 Educating students for an unpredictable future is one of the greatest
challenges that our society faces, and it will take enormous imagination to meet
this challenge. This project, New Century School House,
is an opportunity for educators to begin to express what our knowledge, experience, and
imagination tells us schools should be like, to better prepare our students for their
future.
The New Century School House is essentially three 1950s
style school buildings that have been totally gutted of all relics of industrial age
education. The rooms are bare and without purpose. Educators are invited to adopt and 
repurpose individual rooms in either of the three buildings (Elementary, Middle, or High Schools) as learning spaces where students can learn in ways that are
more relevant to a technology and information rich world.
Educators will adopt and repurpose their rooms by describing the goal and function of
the room, and what students and educators will do these spaces. Room authors are also
asked to describe the components that will be necessary to these rooms, the physical
attributes: furniture, technology, infrastructure, media, etc. Room authors will be able
to adapt and update their rooms based on further reflection and on comments posted by
visitors.
So come and visit, and help us reinvent education for the new century. |
Participating There are two ways to participate in the New Century School House
project. You can use it as a resource for cutting edge ideas for educational and
facilities planning. You can also use it as a way of expressing cutting edge ideas
about learning environments of the next century. To contribute your ideas:
| 1
|
Visit a school (Click either the elementary primary wing, intermediate wing, or the Middle or high schools. Use the blue menu items to the left. |
| 2
|
If a room has already been adopted, it will have a descriptive title. Click the title to read about the room and to post a comment on the room. If the room has not been adopted, the title will be "Adopt this Room." |
| 3
|
If the room has not been
adopted, then you can repurpose it for 21st century learning. A forms page
will appear asking for information about you. This is followed by two inputs that
request more narrative information about the goals of the room you are repurposing and
also the types of activities that will be happening there. The second narrative will
be for components of that room. This will include furniture, hardware, software,
infrastructure, staffing, etc. |
| 4
|
When you click the Adopt Room button, your information will automatically be added to the database and
available for other educators to read. |
| 5
|
As you think through your
adopted virtual learning space and as you read comments left by other educators, you can
adapt and update your room by entering your password (established as you first described
your room). |
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