The environment is physically comfortable, nurturing, safe, inviting, and friendly to non-traditional students. It's okay to reach and fail; it's safe to ask questions and be tentative or wrong; a student is not criticized, put down or dismissed. The students' intelligence is respected. Information builds on prior knowledge, wisdom, and experience constructed from student awareness.
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Supports a Cooperative Learning Environment.
The solution motivates by affiliation rather than competition. The solution uses and develops cross-curricular partnerships that model cooperation for students. It emphasizes and nurtures collaborative learning environments that encourage interdependency between group members.
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Embraces Collaborative Conversation Styles.
The solution uses an exploratory, non-linear, collaborative, and non-hierarchical conversation mode. It enlightens students on the defensive word-warrior dynamics of typical classrooms. The solution puts concepts in a story format.
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Uses Technology Tools Holistically.
Technology tools are only a part of the solution process, not a topic unto itself; they support learning and doing. Students direct the use of technology in solving problems, keep ownership of their learning process, and personally validate their results. The use of technology tools requires human interaction or dialogue. Technology tools bring people and various topics and subjects together, rather than isolate them. Technology that incorporates violence is not used.
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Vitalizes Physical Space.
The classroom (a) is constructed and decorated with various inviting colors and textures, (b) includes items, colors, and decoration styles that reflect the studentsŐ cultures, (c) contains sufficient flexible space for free movement of students and furniture, (d) promotes collaborative groups and reflects community, (e) has varied shapes, especially rounded and curved, (f) has hanging items, (g) contains natural lighting and indirect lighting, (h) is visually peaceful and inviting, but also stimulating, (i) allows students and instructors to interact, and (j) includes nature. Suites of room are interconnected. Technology tools are peripheral to the focus of the learning space.
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