12 Design and Planning Solutions When Renovating Education Facilities

AUSTIN, Texas - Oct. 8, 2021 - PRLog -- In a new sign that we are making rapid strides in the fight against the Covid, the CDC announced this month that students returning to school in the fall wouldn't have to wear masks on campus.

But will schools ever return to the status quo ante?

Probably not.

Just as in the case of the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak, which helped bring about significant changes in school design – from increased fresh air ventilation to gleaming white sanitary ceramic fixtures and tiled floors in restrooms — the Covid-19 pandemic will have long-lasting effects on school design planning.

So what should architects and designers expect when drawing up programming plans for new school construction projects or renovations?

1. In-Person Education Is A Key Success Indicator

Most educational professionals agree on two findings from the sudden switch to remote learning during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020:

The first finding is that the majority of schools across the country did a remarkable job during these unprecedented circumstances to meet the immediate educational needs of their students through remote learning.

The second finding is that, despite these heroic efforts of teachers and parents, many students taught exclusively via remote learning fell behind in their studies and will need significant remedial tutoring to catch up to their grade level.

Why is there such a disparity between remote learning and in-person education outcomes?

Educators point to several factors at work during the pandemic:

- Students living in households where both parents work outside the home were at a significant disadvantage due to lack of at-home supervision – especially children of essential workers who continued to work during the pandemic.
- Disparities in home environments made remote learning more difficult for many students due to limited Internet access or inadequate study spaces to students lacking stable, permanent housing (e.g. homeless).
- Educators also found it was difficult to perform formative and summative assessments of student progress when interacting with students exclusively by remote video connections.
- Students educated exclusively in remote learning also lacked access to important course enrichment activities, including music, art, and theater programs; use of school laboratory facilities or maker spaces for hands-on project learning; as well as participation in physical education programs held in gymnasiums, swimming pools, athletic fields, etc.

Read more...https://formaspace.com/articles/education/12-design-and-p...