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Wikimedia Commons: treesftf
K-12 Dive
Will outdoor classroom momentum persist beyond COVID-19?
Lauren Barack
Jan. 13, 2021
Dive Brief:
Thousand Oaks High School in California has started constructing an
outdoor classroom that taps into technology, which will allow students
to use the space as a learning center throughout the school year,
District Administration reports.
The pilot project is in partnership with Schneider Electric, which is
financing the building and design of the space for the Conejo Valley
Unified School District, but will be allowed to market the finished
space to other districts as part of the deal.
The classroom is expected to be ready for use this year and will have
solar paneling on its roof, as well as LED lights, a touchscreen
display and outdoor charging areas for devices. Outdoor furniture will
also be employed and can be moved around depending on the need, ranging
from science to art classes.
Dive Insight:
The idea of an outdoor classroom is something districts and schools
pursued even before the pandemic upended the way students learn. From a
preschool’s use of a community garden to learn about healthy eating
habits to beehives on campus at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, schools have long tapped into outside space, whether it’s on
their own grounds or even a child’s own backyard, expanding the very
concept of a classroom.
COVID-19 has forced educators to get creative, as well — particularly
with many schools still relegated to digital-only spaces for teaching
and learning. In those situations, the outdoors have also proven a
fruitful resource, with students using their own backyards for lessons
on plants, insects or animals. Entire classrooms have moved outside, as
well.
However, geography can play a big role in how long an outdoor learning
environment can be tapped. While a high school class can continue to
use a school garden in Hayward, California, year-round, one in Green
Bay, Wisconsin — which gets an average seasonal snowfall of 40 to 50
inches a year — may have more trouble.
Weather differences may require that teachers adapt how they use the
outdoors in their teaching, but it doesn’t preclude sending a class
outside. For example, educators can take advantage of frozen
temperatures by having students freeze edible items they find outside,
from berries to seeds, and see how animals engage with them. Students
can even head out after a fresh snowfall to analyze animal tracks, or
they can study how plants and trees change in the winter months,
learning how to identify them during this season. Changing seasons can
also serve as a lesson about the weather itself for younger students,
and physical education classes can shift to winter activities with
options from cross-country skiing to snowshoeing, if resources allow.
Through these options, schools can continue to lean on the outdoors for
learning, regardless of geographic location and the duration of
COVID-19's impact to the educational system in the months ahead.
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