When you picture a classroom, the first thing that comes to mind is likely desks packed neatly in rows with a teacher’s desk and/or podium at the front of the room with a chalkboard hanging up on the wall – right? Most likely, the answer to this question is yes. However, as many modern classrooms are being designed with the students in mind, deskless classrooms are becoming more of a norm with each passing year.

       

So, what exactly is a deskless classroom? This twist on tradition is any sort of learning space that eliminates desks and implements anything else that can make students more engaged in their learning process. This process is about so much more than just rearranging a room, according to Edutopia. The learning that happens in these spaces is the biggest aspect of such a project as students get excited to play a role in recreating the atmosphere and also to find an area that best suits their learning style.

       

As students often help to co-create these environments, they are able to become more engaged in everything that goes into the process and understand that they have the opportunity to explore learning styles. It’s no doubt that students, especially younger in age, have vivid imaginations. This typically is the key to brainstorming sessions prior to beginning the project.

       

While schools typically lack funding, students and teachers have the ability to get creative with how to obtain furniture for the classroom. Searching around the school for un-used furniture and asking for donations are usually the go-to solutions.

       

Not only does this type of classroom enhance students’ learning abilities – it also gives them the opportunity to take responsibility. With the privilege of choosing where to learn in a given room, students become responsible for discovering how to better their own personal education. Perhaps one of the most positive aspects of this idea is the flexibility that it comes with. With experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t work comes adding new things and taking away others in order to find a most suitable environment.

       

Also, in order to make students feel like they have contributed to their own background, there becomes a sense of “our” instead of a teacher’s typical view on “my” classroom. A sense of unity is also incorporated because of the fact that there can be so many different groups of seating within one room. Instead of the traditional way of staring at the back of someone’s head for eight hours a day, students are given the opportunity to engage with anything from small to large groups – perhaps even multiple groups in one day.

       

A teacher can engage a whole group of students at once by arranging chairs into a circle or semicircle in order to include anyone in a given activity or lecture. Following this activity, students could be encouraged to break off into small groups to discuss what was just learned or to work on other smaller, maybe even fun, activities based off of the original. In this sense, students are encouraged to work with others and get to know everyone within their environment. While the idea of deskless classrooms is becoming somewhat more commonplace, students are slowly learning to take control over their own learning styles. With future transitions, it is possible that this trend can continue for the better.