Howard County School Launches Innovative Classroom Design Project to Increase Engagement, Enhance Student Learning

May 18th, 2016

Students and teachers are reimagining their learning space as part of a collaborative learning project, sponsored by the Howard County Public School System’s Department of School Improvement and Curricular Programs. They have redesigned a mathematics classroom and begun to increase collaboration as a lever for accelerating learning at Bonnie Branch Middle School.

Seventh grade staff and students began working together in March to imagine a more engaging physical space for learning that increases student interaction and their access to educational choices with the goal of stimulating higher levels of learning. When students returned from spring break, they walked into a redesigned classroom with teachers Jonathan Brinson and Mike Colonna leading dynamic new lessons that integrate education technology to help solve problems and increase communication. They also are using audio and video to capture and curate their work.

“This innovative project offers exciting potential for engaging students and teachers by involving them in decisions about their learning environment, and maximizing collaboration, creativity, problem solving and communication in the classroom,” said HCPSS Superintendent Renee A. Foose of the project, which is supported by a grant from the Maryland Society for Education Technology. “We hope to learn together the implications for increased communication and collaboration in the classroom, and how to use available space in more powerful ways.”

The overall classroom redesign at Bonnie Branch Middle School is occurring in three phases. Each phase is being documented with corresponding videos. The first installment of a three-part video series, “Designing Collaborative Solutions,” is now online illustrating details the inception and planning for the project. From the beginning, this collaborative process involved students, teachers, administrators, curricular professionals, custodians, carpenters, and many others to design the ideal classroom workspace.

In a second video to be released soon, HCPSS-TV staff will show viewers “The Classroom Makeover,” including the design solutions imagined by students and teachers that are discussed during part one of the video series.

A third video is in production to show teachers and students, “Leveraging the Classroom for Learning,” as they participate in professional development, training, and classroom lessons, taking full advantage of the newly redesigned learning space. The second and third videos are forthcoming and will be available soon.