Creating Flexible Learning Spaces With Affordable Modern Classroom Design Ideas

Making space for learning involves much more than strategic classroom seating arrangements, but rather it involves creating a dynamic environment for students.

Of course, one of the greatest challenges school officials and educators have is achieving all of these goals while being mindful of the available budget.

This means that a full-scale renovation may not be the best solution, as this process is not only expensive, but it can severely hamper the learning environment if school is in session. Here we encourage educators and faculty to rethink classroom layout to affordably create a more effective learning environment for students with flexible learning spaces.

What Are Flexible Learning Spaces?

Flexible learning spaces keep truly cool classrooms from becoming rigid or stagnant, which can cause restlessness throughout the entire class. When multiple classrooms use the same environment day after day, the biggest challenge is finding ways to adapt spaces to meet the personalities and needs of each specific group. Flexibility and adaptability concerning the classroom floorplan makes this possible.

Flexible learning spaces are also the key to ensuring that a primary school classroom, high school classroom setup or college institution’s areas can be changed quickly as the need arises depending on the purpose or function of the class or gathering.

Traditional walls don’t allow for ‘quick changes,’ making options such as mobile classroom dividers and acoustical partitions an ideal temporary and adaptable solution for educators seeking budget-friendly solutions to create the optimal learning environment. Here are five ways to go about getting started with effective classroom setup changes today.

1.  Communicate With Students

One of the best ways to get discover what students are seeking to feel more engaged and connected in the classroom environment is to simply ask them. While some may offer the information readily, others may be more reserved in expressing opinion, so consider asking students to write down the answers to a few basic questions such as:

  • What in the room assists your learning process?
  • What items in the room distract from lessons?
  • What would you like to see new in the room?

Students may simply grow weary of seeing the same classroom decor day after day or having the same classroom seating arrangements for collaborations. Occasionally, this stagnancy or visual noise actually impedes the learning process and becomes a mere distraction.

However, depending on the results from the student survey or open discussion, many of these issues can easily be remedied with flexible solutions for classrooms, gyms, staff areas and throughout the campus.

2.  Create Collaborative Spaces with Classroom Dividers

Rather than building permanent walls or installing fixed partition systems, one can change their classroom floorplan almost immediately with innovative and modern classroom dividers. Most children have a need to be able to work together to solve problems—especially large-scale ones—and when rethinking effective classroom design ideas, be sure that collaborative spaces are a priority.

Portable classroom dividers provide an enormous amount of classroom setup flexibility at a fraction of the costs of permanently affixed dividers and comparable solutions. In fact, these dividers allow for better use of existing space and can provide not only superior acoustical performance to eradicate unwanted noises, but can also serve as mobile teaching resources.

Instructors and educators looking to reconfigure a room with ease and no need for tools or a huge budget, can simply roll portable partitions into place when need be. 

 The most popular options include folding dividers, sliding dividers, freestanding dividers and even partitions that allow for the additional inclusion of whiteboards, data walls and chalkboards that help promote productivity.

One can further their efforts towards modern classroom design through the inclusion of using portable divider surfaces to extend their visibility of data walls, whiteboards and chalkboards that help share vital information that is essential to the collaboration process.

3.  Create Writable Spaces

One of the greatest benefits of utilising portable divider surfaces is that you have the ability to multiply your space to display classroom related information or showcase students work on flexible partition boards with whiteboards. When more writable space for updates is necessary, this is an ideal solution, as more whiteboards, chalkboards and additional pin and tack spaces can be added at any time without extreme expense.

Mobile Whiteboard

The functionality and flexibility of a true mobile whiteboard cannot be underestimated. Using a product like the 360 Degree Acoustic Room Divider and applying whiteboards to it means they can be wheeled in and out as students creative juices flow. When they have ideas and moments of inspiration teachers should be able to quickly wheel out extra whiteboard space where the students can unload their ideas. This instant view of an idea come to life cements it in the student’s mind and creates the momentum needed to carry it through.

All up, these writable spaces create a user-friendly experience that surpasses that of traditional dry erase boards. With portable workstation partitions, it’s easy to create a greater and more innovative modern classroom design. Teachers and instructors can simply purchase dry erase boards and whiteboards that help give students a change of pace and a bit more visual enticement that reminds them that the class belongs to everyone.

4.  Establish Spaces for Quiet

Many of our Australian kids come to school already stressed due to family trouble or poverty on a day-to-day basis, which means that educators need to fill a primary role by providing a much-needed quiet space in their lives.

The opportunity to reflect and rethink in this time can prove to be an invaluable tool for introverts and those seeking greater intro-flection. By using large acoustic room dividers and creating divided spaces, this can provide what such children need to attain that illusive sense of space that might avoid them otherwise.

5.  Create Spaces to Showcase Learning

Throughout numerous observations documenting the learning process, it has been shown that the finished product concerning students’ learning abilities primarily revolves around their ability to process their achievements observationally.

This means keeping their visual learning environment constantly evolving, which is where the benefits of partition additions like data walls that allow for the inclusion of sticky notes, whiteboards and other places that showcase achievements and goals come into play.

There are pin board dividers that drive modern concept classroom designs to the next level to help them meet and surpass academic benchmarks. Letting students post their ideas and concepts in greater collaboration efforts is an easy way to help them explore and further indulge in scholastic efforts. After all, this is a growth process, so why not let them grow together?

Sunday Classroom Artwork in Church

The Advantages of Creating Flexible Learning Spaces with Portable Partitions:

  • Encourage teamwork and problem solving with the creation of collaborative work spaces
  • Encourage creativity with the implementation of easy to move whiteboards, offering students a place to write or draw when inspired
  • Create quiet areas where students that need a timeout can find one, allowing them that moment needed to relax and gather themselves and carry on
  • Encouraging students to feel proud of their work by exhibiting it on tackable, movable walls
  • Give the students a sense of ownership of their classroom with their ideas and work displayed throughout
  • Create the spaces that are needed at the time they are needed. Room dividers are on wheels and can be moved into place in a matter of seconds, and removed just as easily
  • Undertake real classroom design changes without any construction or interruption to schools
  • Achieve real changes in classroom with a very small budget when compared to actual building work
  • Simple storage when all of a sudden a large area is needed, the partitions fold away and roll out of the classroom with ease