Technology and the 21st-Century Learning Space

I decided to design a revamp of the library in my school. People refer to it as the media center, but with its outdated equipment and rather stale atmosphere (see Figure 1), I believe it is far from a true media center. The room is rectangular and the bookshelves are on the perimeter with rectangle table and chairs in the middle. Although we cannot change the shape or exterior walls, I would like our media center to be more interactive. As a result, when designing the space, I added centers around the room. I included flexible seating and made things more cozy for the students. The reading center in particular I wanted to set up like a garden theme with a pergola, trees, and Adirondack chairs (not shown in image) so students could feel like they were outside.

Figure 1: Current Drexel Media Center

I chose to include this assignment because it was a great exercise in opening one’s mind to think outside the box and to really explore what students would want as 21st-Century Learning Space. I did stumble into one major challenges in creating my design, and that was focusing on the task at hand. I sometimes got a bit carried away when I was exploring furniture to put into my newly created space and wanted to buy and include lots of things. It was kind of like building a new house, the options were endless, but focusing back on the goal and purpose was key to my completion.

Figure 1: Current Drexel Media Center

The centers I incorporated include (see Figure 2 and Figure 3):

• Innovative Center - STEM and MakerSpace 
• Independent Center - Individual space 
• Reading Center - Independent and small group reading 
• Gathering Center - Whole class in front of Promethean board 
• Technology Center - Computer work 
• Collaborative Center - Discussion and group work.

I designed the space using Kaplan Floor Planner. This was a rather user-friendly tool from Kaplan. Although it is primarily for classrooms and early childhood, I was easily able to adapt it for a layout media center layout. I like this tool because it has a very nice 3D component which really helps with visualization of the room you are designing. Here is a link to my 3D room - https://kaplan.roomstyler.com/rooms/27246772/drexel-media.

Figure 2: Proposed Drexel Media Center (2D image)

Here is a more in depth look into my learning space.