Development of Digital Learning Spaces

As future educators, we know that all our students will not learn the same way. Not only their interests will be different but also their learning styles and needs. Differentiating our teaching strategies is essential to ensure that each of our students can learn and develop their skills. Flexible learning spaces also play an important role in education. They allow students to collaborate with peers and make them feel more motivated to learn, more comfortable when working and more willing to pay attention. In addition to this, flexible learning spaces can give teachers more choices to interact with all the students and allow them to arrange the furniture according to the needs of each specific activity.

In my opinion, flexible learning spaces are very beneficial for students because they allow them to work with others, be part of groups and have more opportunities to learn through a variety of activities. In the video Flexible Learning Environments, they show rolling desks as an example of furniture that is appropriate for a flexible learning environment. This kind of furniture, for example, can make students focus on the activities, have more choices and develop better social skills through the interaction and collaborative work. Students can move around the classroom for group work but they can also work independently when needed. A flexible learning environment can also help suit the activities to their learning styles, as some students will prefer to work sitting while others will prefer to work on the floor or use manipulatives. In the video Flexible Learning Spaces, they explained how to take advantage of these spaces in our classrooms:

“Flexibility and functionality of spaces can be enhanced by innovative and well utilized furniture and information and communications technology (ICT)”.

Teachers need to be aware of the importance of including technology in our classrooms as well as the advantages this brings for both teachers and students. Digital learning spaces are also a way to improve learning spaces. In the 21st century, when almost everyone has a smartphone or a laptop, teachers need to take advantage of it and use this to improve the teaching and learning processes. An example of digital learning spaces is online classes. They aren’t only cheaper for students and schools, but they can also give students the opportunity to decide when they want to learn and how.

In the article How Learning Environments Are Changing, the author explains some other benefits of online classes:

“Online classes offer a number of benefits: personalized, flexible learning approaches, access to courses that are over-capacity, and collaboration with other institutions, for starters. They’re also essential for distance learning for students in rural areas, with special needs, or those being homeschooled”.

Digital learning spaces can also have a few disadvantages; for example, parents need to help monitor their children’s use of technology regularly and for some students working alone could be not very motivating. Also, all teachers need to keep up with the newest apps and technology devices. However, there are more advantages than disadvantages about digital learning spaces. Students can have access to information all the time and everywhere they go; they can decide where and when they want to study; they can choose how they want to do their work and what apps they want to use to complete a task.

In my opinion, working both online and face-to-face is the best option. Even though students have access to everything they need online, school plays an important role in socialization. Students need to interact with peers and develop social skills. This can’t happen if they do everything online. A balance between both can be very beneficial for teachers and students, and can ensure the development of our students’ skills. Educators need to enhance the use of technology in our classrooms to give students more opportunities to succeed, but in order to do this we need to be trained and keep up to date with technology. We need to effectively integrate technology into any subject we teach to make teaching more motivating and meaningful for everyone.