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An effective education environment combines a healthy dose of the physical space with the social aspect of the learning process. It's not enough to stick students at a desk for hours on end. Rather, creating classrooms and common areas that have flow and flexibility will provide opportunities for students and teachers to work in new ways. Try out these easy methods for incorporating a collaborative touchdown area or two in your school.

 
gather collaborative furniture

Provide Flexibility

Flexibility is the key to collaborative success. The furniture you choose to outfit your touchdown area should be modular enough to facilitate a wide number of projects and a variety of student working styles. Although collaborative style learning spaces are made to foster things like class presentations and group projects, group work is rarely 100% collaborative. Instead, most groups may get together in the beginning stages of a project, break out to do focused individual work, then come back together for critique and further communicate. Due to the need for collaborative furniture to suit both the needs of individual work and group work, furniture should either be large and varied enough to support a range of work or it should be easy enough for students to move around the classroom on their own.

 
touchdown collaborative furniture

Eliminate Assigned Seating

You may choose whether or not to enforce assigned seating at your student desks, but we recommend keeping some level of student choice in the matter when it comes to your collaborative spaces. Collaborative touchdown areas are places wherein minimal teacher supervision makes way for an increase in freedom, allowing students to decide for themselves what they will accomplish and how they will accomplish it. Allow students to gather where they choose and make some of their collaborative decisions on their own.

 
myway collaborative furniture

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Other than getting students together, one of the greatest benefits of touchdown spaces is the way they work with and enhance classroom use of technology. While things like projectors and smartboards are fine for instructing large groups, they have their limitations. But with a collaborative atmosphere, better forms of technology can be more easily incorporated. From providing individual students with their own tablets to allowing small groups to gather around a laptop, a greater range of freedom is offered when the ratio of students to devices is more closely matched.

 

Quick Tips for Using Collaboration Touchdown Spaces

1. Set up the space to facilitate individual work, roundtable discussion and large group lectures

 

2. Allow students the freedom to choose where they sit and how they work

 

3. Incorporate the right technology into the space to support active group and individual work

 

Thinking of adding a collaborative touchdown or breakout space to your classroom? Peruse our full selection of collaborative furniture or take a look at all of the school furniture we have to offer.

Education

More From NBF

The Ultimate Playbook for Meetings & Conference Rooms

In the game of conference rooms, only the resourceful are victorious. Boardrooms are double-booked, on-the-fly ideas are forgotten, and what could be a groundbreaking conversation becomes an unread email. 

In a growing business, employees are often faced with the hurdle of what to do when they need to meet with coworkers but can’t find a meeting space. The solution? Equip your office with a variety of meeting spaces to allow employees to collaborate when they want, where they want, and how they want. Our conference playbook will give you a glimpse into the types of spaces that you should be offering.

The Audible is a nearby standing meeting for quick, impromptu conversations between 2 or 3 coworkers. This may come in the form of a stand-up desk in an open area or a row of standing-height filing cabinets between workstations.

The Hail Mary may be any size but must include a conference table with a computer with a monitor at the end. This setup allows telecommuting and remote employees to call in for meetings if they are working off-site.

The Touchdown is a casual meeting of 3 or 4 people in a lounge-style setting. Comfort is key in this impromptu meeting space, so soft seating and occasional tables similar to that found in a home living room are common.

The Huddle is a semi-formal meeting between 3 and 4 people at a small conference table. This meeting may be scheduled or impromptu, private or open concept.

The Blitz is a scheduled meeting in a formal, private conference room. This type of space is typically reserved for groups of 5 or more.

Interference is called when other employees are scheduled to use the same meeting space as you at the same time. To avoid this penalty, equip your office with plenty of options for conference areas, and keep them all varied to support the different types of plays listed in this playbook. You may want to think ahead and use multipurpose furniture in your office, such as a desk that can also be used as a conference table. 

For employees, having a mixture of these conference plays in the office will signal that the company cares about their ideas and that they’re free to share when and where they want. For employers, it means being able to capture fresh ideas from everyone in the office, and that, you will find, is a game changer.

The Pros and Cons of Standing Meetings

The Pros and Cons of Standing Meetings

It’s a fact of life—we sit, and we do a lot of it, especially at work. Unfortunately, our sedentary habits come with a cost—negative health effects. Research has shown us how much we can benefit by merely standing for short periods. In fact, research has shown that balance and moderation of both sitting and standing is the way to go to have healthy and effective working habits.

One way to incorporate more standing into your daily routine is to have standing meetings. These meetings have advantages and disadvantages. While attendees of standing meetings tend to be more focused on the task at hand, they are not always the most efficient. Occasionally, standing does not allow us to work in the ways we need to, such as when it comes to stooping over to take notes. Standing meetings help us get moving and ward off negative health effects, but they simply are not appropriate for all meetings.

It’s best to offer a variety of meeting rooms or perhaps just one that lends itself to many different uses, from holding standing brainstorming sessions to hour-long executive meetings. Of course, furniture is a critical component when it comes to creating these rooms, as it shapes so much of the room’s purpose and potential. Know that everyone works and meets differently, so offering a varied approach to meeting settings is ideal for holding productive meetings—no matter which variety they may be.

How to Hold More Active Meetings

How to Hold More Active Meetings

As business owners and employees become more aware of the negative effects of sitting all day on our bodies, we need new ways of staying active on the job. We all know standing desks are a great solution for keeping moving at our desks, but what about those of us who are stuck in meetings all day? Here are some creative solutions for giving everyone in your conference rooms the option to move freely throughout the day.

Choose an Adjustable-Height Conference Table

That’s right, adjustable-height furniture doesn’t only come in desk form! Adjustable-height conference tables come in a wide range of styles and sizes, allowing meeting members to decide when they’d like to sit or stand. Remember to provide stools rather than standard conference chairs in a meeting room with an adjustable-height table. This way, users can still take a seat if they prefer when the table is set to standing height. Remember, it’s all about offering everyone a choice.

Offer Active Seating in Your Conference Rooms

While stools are ideal for the standing conference room, you may also want to offer active seating options such as ball chairs or leaning stools that promote positive fidgeting. Active seating allows meeting members to move freely while they sit, encouraging movement in a setting that would normally prevent it. Beware of what type of conference room these seating options are provided in, as the fidgeting active seating promotes can be potentially distracting. We suggest offering these seating options in more casual offices or meeting spaces. 

Hold Active Meetings Outside the Office

If possible, try holding meetings outside the office from time to time. Even a short walk to a new location will get employees moving, which gets those creative juices flowing. If you’re feeling extra ambitious, you can even try holding the meeting while walking. This type of meeting is typically only viable with a small number of participants, and you should make sure that everyone is on board with it before the meeting. Not everyone is physically able to walk for even short distances.

 

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Nicole Groshek

Nicole Groshek is the social media and content coordinator for National Business Furniture. She helps employees discover the true joy in loving what they do, from working in an inspiring office to having a little fun on the job.