Inspirations for Teaching in the Ideenlabor
Here you can find ideas and inspiration on how you can use the Ideas Lab to benefit your teaching: from interactive teaching and learning scenarios to team meetings and furniture assembly.
Some examples of Ideenlabor scenarios suitable for knowledge and skill aquisition, application, or assessment
Digital-free zone
The conscious disconnect from their devices helps students to concentrate and focus on what is happening in the room.
Students ensure their digital devices are switched on silent and place them in an allocated space when they enter the room. They do not return to them until the end of the session.
The digital-free zone is particularly suitable for
- Critical thinking
- Communication skills
- Collaborative work
- Multisensory experiences
- Deep thinking
- Hands on experiences
- Mindmapping and concept mapping
- In person contact
- Reflection
- Physical (writing) skills
- Reading
- Concentration
- Journal writing
- Exercising / moving
Supporting room features
Depending on the learning outcomes of your session, consider creating a relaxed set-up with various corners or stations, using room dividers to help concentration, and including round table(s) to support discussion and collaboration. Soft furnishings and cushions, as well plants also contribute to a relaxed atmosphere. Finally, make sure that your students have an alternative to their digital devices: provide paper, stationary, and crafts material, or books and other printed literature.
Preparation required
You will need...
... a dedicated space to place digital gadgets, so that they are out of the way and temptation to use them is removed.
... alternative materials for taking notes; many students may not carry pen and paper.
... materials for hands-on or multisensory activities.
Discussion
Students engage in conversations that have been constructed to highlight various and contrasting, opposing, or conflicting points of view.
A discussion session is particularly suitable for developing
- Self-confidence
- Communication skills
- Collaborative work
- Expressing ideas
- Attention and active listening
- Listening and accepting
- Sharing values and beliefs
- Dialogue
- Constructive disagreement
- Polite conversation with people with opposing views
Supporting room features
Creating a relaxed set up will allow the discussion to flow more freely, and help in particularly those students who may be more reserved in standard settings to participate fully. The flexible furniture in the Ideenlabor allows you to use diverse set-ups, and use these to contribute to changes of perspective of your students. For small group discussions, you can create various corners or stations, or use the whole room for one large group. Using room dividers can help concentration, and round table(s) support a more collaborative discussion. Soft furnishings and cushions, as well as plants contribute to a relaxed atmosphere.
Preparation required
You will need to...
... consider the number of physical areas for discussion: small groups or whole class.
... provide a safe space: placing digital gadgets in a dedicated space can remove the fear of being recorded.
... consciously and explicitly guide students to ensure they have and maintain an open mind.
Display session
Students display a physical output from a project they have worked on (poster or item) and present this to the group.
Suitable for
- Public speaking
- Communication skills
- Collaborative work
- Visualization
- Focusing
- Modelling
- Summarizing
- In person contact
- Reflection
- Considering your audience
- Creativity
- Proactive participation
- Critical thinking and questioning
Supporting room features
- Focal point for presenting
- Hardware / software
- Open space to move around
- Multiple stations for displays
Preparation required
- Furniture and set-up of various stations.
- Materials and items to be displayed.
- Careful time plan for each presentation or round of displays.
Atelier
In an atelier session, students go around stations and solve a task at each station before continuing to the next station. This is a highly versatile session, and tasks can either compliment or contrast each other.
An atelier session is particularly suitable for developing
- Experience based learning
- Collaborative work
- Multisensory experiences
- Deep thinking
- Hands on experiences
- Problem solving
- Several skills in parallel
- Reflection
- Exercising / moving
- Exchanging ideas
- Peer learning
Supporting room features
An atelier session is incredibly versatile, as is the Ideenlabor as a space to host such a session. For an atelier, you need a room where you can start with an open space and create the required stations in. Room dividers are helpful to support focus and reduce distractions from people at other stations. Our mobile and modular furniture that can be set up in various ways to best support the type of station you want your students to learn at is ideally suited this type of session. Finally, a range of (mobile) digital and whiteboard screens provide collaborative work surfaces for students to work at.
Preparation required
You will need...
... a variety of tasks to be completed with a high degree of independence.
... materials for hands-on or multisensory activities.
... to carefully consider the furniture and space required for each station.
