When you walk through the hallways of Northern Parkway Elementary School, you don’t just see children rushing to and from their classrooms; you see them learning together in an open, technology-rich collaboration space.
Turning a hallway into a learning space may not seem like an obvious choice, but it was the most practical one for this school in Uniondale, New York. It also turned out to be the best choice to bring the school’s large and diverse student population together. “We see students talking to each other and laughing and learning and sharing – it’s just a very good feeling,” says Sheilah Jefferson-Isaac, Northern Parkway’s assistant principal.
Spreading the joy of learning
“At Northern Parkway, we truly believe learning is joyful,” explains Jefferson-Isaac. The school has 800 students from many cultural backgrounds and is always looking for new ways to get them excited about learning and create more opportunities for them to learn with and from each other.
With the Nureva™ Span™ visual collaboration system, multiple students can collaborate and have fun on an interactive workspace that used to be a bare wall in a hallway. The school wanted to install the system in a communal space so it was accessible to all students and teachers. But space in the 94-year-old building was limited, so the hallway became the natural choice. It’s ended up being the ideal location for the Span system, which provides a large digital canvas ideal for small-group and whole-class collaboration. “It’s been a really wonderful opportunity to think critically and think creatively and do something different for our learners,” says Jefferson-Isaac.
Giving every child a voice
Teachers are using the Span system in a variety of subjects – math, science, reading and English language instruction. The school has a large number of English language learners and the Span system gives them a new way to express themselves. They can now demonstrate their understanding visually instead of relying solely on words, which helps even the shy students feel more confident.
“Their creativity is sparked. They feel so proud about being able to create, post and then discuss their ideas,” says Manuel Perez, an English as a New Language (ENL) instructor. “I’m able to just post an idea on the wall and have them work on it, create, design and come up with new ideas and then have a very rich conversation about what we’re doing.”
Perez calls the Span system a “secret weapon” that he can count on to create powerful lessons that have a greater impact on his students and gets them excited about learning.
Creating new places to learn together
Jefferson-Isaac says the opportunity to rethink the school’s learning spaces has taught educators a valuable lesson about where learning can happen: “learning does not have to take place in a traditional classroom.”
If fact, Northern Parkway is proving that with the right collaboration technology and teachers willing to embrace new possibilities, learning can thrive anywhere. “The Span system installed in our hallway changed the way that the entire school community views what’s possible in education.”
Watch our video to see how students at Northern Parkway are learning together in exciting new ways.
