Week Seven ILE thiking

Innovative Learning Environments by Mark Osborne

Main points that resounded with me from this reading.

• The purpose of education is no longer primarily about acquiring knowledge; that knowledge can be gained elsewhere. Increasingly education is about gaining skills, disciplines, capabilities and competences as well as knowledge. (Wagner, 2014)
• What the world cares about is not what you know but what you can do with what you know. In an age where smartphone apps can solve any algebra problem you can point the camera at, and can translate paragraphs written in foreign languages in real time, simply getting the answer right is no longer enough. (Wagner, 2014) 
• Inovations - exploring the role that physical learning environments play in addressing the educational challenges. 
• Barret, Zhang, Davies and Barrett (2015) found that the physical characteristics of primary school environments do impact on pupils learning progress in reading, writing and mathematics. 
• Physical environment can make a difference - buildings alone are not enough; it is about relatonships and changing cultures and practices. (Blackmore et al, 2015)
• Inclusive environments:  Acknowledge that all elarners learn in different ways, and at times learners may need to work together or alone, in silence or with noise, standing or sitting, passively or active, with technology and without it, indoors and outdoors. Inclusive, flexible, responsive environments are those that provide opportunities for these aspects. 
• Spaces varied and purposeful: Learners should be able to be able to see themsleves, their progress and their achievement celebrated in the spaces around them. (Killeen et al, 2003)
• RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT PHYSICAL MOVEMENT ENHANCES LEARNING (Sousa, 2014) AND PHYSICALLY ACTIVE CHILDREN ARE LIKELY TO ACHIEVE HIGHER ACADEMIC RESULTS.
• Natural Environments: learners given opportunities to learn outdoors experience improvements in areas such as cognitive and effective funstion; interpersonal and social skills;and physical and behavioural efefcts. (Dillon et al. 2005)

• Buildings on their own are not enough. The physival environment will undoubtedly play a role, but it will be a part of a much wider educational ecosystem of practices, systems and cultures, all working to ensure that every learner is provided with every opportunity to be an active participant in learning; to achieve highly and to be celebrated for who they are. 

Reflection:  I question putting 80 children together in a larger building space in order to achieve greater physical space. The physical limitation is not the building space, it is the teacher imaginaton, creativity and knowledge of their learners.  An inclusive learning environment is possible in a single cell space when the teacher pedagogy is strong in ensuring the learning needs of all learners are being met.  I didn't highlight the cultural responsiveness in this article, however this is reflected on in the Week 6 post.  

Once again physical movement and physical well being is a factor that comes to the forefront.  Taking away the walls of the classroom - moving outside the obvious physical space but also the boundaries of a classroom - flipped learning approaches. 

Its not about furniture or the physical classroom spaces - these do not make an innovative learning environment - it is the teacher and the empowered students who make this environment a dynamic happening place for all learners.