{"id":297405,"date":"2017-10-19T14:52:24","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T14:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.smartdesks.com\/?p=1409"},"modified":"2021-07-01T11:38:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T11:38:43","slug":"active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/","title":{"rendered":"The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1410\" src=\"\/knowledge-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/active-learning-environment-ugly-rooms-webop.jpg\" alt=\"Using older rooms for an active learning environment makeover\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><br \/>\nSometimes the most underutilized spaces on campus are the ideal testing grounds for active learning. Even if the space seems unfit, cluttered, small, or outdated, the main goal is to provide an environment where students can easily interact.<br \/>\nThink outside the box. Experiment with extra furniture and available rooms. The latest technology isn\u2019t always crucial when the goal is for peers to interact and build upon ideas. The aesthetics of the space becomes less important when students are engaged enough, which is the ultimate goal of any instructor.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s also worth pointing out that starting with an underutilized space \u2013 especially if that space is considered the ugly duckling by your users \u2013 gives you at least two advantages. One: you\u2019re likely to encounter less resistance to making significant changes than you would if you were to start with a particularly popular area of your facility. Two: you might be more likely to improve user satisfaction \u2013 if the room is that disliked, it can only improve.<br \/>\nWhen it comes right down to it, there are really only two absolutely necessary aspects to creating an active learning classroom: furniture that can be moved around to encourage group collaboration and the opportunity for students to work together.<br \/>\n(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/campustechnology.com\/Articles\/2015\/07\/08\/6-Secrets-of-Active-Learning-Classroom-Design.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Campus Technology<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes the most underutilized spaces on campus are the ideal testing grounds for active learning. Even if the space seems unfit, cluttered, small, or outdated, the main goal is to provide an environment where students can easily interact. Think outside the box. Experiment with extra furniture and available rooms. The latest technology isn\u2019t always crucial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-at-school"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms - Smartdesks Knowledge Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms - Smartdesks Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes the most underutilized spaces on campus are the ideal testing grounds for active learning. Even if the space seems unfit, cluttered, small, or outdated, the main goal is to provide an environment where students can easily interact. Think outside the box. Experiment with extra furniture and available rooms. The latest technology isn\u2019t always crucial [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smartdesks Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-19T14:52:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-01T11:38:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mira Korber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mira Korber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/\",\"name\":\"The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms - Smartdesks Knowledge Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-19T14:52:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-01T11:38:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee759343d842e243672f85816bafb7a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/\",\"name\":\"Smartdesks Knowledge Center\",\"description\":\"Smartdesks Knowledge Center | Your one-stop resource for case studies and classroom floorplan inspiration\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee759343d842e243672f85816bafb7a\",\"name\":\"Mira Korber\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/author\/mira\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms - Smartdesks Knowledge Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/active-learning-makeover-ugly-rooms\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Active Learning Makeover: Don\u2019t Discount Ugly Rooms - Smartdesks Knowledge Center","og_description":"Sometimes the most underutilized spaces on campus are the ideal testing grounds for active learning. 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