Edline Canada: Design for Learning

EdLine Canada is a weekly call-in show, co-hosted by Stephen Hurley and Donna Fry, at 4:30 pm NT, 3 pm ET, 1 pm MT on @voicedcanada (https://voiced.ca/) and you can participate in the conversation using the Listener Line: 1-855-84-VOICE. Outside of show hours, you may leave a recorded message to be used during the show. During the show, please also share your thoughts on Twitter using the #EdCan hashtag. EdLine Canada is generously sponsored by The EdCan Network (formerly the Canadian Education Association). Be sure you are part of this critical network of Lifelong Learners, dedicated to improving public education across Canada.

This week on Edline Canada, we are talking about design for learning. We welcome Randall Fielding and Jill Handrigan as our guests.

Randy Fielding is the Founding Chairman of Fielding Nair International. His unique approach puts learning at the centre of how schools are designed and built. My favourite line from his bio is this:

“We learn from what inspires us as opposed to what confines us.”

This is so evident from the many projects shown on the Fielding Nair International website, including this recent project – Strathcona Tweedsmuir School in Alberta.

Randy recently spoke with Tom Vander Ark of Getting Smart, on Designing Learning Environments of the Future. In this podcast, Randy shares his journey into the work of school design, the science of why design matters to learning, and his vision of school as a network of spaces as opposed to a model of cells and bells. I particularly identified with his thinking around empowering children to be self-navigators, so that they can find their way in this very complex world they are living in.

Jill Handrigan is a learner, educator, thinker and asker of great questions. She lives and works [with some remarkable educators] in Newfoundland and Labrador. Jill is no stranger to the EdCan Network having been part of the Regional Consultations and a writer for #edcan here: The Average is Nobody

You can also hear Jill’s “Story of Getting There” with Stephen Hurley on the Edcan Network.

Jill is also a blogger for VoicEd. Read her most recent post here: Learner First. In this post, Jill reminds us to be open to what we can learn from our students, and how their learning needs become our learning needs.

Recently, Jill traveled to California to visit schools and see first hand how design and pedagogy can impact learning. She shares her experiences with us today.