By Christina Burke
Features Editor
Slowly but surely, the drab walls of Coppell High School have been getting makeovers over the last couple of years. The Virtual / Blended Learning Lab and Design Studio are the two newest additions to CHS.
The Virtual / Blended Learning Lab is located in upstairs C Hall, right off the senior bridge, and is used for blended and virtual classes at CHS. The Design Studio, located in upper D hall, is used by the Academies, the International Baccalaureate students, Career & Technology classes as well as teachers in Club 21.
Both of these rooms are configured on the ideas of not only updating the typical learning environment at CHS but also promoting new types of learning and helping students flourish in that environment.
“It will be a great help because our education is so technologically based these days, and the students need access to these resources,” Virtual / Blended Learning Lab facilitator Lynn Hardin said. “I hope the students will enjoy the room and take advantage of the opportunities that are in here and take care of what we have.”
A Coppell ISD creative team put a lot of time and effort into these projects and worked hard to see them come to life. Becky Richard’s Interior Design students from last year created the original floor plan, furniture and decor proposal, and color scheme for the Virtual / Blended Learning Lab.
“It was fun working on the room last year,” junior Samantha Echols said. “It was a little challenging to find a good median for where to begin and what we wanted the room to look like, but I enjoyed it. I love using the room this year. To actually see it come together was fun.”
Both rooms include a variety of modern furniture perfect for collaboration and a variety of iMacs, MacBook Pros and Dell laptops for students to access at all times. The Virtual / Blended Learning Lab even includes a coffee bar complete with a Keurig and water bottles; seasonal drinks such as hot chocolate will be for sale once it is up and running. Hardin hopes to have the coffee bar functioning later this fall but a date has not been determined.
One of the most unique things about these new rooms at CHS is the design plans and ideas all came from actual student input.
“We talked with a variety of student groups to better understand the environment they wish to work in and they used adjectives such as comfortable, movable and flexible,” CISD Executive Director for Leading and Learning Tabitha Branum said. “We also wanted to increase the functionality of the Design Studio, so we added a green screen to provide a truly creative space for student production.”
The type of learning that takes place in these rooms is new and innovative.
“[Blended learning] encourages students to be responsible for their own learning, which is exactly what is expected of them when they get to college or into the workforce,” blended learning teacher Jennifer Furnish said. “I also think it allows them to express their creativity more and hopefully helps with time management.”
As the world adapts to new ways of learning, CISD does their best to stay on top of the latest strategies that will both please students, and be effective ways of learning in the technologically based times that we live in.
“21st century learning promotes the transformation to a ‘student-centered’ school that prepares ‘future-ready’ students,” Technology TOSA Shalone Willms said. “The Design Studio and Virtual / Blended Learning labs provide space and resources for students to problem solve, collaborate, research, and create for a more authentic learning experience.”
CISD hopes to see more rooms like this in the future to continually promote 21st century learning in all of the Coppell schools.
“Thanks to the leadership of [CHS Principal Mike Jasso and CISD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Turner], we have already redesigned four science labs with new furniture that follows the same concept as these two labs,” Branum said. “We will continue to explore multiple opportunities to bring innovative space and furniture solutions to CHS through grant opportunities, as well as through the upcoming bond election.”
