1. Change the environment: “If you want to change pedagogy, you must first change the environment,” said Stubbs. As we think about the space where learning occurs, can furniture tilt the classroom towards being more student-centered? What types of changes do we need to make in order to make this a reality? Teachers should begin asking themselves which parts of the classroom are really used, begging the question which spaces are not. From an optimization stand point, both require attention — and change.

2. Reduce the clutter: Clutter is very distracting to the learning environment. Furniture should provide organizational solutions that aid in decluttering student and classroom clutter.

3. Integrate wireless and transparent technology: As you evaluate new classroom solutions, judge equipment on the level of seamless and transparent technology. In layperson’s terms, technology should not get in the way of the learning environment but be present when needed. And of course, always consider wireless power and data whenever possible.

4. Respond to multiple learning and teaching styles: Whether students are debating in small groups, viewing a PowerPoint or interacting within a lab, furniture should be adaptable to fit many modes of learning. “The ultimate goal for furniture is to respond to all current and future pedagogy,” said Stubbs.

5. Establish total mobility: A classroom brimming with mobile, student chairs is nice. Finding a solution to enable educators to configure the entire room effortlessly, throughout the day or year, meeting multiple teaching and learning styles, is completely different. When looking for classroom solutions, try to find solutions that address the whole classroom in order to maximize the full use of the word “mobile.”

6. Be adaptable, agile and recoverable: “The tools that we seek all need to perform in these three ways,” said Stubbs. The product, system and/or process needs to be able to adapt to constantly evolving educational landscapes. With that, they need to be simple and easy to use when transformed. And finally, will they provide opportunities that are recoverable, enabling the facilitators to set up their environments in familiar ways? Too many times, educators find a great configuration only to forget it when trying to recall it later.

7. Be multi-functional: As schools think to purchase furniture, one guiding question should be whether or not the furniture offers multiple uses. Can it be a storage unit one day, a stool for debates another and a surface on which to write later? Multifunctional tools eliminate the need to acquire multiple products that serve only one function, thus avoiding introducing clutter back into the environment.

8. Be fun, inviting and engaging: When families enter into the environment, they must no longer recognize the space from which their grandparents learned or has been iconized from old television shows like “Leave It to Beaver.” Spaces must be fun, inviting and engaging. Spaces must also permit choice, encourage facilitation and allow continuous professional growth.

At GEI, we often talk about the importance of the physical space within your classroom. And for good reason: Creative classroom environments have been linked to increased student learning. But limited budgets, grandfathered furniture and a lack of support can make it difficult to try new things. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take a stance.

Read more about Davis A. Stubbs II and how he’s creating customizable solutions to improve the educational environment to fit individualized needs here. For more information about GEI, visit: http://geiendorsed.com/

The post Eight Steps for Creating the Best Educational Space appeared first on School Construction News.

These are questions that school district administrators nationwide ask themselves as they plan facilities for the future. The first step in answering these questions is to develop educational specifications.

Educational specifications outline essential educational concepts and detailed facility requirements. They also include information about student needs, current and future instructional strategies, the impact of technology on education, and community use.

Students and teachers occupy most school buildings from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. That leaves a great deal of time for community use such as adult education classes, yoga instruction, art classes, civic meetings, blood drives, mentoring classes, senior citizen programs, and voting in local, state, and federal elections. Therefore, school facilities must be planned appropriately to create space for community events, athletics, recreation and the arts, while still creating a safe and secure learning environment for students.

School districts throughout the United States have been quite successful in achieving the community-school balance. For example, the Valdez Middle School in Valdez, Alaska not only serves the academic needs of middle school students for 180 days each year, it also serves the community for 365 days. Since Valdez is snowbound for multiple months, it is critical for the community to have recreational, athletic and arts space. Therefore, the middle school has a full-size competition gymnasium for both student and community athletic events and a restaurant-grade kitchen that serves several purposes. It is used to introduce middle school students to the culinary arts, to teach special-needs students life skills and to prepare meals or refreshments for public events.

Developing Educational Specifications
Here is a brief synopsis of the development process:
• Form an educational specifications committee: A committee comprised of teachers, administrators, support staff, special services staff, parents, students, central office personnel, city managers, and community members assist in the development of the educational specifications.
• Organize a visioning work session: This includes a discussion of trends related to education, the economy, demography and technology, as well as best practices in school organization and new concepts for school facilities.

• Conduct planning lab #1: Participants work in their program areas (e.g. academics, arts, physical education, and welcome center to name a few) to define the size and number of spaces, describe the adjacencies of spaces, activities in the spaces, and requirements for mechanical, plumbing, electrical, lighting, technology, furniture, equipment, flooring, doors, windows, and any other special considerations. Each group presents its ideas, which foster further discussion on topics such as flexible spaces, shared spaces, and spatial adjacencies.

• Plan a community meeting: Community members share their input on a variety of topics related to the new or renovated facility, including indoor and outdoor athletic needs, recreation spaces, visual and performing arts spaces, safety, security, technology, site issues, green/sustainable facilities, and aesthetics.

• Conduct planning lab #2: Participants work in their program areas to review and further refine their plans to produce a summary of space sizes and building layout illustrations.

• Prepare the educational specifications document: Organized into distinct sections, this document contains information necessary for the planning, design, and renovation and/or construction of new school facilities:

Executive Summary: Provides an overview of the content within the document
21st Century Best Practices: Describes nationally recognized best practices in education as they relate to program delivery methods
Planning Labs: Includes discussions from the labs
Technology: Explains how technology will be integrated into the curriculum and facility
Safety and Security: Provides overview of the safety and security plan
Site Issues: Includes special circumstances or considerations to keep in mind, including building design, traffic flow, lighting, landscaping, and parking issues
Green/sustainable Schools: Explains the design and construction of school facilities that are environmentally responsible
Aesthetics: Describes the visual appeal of the school
Community Use: Explains the integration of community needs with school facilities related to the cafeteria, gymnasium, auditorium, and media center
Cost Analysis: Provides the associated costs to renovate or build the new facility and identifies potential partnerships in the corporate and arts arenas for co-funding
Program Areas: Summarizes the type, number, and size of each instructional and support space, as well as spatial relationships to each program area

• District Approval: The Board of Education and/or the Superintendent of Schools should approve the final document.
Using this process, all stakeholders are able to contribute their best thinking about the programs and services that a facility can deliver not only to students and teachers during instructional hours, but also to the community after school concludes for the day.
Indeed, a genuine commitment to community involvement is integral to a successful development process. A shared vision among all entities expresses common goals and establishes an agreement with an altruistic focus to improve student success. The secret to creating superior educational facilities is community involvement, from start to finish.

Kerrianne Wolf, REFP, is the educational specifications specialist at DeJONG-RICHTER. She applies her experience as a licensed K-12 teacher and software trainer when preparing educational specifications and facility master plans for schools districts nationwide. For more information, contact her at kwolf@dejongrichter.com or at 614-798-8828.

The post Educational Specifications: Community Involvement from Start to Finish appeared first on School Construction News.

The Lone Star state prides itself on a small government philosophy including a legislature that only holds court once every two years, and only for 140 days per year when in session. The state has also achieved a reputation for limited regulations, a business friendly environment, and very low overall tax rates.

Though Texas has a relatively high sales tax, its lack of a personal income tax leads most experts to label it as one of the states with the smallest average tax burden. CNN Money listed Texas as number 43 in terms of overall tax burden in 2009, and the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel used census data in a 2010 article to determine Texas was ranked 44th in overall tax burden.

Despite this clear affinity for low taxes, a republican senator in the Texas legislature recently submitted an argument calling for the state to institute statewide property taxes to stabilize education funding. Senator Robert Duncan was essentially reiterating an argument he made in the previous year’s session, with very little positive feedback at the time, but he has received a little more interest in his second attempt. Although it seems unlikely anyone will be predicting massive tax increases in Texas anytime soon, the fact that a discussion is occurring on the topic represents a certain level of change already.

The Amarillo Globe-News quoted Duncan as saying, “The biggest problem we have with the current system is the volatility because we have 1,063 districts taxing at different rates.”

It seem pretty unlikely that the type of change Duncan wants could occur anytime soon, as it would require an amendment to the state constitution. This means two-thirds of the legislature would have to support the move, before sending the proposal to state voters.

Despite the hurdles facing Duncan’s proposal, it seems likely that something in Texas will change. The state is currently facing several major lawsuits related to school funding, one of which will come to trial on October 22. The lawsuit is led by eight of the state’s largest school districts, along with 76 of the smaller education systems. Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuits in the courtroom, they will probably lead to some level of change.

While Duncan’s proposal got almost nowhere in his first attempt, republican Senator Florence Shapiro, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Public School Finance System, agreed to schedule a discussion on the topic for the committee’s session next year (committees meet more often than the full legislature, meaning there won’t be a two year delay).

Though Duncan’s solution seems to be a long shot in Texas, it’s worth noting that the committee discussed other possible options for improving the stability of education funding. Former republican representative Talmadge Heflin’s suggestion of a statewide sales tax increase appeared to be more palatable to some legislators. Heflin proposed the idea in 2003, when the state faced a $10 billion shortfall. He proposed a total of 11 percent sales tax, with a large portion marked for education funding. Texas sales tax is currently at 6.25 percent on the state level, with local jurisdictions adding up to two percent, for a total maximum of 8.25 percent. “We realize that is a big step to take, but if you boil it down to school finance, it would simplify school funding,” Heflin told the Globe-News.

Though nothing has happened yet, and it will probably be another year before this debate even gets out of committee, it seems the earth has already moved beneath our feet. Republican legislators in Texas are having a debate, not about whether they should increase taxes on a state level for education funding, but about how they should do it.

The post Texas Considering Tax Increase to Fund Education appeared first on School Construction News.

Global, collaborative activities such as these and many others are being facilitated by ePals, a cloud-hosted “social learning network ” and education media company, that aims to help school administrators deal with slashed budgets, and the challenge of easily integrating Common Core standards – aligned high quality content across the district. ePals’ free global learning community connects classrooms worldwide and offers engaging and rigorous educational content that emphasizes a host of college and career readiness skills, such as critical thinking, building content knowledge, using digital media strategically and understanding perspectives of widely divergent cultures.

Created in 1996, ePals is a pioneering online learning community and collaborative technology company founded by Tim DiScipio. ePals later merged with In2Books, a DC based literacy organization co-founded by current CEO Miles Gilburne and his wife, Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Nina Zolt. Under their guidance, the company has burgeoned into one of the K-12 education industry’s most recognized and leading global brands, with 120 employees and more than 27 million teachers and students in 200 countries and territories worldwide on board. ePals’ client districts represent all U.S. geographical regions and a growing number of schools internationally, with late additions showing a leap in public and private school participation in India, Brazil, Germany and Kenya. Under Gilburne’s direction, the company is continuing its pioneering efforts on a global scale, with recent partnerships including the China-based Kaleido investment group, which is helping ePals ramp up its presence as both an in-school and after-school solution in countries around the world.

On a broad scale, ePals features a comprehensive, budget-friendly 21st century education package that combines a learning platform and content with collaboration and communication tools. The product’s platform is robust and secure and a range of Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs, wikis, and email meet kids where they are with digital technologies. Beyond such tools, ePals also provides teachers with project and assessment templates and high-quality, multimedia core curriculum content through partnerships with the Smithsonian, National Geographic, Educurious, and Cirque du Soleil Foundation’s ONE
DROP water ecology initiative. Additional science and reading literacy materials available for teachers to integrate into lessons include 14-plus reading-leveled kids’ magazines recently acquired from the well-established Carus Publishing brand.

Teachers in a variety of circumstances say ePals has allowed them to expend learning beyond classroom walls and to forge unprecedented project-based learning partnerships and cultural connections with other students and teachers around the world.

Says Tom Chambers, technology applications teacher at the Raul Yzaguirre School for Success [RYSS] charter school In Houston, Texas, who’s seventh and eighth grade students are currently working on digital art, Web 2.0 integration, and a NASA space weather exploration project, "I decided to use ePals because it’s a global way for me and my students to get involved with collaborative projects to expand our horizons. ePals does a very good job of facilitating this process."

Troy Tenhet, who teaches sixth grade in California’s Panama-Buena Vista Union School District and who is director of the Global Learning Exchange, says using ePals has broken down barriers for his kids and impacted the learning experience in his classroom over the last six years since he’s been using the product. “Epals provides an open invitation to students all over the world to engage in meaningful exchanges of ideas and experiences. It takes the mundane daily routines of the classroom and transforms them into a worldwide stage where students can share and perform in a personally relevant fashion.”

ePals’ position as a thought leader in the education technology industry is something the company continues to view as a serious responsibility. Currently, Discipio is spearheading industry conversations around the importance of school administrators understanding the critical differences that education-specific collaborative tools and social learning networks have over consumer and mass-market social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the digital learning age. Beyond the issues of students being asked to use these tools at risk to their identity, privacy of information, potential contact with inappropriate users and content that compromises their online reputation and legacy, ePals is helping schools and departments of education around the world see how very limiting the resources and features of those tools are for education. In contrast, ePals is demonstrating how educational platforms designed for K12 are more cutting edge, easier to use, store school documents and class work better, and provide a legacy of schoolwork and publishing that follows them throughout the K12 years.

General social networks, while familiar to some teachers and students through use in their personal lives, don’t take advantage of or maximize 21st century “on-task” learning experiences and features the way that progressive education-designed tools such as ePals do, he says. A robust, policy-managed platform crafted to integrate with student information systems, easily deal with the exchange of large files, provide single sign-on and monitoring systems that authenticate and protect user identities and also offer high quality standards-aligned content, are among a powerful set of reasons to choose resources like ePals over consumer tools that kids may be using outside of school, says Tim Discipio. “It’s crucial that, before a school system makes a long-term decision about where communication and schoolwork will go, district decision-makers recognize many consumer tools can’t deliver the high-quality learning tools and community that students and teachers need to have in a 21st century digital ecosystem and participatory classroom,” he says. “Interestingly, most schools are also unaware that some mass market social networks actually own, or have rights to the work and documents that students and teachers create and share over those networks, whereas educational platforms don’t attempt to assume that work ownership.”

Moving forward, ePals is just now releasing a new version of their Global Learning Community with advanced search tools for finding classroom matches worldwide and new Content Learning Centers focused on Science, Writing, Digital Citizenship and a range of core subject areas with teacher-tested support materials. ePals has also recently garnered a CODIE award from the Software & Information Industry Association for its online eMentoring reading program, In2Books.

One thing the education industry and district and school users can count on for the future is an ePals that will continue to evolve with the new century.
Says ePals’ president, Ed Fish, “Our focus now is to provide even better collaborative learning experiences for the 800,000 classrooms and millions of teachers and students using ePals, by creating a truly global channel for the creation and distribution of next generation digital content for schools and homes.”

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