair into their media arts program.


Monday, April 11, 2011

What I Learned Today...Extreme Makeover; Ed Tech Edition

I recently attended the latest C.A.S.H. (California's Coalition for Adequate School Housing) conference in Sacramento. A wide variety of individuals attended the conference, includling representatives for California school districts, county offices of education, private businesses, and state agency personnel. Kevin MacQuarrie (a principal with WLC Architects, Inc.) was one of the facilitators at a workshop entitled: Extreme Makeover; Ed Tech Edition. The workshop was designed around the following question:

What's the point of talking to our customers about adding the latest in new media techology to create 21st century classrooms (iPads, student response clickers such as Quizdom, and interactive whiteboards such as eno) if the desks and chairs can't move?

To bring this question to light, Kevin asked One Workplace to provide all of the furniture for this workshop in order to give the attendees a chance to "walk into a space designed for the environment of the 'now' - complete with Ed-Tech Learning devices, room/space solutions, and infrastructure to support them." We equipped the space with node chairs, campfire loung seating, akira tables, cobi stools and chairs, and groupwork tables.

The workshop was a big hit! People were very responsive to the furniture and the space and commented, "this is what a 21st century classroom is all about. It's not just adding technology, it is also about creating an effective space with furniture."

Check out the pictures from the workshop below and let me know what you think in the comments!

Monday, April 4, 2011

What I Learned Today...Changing Education Paradigms

By definition, I am a visual learner and this video beautifully articulates  the educational challenges of the 21st century. Let me know what you think in the comments!



Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What I Learned Today...Stanford's GSB media:scapes


Recently, One Workplace had the opportunity to be a part of an exciting project at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). According to Mike Drez, "as Stanford was creating the GSB of the future, they were focused on how to help the student teams collaborate. Collaboration amongst student teams is a real hallmark of the GSB and they wanted to create collaboration rooms that could enhance the rooms that would then enhance the experience."

The GSB team asked Mike and Sandy Kowalchik to review interactive board solutions with them. After an onsite meeting with the team, an opportunity presented itself to add media:scape with eno to a mock collaborative space in the GSB MBA Lab.

Design concepts were reviewed and GSB decided to move ahead with the media:scape mock-up with eno integrated. A live and ongoing mock-up of the solution was implemented, and RoomWizard was added soon after the space went live.

The solution did require some attending to, and Sandy K. spent entire days onsite coaching students on how they could take advantage of the solutions provided in the mock-up. word quickly spread within the GSB MBA student body, and things have been buzzing since!
The mock-up space has been booked 24/7 for close one year now! We requested timing to pull the mock-up out, but the GSB team asked that we please do not uninstall the solution until they are completely moved into their new campus. How could we say no.

How did this impact decisions for their new campus? They decided to change long existing plans for more traditional AV solutions to media:scape in (26) spaces including student group project rooms, faculty meeting rooms, and traditional conference rooms!

Phase one of the overall project installed in December 2010, and phase two is installing March 2011. Thanks to the help and technical expertise of Sandy Kowalchik, this project was installed quickly and seamlessly.

Where do we go from here? Buzz from very high levels within GSB say that they should plan for media:scape to be in all rooms!

No question that the ease of information sharing allows for deeper and faster collaboration to occur in these student team-intensive environments.





Monday, March 21, 2011

What I Learned Today...Revolutionizing Education

Recently, I had the chance to speak with a 21st century Education Consultant about classrooms of the future in Silicon Valley. He emphatically stated that our education system in California is broken. He indicated that we need to revamp our thinking of how the physical space integrates with new styles of pedogogy and new technologies.
The following article from Fast Company gives examples of how the new technology from Apple can help bring about change to the classrooms of today.

How the iPad 2 Will Revolutionize Education

BY Gregory FerensteinThu Mar 3, 2011
New features facilitate remote learning, exploration, and stylish lectures.

"The iPad 2's wealth of new features is a boon for tech-hungry classrooms.
Enhanced Facetime will be great for remote lectures or office hours, high-definition video editing will facilitate exploratory learning and reporting, and real-time image mirroring will stylize lectures in science, history, and geography. Additionally, mobile learning is made possible through the iOS 4.3 hotspot update, permitting Internet connectivity for apple phones, tablets, and laptops. This will be especially valuable for recession-hit school districts, such as Detroit, scrambling for ways to solve ballooning class sizes. Skeptical educators can be relieved that the iPad was deemed classroom ready by Reed College, and that remote learning can be just as effective as in-class lecturing.

Mobile Learning
Educators are eager to break students free from of the nap-inducing prison of concrete lecture halls. Universities, such as Abu Dhabi, are integrating classrooms into mobile devices to keep procrastinating students alert on due dates, keep discussions alive after the bell rings, and promote serendipitous idea sharing. Apple’s new front-facing camera will facilitate interaction between students and teachers as they roam campuses and cities.

Education isn’t restricted to just peers within the same school. For language learning, Marquette uses Skype to connect nascent speakers from different countries. Finding a partner school will likely be even easier with Skype’s new online community for teachers.

Public school districts, such as Detroit, could ease the pressure of crammed classrooms by permitting exploratory research in museums, at gardens, or public libraries. With real-time communication, specific class times could still be maintained, so that all students are learning together for at least some period of the day.
Incidentally, the iPad could spell the end of snow-day cancellations. Sorry, kids.

Lectures and Office Hours
In the near future, lectures will become the homework. The Gates and Google funded Khan Academy found that lectures were more effective when students could listen to and replay lectures at their own pace at home. The iPad's video capture feature will allow teachers to join the movement by pre-recording their lectures as homework the day before a new classroom topic. Additionally, teachers could hold virtual office hours from anywhere in the world.

Duke University has been encouraging professors to hold online office hours for years, so that jet-set professors could keep in touch with students while at conferences and also to encourage their faculty to engage with eager learners outside the university.

Mirror Image Lecturing
Despite the hype of mobile learning, traditional lectures will dominate classrooms for the foreseeable future. Why not spice lectures up? Apple reveals how mirror imaging, which projects images from the iPad to a larger screen, would work inside a classroom.

Google’s new Body Browser would be great for anatomy classes (and, is available now). In the near future, we expect a host of interactive textbooks to augment lectures.
These are just a few of the uses that are immediately obvious. However, the wonderful thing about technology is that investigating new applications is educational in it-self. Tech-happy students will be eager to explore new ways of using tablets and sharing their discoveries with the world" (http://www.fastcompany.com/).

To read the original article, click here.

Monday, March 14, 2011

What I Learned Today...University of Michigan

Recently, Steelcase put together a great video case study about the University of Michigan. As technology changes and learning styles evolve, the school has learned how to incorporate furniture that will allow students and teachers to easily adapt.

"The University of Michigan takes a fresh approach to their classrooms, implementing a strategy that includes engagement, collaboration and flexibility. A variety of classroom set-ups and solutions offer students a variety of classroom experiences. Each incorporating collaborative tools and technology."

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

What I Learned Today...EM Strasbourg and Node

Students at EM Strasbourg in France put together a great video as an introduction to the school. The video was made through the eyes of a student sitting in a Node by Steelcase chair. This fun and innovative video shows the many applications of Node while giving prospective students the chance to check out EM Strasbourg.

Monday, March 7, 2011

What I Learned Today...Stanford's D School

Check out this great video of Stanford University's D School. One Workplace is very excited to have been a part of this awesome project! Read below for more information about the D School.


"Our community culture and personality are strongly embodied by our environment. As you walk around the d.school, you'll notice a few things about the way we work. We're into modularity and adaptability. Most things around here are on casters so they can be readily repositioned. The walls are populated with whiteboards and other surfaces for capturing and sharing ideas. Informal team meeting spots abound, and more formal meeting rooms are abundant as well.

We see our space as a continual prototype to answer many questions: what type of space is best to bolster classroom learning? to support student teams? to foster collaboration? to enhance the student experience? and many more.

The use and manipulation of materials, ranging from walls to furniture, is evident throughout the new building. The architecture purposely exposes underlying material layers in the building to expose how it was constructed, a nod to the d.school’s engineering roots. By building an infrastructure that encourages its community to quickly manipulate space to suit a purpose, the d.school encourages students to acquire a mindfulness of how space can affect collaborative and creative work. Unlike classrooms that support only lecture-style teaching, the d.school’s project-based, experiential classes beckon the creation of an adaptable space" (dschool.stanford.edu).

To learn more, click here.

Monday, February 28, 2011

What I Learned Today...UC Berkeley's Durant Hall

One Workplace's work with Mark Cavagnero Associates was recently featured in California Home and Design magazine. We were recognized for UC Berkeley's fantastic new space at Durant Hall, which was the recipient of the 2011 CH+D Award for Commercial Design. Read on for the full article...

"When charged with restoring UC Berkeley’s stately 100-year-old Durant Hall and giving it a new life as the administrative offices of the College of Letters and Sciences, architect Mark Cavagnero was intent on finding a balance. He wanted the restoration to feel contemporary yet respectful of the landmark building.

The challenges started at the front door. Formerly the home of the university’s East Asian library, the Neoclassical entrance opened up directly into a staircase that failed to meet the required building code. Rather than installing wheelchair ramps that would interfere with the original architectural details, Cavagnero excavated a large plaza in front and turned a basement window into a new door, making the entry accessible and graphic yet discreet and dignified. The dark interiors were a fine home for dusty hardbacks but they were no place for the deans of humanities, so the dungeon-like lower level was brightened with white glass, stone, tile and Carrara marble, and divided into bright offices and meeting rooms. “They don’t call it the basement anymore; they call it the ground floor. So that’s a huge compliment,” says Cavagnero.

Upstairs in the grand hall, new and restored elements come together harmoniously. Original stone columns face off against frosted white glass partitions, and oversize, turn-of-the-century, suspended light fixtures dangle gracefully from new translucent ceiling panels that let light enter from the floor above. “At the end of the day, you try to find the right balance so there’s enough of both worlds that they both feel whole,” says Cavagnero" (http://www.californiahomeanddesign.com/).









For the original article, click here.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What I Learned Today...21st Century Learning Environments

  • According to Georgetown University researchers, improving a school's physical environment can increase test scores by up to 11%. 
"The term 'learning environment' suggests place and space – a school, a classroom, a library. And indeed, much 21st century learning takes place in physical locations like these. But in today‟s interconnected and technology-driven world, a learning environment can be virtual, online, remote; in other words, it doesn‟t have to be a place at all. Perhaps a better way to think of 21st century learning environments is as the support systems that organize the condition in which humans learn best – systems that accommodate the unique learning needs of every learner and support the positive human relationships needed for effective learning. Learning environments are the structures, tools, and communities that inspire students and educators to attain the knowledge and skills the 21st century demands of us all." - (excerpted from "21st Century Learning Environments" by Partnership for 21st Century Skills.)


Ohlone College


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

What I Learned Today...Can you count the ways you can use design to transform a teaching and learning environment?

Lets collaborate .....I'll  start and you can add your thoughts

1. Give students furniture that lets them twist and lean safely. The movement will increase their ability to concentrate.

2. Look at your learning space with 21st-century eyes: Does it work for what we know about learning today, or just for what we knew about learning in the past?

3. Free teachers from the traditional desk at the front of the classroom and encourage new settings for teaching and learning

4. A learning space that can be reconfigured on a dime will engage different kinds of learners and teachers.

5. Make them attractive and visible to reinforce the connection between physical activity and overall well-being.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!


Detroit Communication and Media Arts High School


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

What I Learned Today...Inspire - Iterate - Implement

Inspire- Iterate- Implement

Great checklist to assess how well your school design is meeting criteria that supports school transformation and features that address the attributes of high achieving schools.

School Design Checklist

Rate the following 1-10 scale with one as low and ten as high

_________1.  Learner-Centered Environment - the building is designed with students' needs placed first.
Comments -
  • The building supports the academic achievement mission.  It is welcoming and encourages exploration, and socialization. 
  • the design fosters learning, exploration, and independent thought
  • It supports a wide range of approaches including the formation of learning communities, collaborative learning, independent learning, interdisciplinary approaches and techniques that address learning style differences.

________2. Personalizing Environment - the building provides spaces for students to work and socialize with peers
Comment -
  • The building provides a variety of spaces for students to work and socialize with each other and to develop personalized relationships with adults to support achievement

________3. Program Adaptability - the building makes it possible to offer a wide variety of approaches through flexible and adaptable learning spaces that support multiple instructional strategies
Comment -
  • The building has spaces that can be altered and adapted to support a variety of functions: small group instruction, large group meeting, displays, performances and demonstration etc.. to support achievement.

_______4.  Community Connections - the building has spaces that encourage the community to become part of the learning community.
Comment-
  • The building design accommodates and encourages outside resources and services to be delivered to students on-site to support achievement.

_______5.  Aesthetics - the building is appealing, warm and inviting 
Comment-
  • The building should be a place of pride and one that inspires students to achieve

_______6. Safety - the building promotes safety and security.
 Comment -
  • To support achievement, the building has features that foster effective monitoring and features that minimize safety hazards.

_______7.  Collaboration - the building provides spaces for everyone to work collaboratively.
 Comment -
  • The building design promotes the celebration of diverse groups by fostering communication,, teaming, and the expression of commonalities/differences that positively support school tradition, history, spirit, and identity.

Overall Score ______________(70 Possible Points)

(Survey developed by the Seattle School District)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Mediascape working great

Check out Tevor's happy clients at Avinger who look quite stoked on the media:scape demo.  One Workplace set it up in their office yesterday and they're already using it!