Active Learning Spaces
Active learning spaces support collaboration and interaction. Sponsored by Steelcase— a global company that manufactures furniture products—this toolkit will show how to create the most effective adaptable learning environments to meet the evolving needs of students and educators.



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Floor Plan: Classrooms and Blended LearningThese layouts showcase how blended learning classrooms are designed with multiple learning situations in mind |
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Floor Plan: Large Active Learning Classrooms and Blended LearningToday's large classrooms are being reimagined to support technology, multiple modes of learning and healthy movement |
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Floor Plan: Makerspaces and Blended LearningMakerspaces are trending rapidly as part of expanding strategies for student success |
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Floor Plan: Student Commons and Blended LearningA Student Commons helps students develop personally and stay engaged in the experience of learning |
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Floor Plan: K-5 ClassroomsAn overview with floor plans for active learning K-5 classroom layouts |
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Floor Plan: 6-12 ClassroomsAn overview with floor plans for active learning 6-12 classroom layouts |
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Floor Plan: In-Between Spaces and Blended LearningMore than just transition spaces, lounges, hallways and other ancillary areas can be informal learning spaces for individuals and groups |
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Floor Plan: In-Between SpacesAn overview with floor plans for active learning in-between spaces layouts |
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Floor Plan: Learning CommonsThe Learning Commons is today’s updated version of the library, designed to be a vital learning hub with a range of settings |
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Floor Plan: LibraryAn overview with floor plans for active learning Library and Learning Commons layouts |
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Floor Plan: MakerspaceAn overview with floor plans for active learning Makerspace layouts |
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Floor Plan: Outdoor LearningThough often overlooked, the outdoors can be an effective environment for learning, putting the mind and body in an alert and receptive mode |
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Floor Plan: Student CommonsAn overview with floor plans for active learning Student Commons layouts |
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Floor Plan: Node ClassroomAn overview with floor plans for Node Classroom solutions layouts, which give teachers and students multiple flexible grouping options |
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Floor Plan: Verb ClassroomAn overview with floor plans for Verb Classroom configurations, which allow clear sight-lines to maximize learning and collaboration |
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Floor Plan: K-12 ThoughtstartersA collection of floor plans showcasing a variety of K-12 solutions layouts; giving students choice, control and ample space to spread out and collaborate, co-create and discuss |
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Floor Plan: K-12 ThoughtstartersA collection of floor plans showcasing a variety of K-12 solutions layouts; giving students choice, control and ample space to spread out and collaborate, co-create and discuss |
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Floor Plan: VR Educational ExperiencesGet a 360-degree view of various active learning floor plans |
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Learning on the Move: Node Chair Winners Share their StoriesWe asked the winners of our Steelcase Education giveaway how they've been using their Node chairs to make learning more active. Here’s what we learned. |
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BYOD + District-Provided Devices = A Winning Solution in Wake CountyIn this large NC district, the goal wasn’t 1:1 – it was offering students multiple ways to learn, collaboratively, with help from the technology of their choosing. |
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Adopt, Adapt and Improve: Metro Nashville Public Schools Redefines School LibrariesTennessee's Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools is blazing trails in innovative library and media center design to bring true 21st Century literacy to 83,000 students in more than 150 schools. |
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Rethinking the Library Media CenterFour library media specialists share stories about transforming libraries into next-generation resource centers that students and teachers love to visit. |
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Activating LearningHawthorne Elementary School is a very old, industrial-looking building. But once you get inside one of the school’s classrooms, you instantly see how this Baltimore County school is setting the stage for 21st Century student success. |
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The Newmark School Case StudyThe Newmark School is focused on providing a positive learning environment for its special needs students. Administrators, teacher and parents are focused on environments that are flexible, comfortable, high-tech, and optimistic for their students. See how they are using space as a strategic tool to help students reach their full potential. |
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Stanford d.School Case StudyThe d.School's philosophy holds that space, furniture, tools, and technology are integral to pedagogy. Students are encouraged to display their ideas and work in progress. See how they use their space to promote behaviors critical to design thinking, such as empathy and experimentation. |
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Case Study: Closing the Achievement Gap with ĒnoA case study of how active learning solutions impacted the Upper Darby School District, which serves one of the most densely populated and urbanized townships in Pennsylvania. |
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Case Study: Global Learning with ĒnoThis case study showcases how two schools on opposite sides of the world— New Jersey’s Carteret Middle School and the Eigg School off the coast of Scotland—seized a unique opportunity to partner in a global learning collaboration. |
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Case Study: node: Keeping Pace with Active LearningA case study of Northview High School, where node chairs transformed the traditional classroom into a more interactive, dynamic teaching and learning environment. |
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Georgia Department of Education, Center of Innovation - Case StudyThe Georgia Department of Education created a Center for Innovation to allow school districts to explore new solutions for active learning spaces, supported by Steelcase Education. Video courtesy of and produced by Georgia DOE.steel |
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Grant Helps Saluda Trail Middle School Implement Active LearningSaluda Trail Middle School in Rock Hill, South Carolina applied for and was awarded one of the 2015 Active Learning Center grants. |
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Grant Helps Forest Hills Northern High School Implement Active LearningForest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan applied for and was awarded one of the 2015 Active Learning Center grants. |
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Grant helps Boyce Middle School propel their STEAM programBoyce Middle School near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a recipient of the 2016 Active Learning Center Grant. See how this school propelled their STEAM program and motivated students through the use of mobile, adaptable furniture and space design. |
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The Case for Space: Sean Corcorran at TEDxSean Corcorran, General Manager of Steelcase Education in Grand Rapids, Michigan, talks at the TEDx La Sierra University event about how design thinking is transforming classrooms and learning spaces around the world. |
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The Newmark School Case StudyThe Newmark School is focused on providing a positive learning environment for its special needs students. Administrators, teacher and parents are focused on environments that are flexible, comfortable, high-tech, and optimistic for their students. See how they are using space as a strategic tool to help students reach their full potential. |
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Stanford d.School Case StudyThe d.School's philosophy holds that space, furniture, tools, and technology are integral to pedagogy. Students are encouraged to display their ideas and work in progress. See how they use their space to promote behaviors critical to design thinking, such as empathy and experimentation. |
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Verb Classroom Collection AnimationActive learning requires collaboration and seamless transitions between teaching modes. See how the Verb classroom collection supports both students and instructors in each mode. |
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Node Classroom Chair and TribecaLearn what's really happening in today's classrooms through the eyes of a state-of-the-art school, and how the new Steelcase node classroom chair helped solve their needs. |
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Node ChairsThis movie demonstrates how node chairs can change from one mode to the next in a classroom setting. |
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Georgia Department of Education, Center of Innovation - Case StudyThe Georgia Department of Education created a Center for Innovation to allow school districts to explore new solutions for active learning spaces, supported by Steelcase Education. Video courtesy of and produced by Georgia DOE.steel |
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media:scape LearnLab animationLearnLab is a proprietary application design developed by Steelcase as a result of classroom research. This animation highlights the importance of room geometry, triangulated projection and removing the "front of the room" to provide everyone with equal access to content and the instructor. |
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The Steelcase Active Learning Center GrantSteelcase Education is partnering with educators to rethink classrooms, libraries and in-between spaces to incorporate flexible furniture to support active learning. |
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Creating Launch PointsSchools can do more than simply prepare students for academic success. Let's help students find their launch points—those points that set the stage for a person’s life. |
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What Your Spaces SayGreat designers create spaces that enable educators to craft an invitation into learning. Great teachers and librarians take advantage of this to create that invitation. |
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The Flexible Seating PhenomenonCreating contemporary learning spaces involves much more than focusing on something like seating. It begins with understanding the desired learning experience. |
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Augmented Vs. Virtual Reality: Which Will Transform Education?Numerous studies have shown the strengths of both virtual and augmented reality use in the classroom. But which is the best fit for today's schools? |
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Classroom Redesign Improves ReadingIn 2015, Saluda Trail Middle School in Rock Hill, South Carolina was one of 12 recipients of the Steelcase Education Active Learning Center Grant: bringing flexible mobile furniture, new technology and interactive learning tools. |
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Active Eighth Graders: Hall Middle School's Eighth Grade Embraces Active LearningAfter renovating their learning spaces, Hall Middle School saw distraction go way down, and engagement go way up. |
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The Steelcase 2018 Active Learning Center Grant is Now OpenSteelcase Education is awarding up to sixteen schools an Active Learning Center Grant valued at up to $67,000. Submit your proposal before February 2, 2018. |
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Redesigning Your Library Means...Over the past four years of his work, David Jakes has developed some ideas about the redesign of library spaces and what that can look like. |
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Learning By Design: New Ways to Set the Stage for Student SuccessSteelcase Education and Clarity Innovations are excited to announce significant new updates to the Active Learning Spaces toolkit! |
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Clarity Innovations matches the most promising technology with the evolving needs of education. By merging creativity, technology, and pedagogy, we create powerful learning experiences. Learn More