Future classrooms unveiled in NSW
Students and teachers will benefit from a range of innovative technology and teaching practices being trialled for new and refurbished classrooms across NSW.
The trials are being held at the NSW Department of Education’s Futures Learning Unit in Sydney where students and teachers are testing prototyped flexible learning spaces to enable education to adapt to the digital age by becoming more interactive.
While visiting the unit, Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli unveiled some of the innovations students and teachers will benefit from in the future.
Mr Piccoli said the way children learn is evolving as times change.
“From touch screens to breakout pods with digital projections and new furniture designs, these flexible spaces are engaging students in ways that reflect 21st century learning,” Mr Piccoli said.
“As our classrooms adopt changing technologies, teaching techniques are evolving and these prototyped classrooms are being used by teachers to test these new ways of engaging students.”
Features of the prototyped learning spaces include:
- Mobile, touch sensitive screens, allowing students to engage with learning materials.
- Wi-Fi and software allowing all devices in a room, including tablets and laptops to interact.
- Writable walls and surfaces encouraging students to investigate and collaborate.
- Lightweight, flexible furniture that can be easily moved around by teachers and students, creating functional spaces for individual and team work.
The new Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta, scheduled to open in 2019, will be the first future-focused school to take advantage of the flexible technology rich classrooms.
The NSW Government is investing $1 billion from the Rebuilding NSW Schools Fund to transform 1,600 classrooms over the next 10 years.
