{"id":9299,"date":"2023-03-22T18:52:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T18:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smithsystem.com\/smithfiles\/?p=9299"},"modified":"2025-12-01T14:47:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:47:26","slug":"how-to-create-a-dynamic-active-learning-environment-with-school-furniture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smithsystem.com\/smithfiles\/how-to-create-a-dynamic-active-learning-environment-with-school-furniture\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create a Dynamic Active Learning Environment with School Furniture"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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The active learning classroom is analogous to a chameleon. The physical set-up you see at 9 a.m. could look completely different within minutes – and not from chaos. The quick change-up is from teachers and students tailoring their surroundings to the active learning strategy at play.<\/p>\r\n

That nimbleness is a defining principle of creating active learning environments in K-12 classrooms. In this blog, we’ll review why active learning pedagogy matters and how to design fun, flexible education spaces using school classroom furniture<\/a> that helps teachers integrate active learning strategies (ALS).<\/p>\r\n

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What is Active Learning?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

Put simply, active learning uses student engagement to teach. It’s a student-centered instructional approach that “involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing.”<\/p>\r\n

That’s according to Professors\u00a0Charles Bonwell and James Eison who coined the phrase active learning<\/i>\u00a0in their 1991 book, “Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom.”<\/p>\r\n

The professors articulated what research has since proven to be true. Students who are excited to learn through a variety of activities are more engaged learners. And more engaged learners subsequently learn more. It’s the difference between telling a student how to bake a cake versus demonstrating the process and letting the student try it solo – or by collaborating with classmates who, collectively, are running a real-life bakery.<\/p>\r\n

How Active Learning Classrooms Act<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

Look into a classroom. Do students appear engaged? Have they moved their desks, tables, chairs and tools to work through an assignment? Are the students actively participating? Or, in contrast, are they parked in rigid desks, passively absorbing knowledge for hours?<\/p>\r\n

Research has shown that learning should not be a spectator sport. Students and teachers thrive when classes are designed with an active, student-centered approach, based on constructivism. Meaning, it’s the students’ job to participate in the construction of knowledge; teachers facilitate the journey. EdApp, an online training platform, believes in the results.<\/p>\r\n

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“Active learners work harder to achieve success and produce better results, since they take an active role in their own learning environments.” There’s an added bonus, too. “Active learning, in general, is also significantly more fun and exciting. It goes beyond just reading and listening \u2026 everyone is expected to engage and actually do something, either individually or as a group.”<\/p>\r\n

Active learning strategies engage students in activities beyond passive listening, reading or watching. The goal is to help students deepen learning and connecting with the material and each other, especially by focusing on real-life tasks. Students engaged in ALS might be:<\/p>\r\n