EDspaces 2017 Keynotes & Exhibits Draw Large Crowds & News Coverage

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EDspaces 2017 brought together more than 2,000 leaders from across the education sector for a three-day conference and expo to push past boundaries 
and help schools and colleges work for all students. Growth was illustrated by record attendance with twice as many architects and designers as last year and a 15% increase in attendance by educational institutions. In addition, 100 more exhibit booths were sold compared to 2016 with 53 companies exhibiting for the first time.

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Program
An actively-engaged committee of EDmarket leadership, American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education and U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools leaders, and local dealers and architects in Kansas City planned a powerful education program featuring over 40 educational sessions, two impressive plenary session speakers (Sir Ken Robinson and Google’s Jaime Casap), and six tour site locations. Experts in the design community shared new research and trend data while educators and planners demonstrated their first-hand experience and needs for modern facility design that can affect positive change in the classroom. 

EDmarket fielded competitive classroom design at EDspaces; a first for the event, with evaluation managed by a diverse program and planning committee. Classrooms are an extension of learning, allowing participants to experience how the environment facilities education at every level. Visit EDspaces classrooms online for more information about this year's winners:

• Demco, Inc.

• Moseley Architects

• Scott Rice Office Works/DLR Group/VS

• School Outfitters

• Susan Gladden Interiors

Awards

EDspaces attendees experienced the latest in educational furniture, fixtures, and equipment from nearly top manufacturers with the latest innovations for students and teachers with new products introduced by 78% of the exhibiting companies. Highlighting cutting-edge products, the 2017 EDspaces Innovation Awards featured hot new products for the classroom, visit us on line for more details. Juried by members of International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and covered by Learning by Design magazine, winners were announced at the Thursday Plenary session with the Best of Competition honors awarded to CEF-Custom Educational Furnishings for The Edison Table. Category winners included:

Flooring: Moraine by Milliken & Company

Equipment: TechGuard Connect Charging Lockers by Bretford Manufacturing Inc.

Furniture: The Edison Table by CEF-Custom Educational Furnishings

Furniture: Vidget 3-in-1 Flexible Seating System™ by Viggi Corp.

Seating: Virco C2M 4-Leg Chair by Virco, Inc.

Seating: HowdaHUG® Seats by Howda Designz, LLC

Also honored with the David McCurrach Distinguished Service Award: Gregory Cooney, co-owner of the Frank Cooney Company, for his long-term commitment to the industry and EDmarket.

Donations
Exhibitors gave generously at the conclusion of the event by donating 16.5 twenty-five foot truckloads of brand-new educational furnishings, equipment and fixtures to benefit Kansas City Public Schools. USGBC Central Plains and Center for Green Schools coordinated the donations in support of their mission to transform all schools into sustainable and healthy places to live, learn, work and play.  

EDfest
Attendees a fun all-industry EDfest Party at The College Basketball Experience where they could participate in free-throw drill, explore the history of the game, and network with fellow key players in the education market.

Future EDspaces
Mark your calendar for next year’s event: November 7-9, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. We're evolving this conference each year to encourage networking and give participants a chance to forge lifelong professional connections throughout the education sector and experience new product innovations. Consider submitting a presentation an joining us:

October 23-25, 2019 Milwaukee, WI
November 11-13, 2020 Charlotte, NC
November 3-5, 2021 Pittsburgh, PA
November 2-4, 2022 Portland, OR

The Potential Impact of Emerging Technologies on Teaching and Learning

What is on the five-year horizon for schools? Which trends and technology developments will drive educational change? What are the critical challenges and how can we strategize solutions? These questions regarding technology adoption and educational change steered the discussions of 61 experts to produce the NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2017 K–12 Edition, in partnership with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and made possible by mindSpark Learning.

Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six developments in educational technology profiled in this report are poised to impact teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in K–12 education. The three sections of this report constitute a reference and technology planning guide for educators, school education leaders, administrators, policymakers, and technologists. These highlights capture the big picture themes of educational change that underpin the 18 topics:

1)      Advancing progressive learning approaches requires cultural transformation. Schools must be structured to promote the exchange of fresh ideas and identify successful models with a lens toward sustainability — especially in light of inevitable leadership changes.

2)      Learners are creators. The advent of makerspaces, classroom configurations that enable active learning, and the inclusion of coding and robotics are providing students with ample opportunities to create and experiment in ways that spur complex thinking. Students are already designing their own solutions to real-world challenges.

3)      Inter- and multidisciplinary learning breaks down silos. School curricula are increasingly making clear connections between subjects like science and humanities, and engineering and art, demonstrating to students that a well-rounded perspective and skill set are vital to real-world success.

4)      The widespread use of technology does not translate into equal learner achievement. Technology is an enabler but does not alone compensate for gaps in student engagement and performance attributable to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and gender.

5)      Continuously measuring learning is essential to better understanding learners’ needs. Analytics technologies are providing teachers, schools, and districts with both individual and holistic views of student learning, informing strategies for serving at-risk and gifted populations.

6)      Fluency in the digital realm is more than just understanding how to use technology. Learning must go beyond gaining isolated technology skills toward generating a deep understanding of digital environments, enabling intuitive adaptation to new contexts and co-creation of content with others.

7)      Authentic learning is not a trend — it is a necessity. Hands-on experiences that enable students to learn by doing cultivate self-awareness and self-reliance while piquing curiosity. Virtual reality and makerspaces are just two vehicles for stimulating these immersive opportunities.

8)      There is no replacement for good teaching — the role is just evolving. No matter how useful and pervasive technology is, students will always need guides, mentors, and coaches to help them navigate projects, generate meaning, and develop lifelong learning habits. School cultures must encourage, reward, and scale effective teaching practices.

9)      Schools are prioritizing computational thinking in the curriculum. Developing skills that enable learners to use computers to gather data, break it down into smaller parts, and analyze patterns will be an increasing necessity to succeed in our digital world. While coding is one aspect of this idea, even those not pursuing computer science jobs will need these skills to work with their future colleagues.

10)   Learning spaces must reflect new approaches in education. The pervasiveness of active learning pedagogies is requiring a shift in how learning environments are being designed. Emerging technologies such as making, mixed reality, and the Internet of Things are requiring more flexible and connected plans.

About the report: This NMC Horizon Report series charts the five-year impact of innovative practices and technologies for K–12 education (primary and secondary education) across the globe. With more than 15 years of research and publications, the NMC Horizon Project can be regarded as education’s longest running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake.

Download a complimentary copy of the NMC/CoSN Horizon Report report.

Reconfiguring the Classroom for Healthy and Successful Learners

By Bob Hill, Ergotron

As Millennials pour into the workforce, they’re bringing a renewed sense of collaboration and flexibility. And these young professionals expect their work spaces to keep up. Simultaneously, next generation learners are walking into the classroom for the first time, and these students also desire flexibility to meet their individual needs. One-to-one device initiatives and personalized learning tools work to address these trends, but districts often overlook the physical components that facilitate the best 21^st century learning experience.

The classroom sets the foundation for innovative learning, and that goes beyond the qualifications of the teacher or the breadth of the curriculum. Classroom furniture, including student desks, must keep pace with technology and students’ varied learning styles to support their overall well-being, ultimately leading to greater engagement and academic success.

An undeniable link between health, engagement and academics

Walk into an average classroom, and you’re likely to see most students just where you expect them to be — sitting. But this seemingly normal aspect of today’s school system puts students at a learning disadvantage. After just 30 minutes of sitting, students’ metabolism slows, blood circulation decreases, good cholesterol drops and blood sugar rises. Students lose focus the longer they sit, making them less likely to engage. Their desks become a barrier to learning.

Elementary school students benefit from movement-based activities already integrated into the school day, as well as physical education and recess. As they transition to middle school and high school, however, static classroom time replaces physical activity. This familiar “sit and get” model of education doesn’t serve today’s learners, physically or mentally.

This is where taking a fresh look at classroom furniture comes into discussion. One option? Replacing stationary desks with mobile sit-stand desks. Through regular sit-stand motion throughout the class day, students achieve this non-disruptive, low-level physical activity that counteracts the negatives of sitting. Students have greater metabolic health, including higher heart rate and greater oxygen and nutrient transport. They also burn more calories and maintain insulin effectiveness.[1] This is a key step in establishing healthier habits earlier in life. With more than one-third (35.1%) of adults over the age of 20 in the United States classified as obese,[2] educators, not employers, play a key role in combatting this trend before students even enter the workforce.

Researchers have found that integrating sit-stand furniture into the classroom leads to greater classroom engagement, on-task behavior and greater academic performance.[3]  Students regularly improve on regular assessments like quizzes and tests, as well as full-year learning evaluations that measure overall progress, and students notice the difference.

“You feel more energetic and you pay much better attention when you’re standing up,” said Jose, a ninth grader at Dr. Kirk Lewis Career & Technical High School in Houston, Texas.

Physical activity doesn’t have to just come from an elective physical education class. Instead, students can remain in class, regularly switch between sitting and standing and improve their overall well-being and academic performance. With more attentive students, teachers can build on lesson plans with supplementary course material that leads to better academic outcomes for students. And when focus wanes, students intuitively know it’s time to stand.

“All teachers pride ourselves on being able to know who our students are. If we’ve been sitting and everybody starts to get a little flat, it’s time to stand up,” said Jason Rhodes, a ninth-grade teacher at Dr. Kirk Lewis Career & Technical High School.

Flexible classroom spaces lead to greater personalization

Integrating regular movement into the classroom not only supports students’ health and academic outcomes – it promotes personalized learning. Teachers must accommodate different kinds of learners, but with out-of-the-box classroom furniture, they’re limited by time and resources to adjust.

As our digital world continues to evolve, learning spaces need to also evolve to promote collaboration and flexibility. 

Many districts are already adopting new teaching methodologies to approach education in a new way for today’s learners. In flipped classrooms where students tackle detailed “homework” assignments, learning spaces need to be instantly adaptable to move from whole-class instruction to collaborative groups to individual student-teacher work sessions. Sit-stand desks help teachers meet students where they are at, addressing their individual learning styles more effectively. Raising or lowering the sit-stand desk allows students to learn in the way that feels most natural to them.

“These desks are a part of personalized learning because they give students freedom to be more comfortable, more focused and attentive,” said Alex Brahm, a World History, World Religions, Theory of Knowledge teacher at Lamar High School in Houston, TX

And with flexible classroom furniture, teachers can easily reconfigure the classroom for group collaboration, peer-to-peer work or one-on-one instruction. It no longer takes dedicated time to drag heavy desks into new formations that only work for one learning style. Teachers can easily experiment with new approaches and continuously innovate in the classroom without the constraints of traditional classroom furniture. As they move away from a lecture-style format, they take on the role of a facilitator working to meet both individual and group needs. 

“There’s never a moment when the actual physical space gets in the way of learning the material,” Monica Escobar, a fifth grade teacher at Alexandria Country Day School in Alexandria, VA, said after implementing LearnFit desks.

Funding can serve as a barrier for some districts, but with a single investment facilities and operations leaders have one solution for students and staff, reducing the number of costly orders and the management of multiple kinds of classroom furniture. It’s a standardized solution that’s also flexible, encouraging teachers to broaden their teaching approach and allowing students to take control of their learning environment.

Stand up for new learning possibilities

Transforming a static, traditional classroom into a learning environment infused with movement opens doors to renewed health and academic success for students. No longer contained in an environment that has a negative impact on their bodies and well-being, students will be more engaged and ready to take on new academic challenges.

Equipped with tools like sit-stand desks, school leaders can provide the non-disruptive activity that both students and teachers need to succeed. This single investment pays off in innovative teaching strategies, assessment scores, engagement rates and overall student well-being. These desks also impact other departments in the school because with endless combinations of classroom formats available without facility involvement, facilities staff can focus on other concerns instead of directing efforts toward fulfilling individual furniture requests.

The next wave of technological advances will keep coming, bringing with it new opportunities and challenges. But the fact remains, movement matters for students, and flexible classroom furniture like sit-stand desks can convert student workspaces to be healthy and personalized for their best learning environment.

Bob Hill is the Healthcare and Education Manager for Ergotron. He works with schools and healthcare facilities around the globe to build greater awareness of the importance of active learnstyles and workstyles. He helps build ergonomic work environments that support the health and wellbeing of employees, caregivers, teachers and students in their diverse workflow and workstyle requirements.

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[1] BBC Magazine. (2013). Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting? BBC Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/ news/magazine-24532996.

[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Obesity and Overweight. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm.

[3] Benden, M., Blake, J., Dornhecker, M., Zhao, H., and Wendel, M. (2015). The Effect of Stand-biased Desks on Academic Engagement: An Exploratory Study. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14635240.2015.1029641?journalCode=rhpe20.