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Schools are now filled with "digital natives" — children born into the age of the Internet. So what happens when children of the 21st century encounter the architecture of the 19th century?


The look and layout of a school can have a profound impact on the way students learn, but classrooms laid out with rows of desks facing a chalkboard are still the norm. Designers point to outdoor spaces, learning centers, natural lighting and desks that can accommodate tablets and laptops as a few of the tweaks that could help improve learning. 

 is founder and president of Architects of Achievement, a design strategy firm that uses educational research to improve school design. She 

 wrote about the importance of school design

10 Current School Facility Features that are Obsolete.

 Traditional school libraries, bathrooms and corridors are being redesigned in schools to improve student learning. (School Design Matters)

School Design May Affect a Child's Grades.

 "A study of school design has discovered that school layouts can influence a child's development by as much as 25 percent — positively or negatively — over the course of an academic year." (Wired)

 Forget square buildings, chalkboards and desks in a row. (Landscape Architects Network)

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Building designers are now looking at education research that shows student learning improves with different school layouts. We'll look at what makes for a better learning environment.

Improved school designs can boost learning

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