Technology Counts - March 14, 2013 - 23

School Building
TIPS

Choose furniture that
can be moved. Furniture
that is on wheels or can
be folded up and stored
can transform classrooms
to accommodate a variety
of activities.

Create flexible, adaptable
spaces to accommodate
advances in technology. These
steps include making the exterior walls
of the building load-bearing so that the
interior walls may be moved around
without compromising the integrity of
the building, and installing large doors
that can be opened to expand the space.

project-based, hands-on learning is
becoming a major part of that trend.
“Schools are designing spaces
where students can make things
more,” says Bergsagel. “The 21stcentury school looks more like the
21st-century workplace. Kids should
be makers of new technologies, not
just consumers.”
Using flexible furniture in classroom spaces can help make the
environment easily adaptable for
many uses, she says. Bergsagel
suggests putting wheels on all
the furniture, making sure to use
lockable wheels for items such as
lab tables.
Another way to keep the space
flexible is to use fold-up tables and
chairs that can be easily moved out
of the way to create a large space.
It is important to make sure that
the load-bearing walls are built
around the outermost edge of the
building so that the interior walls
may be knocked down or moved
around without compromising the
stability of the school structure, Bergsagel says.
Her company worked with the
11,000-student Marysville school district outside of Seattle to facilitate the
design of the new Marysville Getchell High School campus by guiding
community meetings, suggesting
design elements, and helping the district choose an architect. Four small
learning communities, each with a
separate building and principal, are
located on one campus connected by
outdoor bridges.
The school also has a separate
building—featuring a dining room,
a gym, and a community space—
where students from any of the four
smaller schools can gather. Total
enrollment is about 1,600 students
between the four small schools.
Each of the four schools employs
many of the flexible features that
Bergsagel outlines, including furniture with wheels, exterior load-bearing walls, and interior windows—
from the classrooms to the hallway,
for example, to help increase the
amount of natural light.
In addition, each of the small
schools has an open area in which
all the students in that school can
gather to take part in group activities, says Bergsagel.
She encourages other architects to
include students in the design process when looking for ideas on how
to improve learning spaces.
“Kids will tell us tremendous
things, if we only listen to them,”
she says. n

Turn the building itself
into a teaching tool.
Exposing certain elements,
such as the ceiling beams, or
including a rainwater-collection
system, for example, can
provide meaningful learning
opportunities for students.

Install ubiquitous
and high-speed
wireless Internet.
Tools and services need
to handle a multitude
of devices.

PHOTO GALLERY:

As schools strive
to create collaborative,
community-oriented learning
environments, some are
being redesigned with
more flexible and open
spaces. This motion graphic
describes the architectural
and pedagogical thinking
behind such school designs.
www.edweek.org/go/
qc13buildings

Leave technology
Installation for
last. Changes to tech
devices should wait,
because those tools
can change quickly.

Manage mobile
devices

masterfully.

With Mobile Device Management (MDM)
from AT&T, you can set and enforce
consistent policies, remotely distribute
software, even push security settings —
all while easily managing a variety
of different devices, carriers and
operating systems. It’s the 21st
century classroom made easy.
Learn more about MDM
for K-12 Education at
att.com/k12mdm

Subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. provide products
and services under the AT&T brand. © 2013 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights
reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property.

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Technology Counts - March 14, 2013

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