How can schools better equip learning spaces for modern career skills?

Today's students will enter a workforce with fewer cubicles and more collaboration space. Classroom design should be fashioned to reflect the real work world into which they will soon enter, eSchool News reports. Beaver Country Day School in Newton, Massachusetts, recently completed a redesign that started with asking the students what they wanted. Administrators replaced rows of desks and chairs with flex-space furniture that allows for both individual and group learning. Hallways are used as a classroom extension that allows students to meet in small groups. Students use meeting rooms along with the faculty. The flexible environment allows for creative collaboration, while still giving students an option to study alone. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the days of assembly-line manufacturing jobs are coming to an end. Students will graduate into positions that require thought and collaboration. The cubicle office design is becoming extinct, which means straight lines of desks and chairs no longer meet the needs of students and teachers. The best news is that this classroom rearrangement can be affordable. Incorporating features like color, soft light and comfortable spaces doesn’t have to be expensive. Using budget-friendly furniture manufacturers, such as Ikea, is one way to stretch the redesign budget as far as possible.