Where will you learn? What will you learn? How will you learn? With Whom will you learn?
With the general belief that there is a need for better learning environments, this project asks youth to create their own models of how and where they would like to learn fifty years from now. Notions of physical space, integration of technology, and structure of the day come into play, but also curricular ideas as modes of learning, topics of study, and the teacher/student relationship. The hope is that new, fresh visions of learning may help expand our thinking and create some changes towards a better system of learning in this nation.
Who Can Participate?
- Youth in grades K-12 can participate either on their own, or as part of a school, home-school, or after-school project.
- Participants must be residents of Washington State.
- Participants can enter their work in any of the following categories: Individual, Pairs, Group, or Intergenerational (where adults and youth collaborate on the submission).
- Youth can either work on the project independently or with the guidance of a teacher, parent, guardian, or mentor.
This is not a contest, but the submissions will be organized into an exhibition on view August 2012 at Seattle Center. Professionals in the fields of education, technology, architecture, art and design will curate the submissions to present common themes apparent in the participants’ visions of future learning environments. While there will not be prizes, all participants will receive official Next Fifty certificates. Selected individual youth and/or groups may be invited to present their ideas as part of Seattle Center’s Next Fifty Learning events in August 2012.
If you are interested in submitting your vision of the Classroom of the Future, fill out and return an Intent Form by April 30, 2012. Deadline to then submit your Final Proposal is June 1, 2012.
For Guidelines, and an Intent Form, click below.
Classroom of the Future Intent Form & Guidelines
For a list of Guiding Questions, to help you in envisioning your classroom, click here:
ClassroomFuture Guiding Questions
What can we learn from the people of Washington State about how we as individuals learn, how we pursue our greatest passions, how we support learning in our community and therefore how we can move civilization forward into the next 50 years?
P3 will follow 25 people, of all ages and from all walks of life, as they identify their deepest passion and work to intentionally pursue it over 9 months time. Participants (Voyagers) will each be paired a mentor (Guide) to support them as they challenge their assumptions, imagine new possibilities, encounter obstacles, and have the courage to expand beyond who they are to learn and grow.
Voyagers and Guides will document their experiences, efforts, struggles, achievements and realizations. This material will be shared publicly on the web and in a documentary film, making the findings widely accessible to outside observers and researchers. The findings and participants will be featured in August 2012 during The Next Fifty month of Learning.
