CMD Blog

The Changing Learning Environment

19th, February 2012

Schools are places which the majority of pupils either love or hate; some children enjoy the whole experience of education whereas others cannot wait for the opportunity to escape and leave it all behind. Memories of your time at school can be influenced by the physical attributes of the classrooms you were taught in. Classrooms have come a long way from the days of rows of uncomfortable wooden desks and chairs all facing a dusty chalk board. Many classrooms now have a layout which provides a much better learning environment for children. There are various ways to lay out a room and there isn’t necessarily one which is correct as it very much depends on the purpose of the room and what is going to be taught there.

Classrooms which are arranged badly without much thought given to it can be dark and oppressive places when really they need to be a light, fun and stimulating environment for children to learn. As you will know from your own experience, it is much easier to pay attention to what is being said if you are comfortable and at ease. The comfort of children needs to be considered when rooms are being designed and arranged. There is now a greater emphasis on what the children require and you are more likely to find ergonomic desktops and workstations for pupils and these can be changed and adjusted to suit their needs and the requirements of the lesson being taught at that particular time.

There is now a greater amount of technology in schools than there ever has been previously and pupils now spend considerable amounts of time doing work on computers. Computers are another area where comfort and ergonomics need to be considered. The ideal situation is to have computers with height adjustable monitor stands so that they can be adjusted to the correct height and eye level for the particular pupil who is using it at the time. Having the monitor set up at the correct height prevents any straining of the eyes or neck in order to see properly. Lighting is an important element in the learning environment and one which can often be overlooked or underestimated. Many classrooms have very strong and glaring lights which can either be on or off. It is much better to have lighting control boxes which allow the teacher to control the lights in different areas and to use dimmers to illuminate parts of the room depending on the lesson. If the pupils are watching a documentary on a screen then it may be better to have the lights off near the screen and to dim other lights so that there is still sufficient light to make notes rather than simply switching everything off.