If you manage a school website, by now you will be aware of the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  SEO not only helps to improve the quantity of traffic to your school website but also the quality of your website.  People however seem to have a common misconception that school websites do not require SEO and it is more relevant for other institutions and organisations. However, if you look at the search data, you would easily disapprove of this fact. 

With 3.5 billion searches made everyday, it can be safely concluded that these search trends should not be ignored. But the question is — is it possible to constantly keep up with these search trends and frequently update your website? 

The simple answer is yes, if you intend not to hurt your organic traffic.  Search trends help you understand and deliver the most effective and user-friendly content for each of your queries. A robust SEO optimisation strategy takes time to show results and when it does, you will be able to reap its benefits for years to come. 

1. Utilise location-based search strategy

Google My Business (the listing on Google search that shows your location and contact details) was created with the intention of helping customers engage on Google for free. The primary objective was to help small and medium-scale businesses connect with their potential customers across Google Searches and Maps. 

For most schools, the common statement is, “Everyone knows my school, why do I need this?”

But the fact is optimising Google My Business shows your school name up on the search even when a user doesn’t know you exist. 

For example, a parent who is new in the area where your school is situated, might simply key in the phrase, ‘best high school + location in the search engine. For that parent to find your school, you need to be on the Page 1 search results. And we very well know from historical data that very few people visit the second page. Having an up-to-date Google My Business listing can assist with this.

Another significant point to be noted here — Google detects the searchers’ location from the IP address. Even if you don’t include your region in the search, it will automatically deliver them local results including Google My Business listings… 

2. Comprehend the search intent for educational institutions 

Most search engine users these days are impatient. If they want their search to include specific results, they will use the related long-tail keywords. Now the real challenge is understanding those keywords and search terms so you can optimise your school website accordingly. 

In other words, the more content you have on your website that is related to the search term, the better are your site’s chances of ranking higher in the search results. 

3. Optimise for different regions 

It’s not just enough that your GMB account and site pages include only results for the physical location where you are situated. 

Some parents who have not entered your location in their search will not be able to find your school and they may not even be aware that you are already pulling students from their areas. This holds true for most schools that are located outside main cities and towns. 

What you need here is a regional landing page strategy. 

The most common approach to creating regional landing pages are highlighted below: 

• Define the targeted area

You need to start by defining the area that you are targeting whether it is a specific region, city, county, etc. Then mention the key landmarks or work a bit into the history of the region. 

• Geo-specific keywords 

This is in fact the most important point to consider when you are creating a location-based landing page that will specifically give you the local hits you need from your local population. The formula is quite simple — mention [type of school] in [region or location] or [location] in the content you have on your website. 

For example, 

• Primary school in North London 
• North Yorkshire secondary school 

• Consistency 

Irrespective of whether you are creating one landing page or 10, the look and feel as well the style and tone of each page should be consistent. If you are a larger institution, it’s a good idea to come up with a style guide with specific branding colours and guidelines. 

4. On-page optimisation 

This is the process of doing everything on your website that could help to instruct Google to deliver you to page one. You should take on-page quite seriously if you want the search engines to reward you with the first page visibility. 

Let’s take a look at some of the best practises you may want to follow in your quest to rank on the first page:

• URLs: Google has very clearly stated that URLs help them understand what the page is all about. In order to optimise the URLs: 
  • Include the primary keyword in the URL
  • Place the keyword to the left side of the URL
  • Keep the words that define the URL as real as possible
  • Keep the text simple and sweet
  • Use hyphens between two words 

• Meta titles and descriptions:  Page titles are one of the most important on-page SEO factors. Both the meta title and description are important for the search engines to understand the purpose of the page. 
• Header tags: These tags serve an important function for the SEO of your page. They have a direct impact on your page by:
  • Making it easier and more enjoyable for your users to read the page
  • Providing keyword-rich context to the search engines for your content
• SEO writing: This typically implies that the content is written in a way that it is loved by both humans and the search engines. 
• Keyword cannibalisation: Targeting many pages for a specific keyword can cause keyword cannibalisation and that could have potentially disastrous results for your SEO efforts. If you have multiple pages on your website ranking for the same keyword, you’re actually competing with yourself and that’s not a good on-page strategy to follow. 
• Content audit: This is a vital mistake made by most content authors and editors. They keep on creating new content, but never bother to revisit or update their existing content. It’s absolutely essential to do content audits on a regular basis. 

5. Mobile page loading speed 

In the real world, speed kills but it is not the same in the digital world. If your page doesn’t load fast on your mobile, the internet will kill your rank. 

Waiting for a page to load in its own sweet time is a frustrating experience. There are quite a few ways to reverse this experience:

• Utilise the wide range of free marketing tools available to make quick fixes to your content. There are a few tools that can compress images to a fraction of their size. 
• Limit the amount of media you include in your posts and pages. To ensure optimal page load speed, you should maintain a ratio of 75:25 for text to images. 
• Make sure you have a prominent call to action (CTA) and the size of the CTA button should be at least a bit larger than your thumb. 

Final thoughts

SEO like anything else requires the right amount of knowledge, skills, patience, and consistency to produce the desired results. The opportunities are unlimited and as the search engine volumes grow, it will become more important than ever to keep working on your SEO efforts.

Does your school still use a paper-based diary to maintain the important dates and events? 

Understandably, shifting from old-school traditions takes time but if your school is not taking advantage of paperless solutions, such as an online calendar, it truly is missing out on opportunities to save valuable time. 

An online calendar is a significant tool that helps in not only keeping your diary organised but also makes communication easier and streamlines existing processes to make them more efficient. 

If that got you interested in using an online calendar, then take some time to go through the significant benefits listed below. 

1. It is sustainable 

With constant updates and communication around climate change, a sense of awareness has been created about being more responsible towards being sustainable and eco-friendly. It makes all the more sense to move away from paper-based solutions and adopt paperless solutions. 

Online calendars work best in reducing the digital footprint of your organisation as well as paper wastage. 

2. It is secured

A physical diary is always exposed to security threats owing to its nature of being portable and vulnerable. You might easily lose it or damage it, and there is no chance of it having a backup. 

With an online calendar, these challenges do not surface at all. You can easily link an online calendar to your email and also password protect it at all times. The best part is you can easily back it up on cloud to avoid any loss of data. 

3. It helps you save time 

With a physical diary, you have to keep on adding the meetings and events as and when they happen, else you might forget to appear at the right time. 

However, with an online calendar, you can save plenty of time by creating an event once and setting it up on a daily, monthly, or weekly basis by changing just a few settings. Also, if you have attendees for your meeting, they will get automatic updates if the meeting is cancelled or the dates are modified.

4. It is easy to coordinate

In the new normal of remote working, if you had to physically collate appointments from the calendars of different people, it could turn out to be a really tiring job and even more so if these people are working out of different locations. 

An online calendar is very convenient for the simple fact that it can be accessed from any location in the world and by anyone who needs access to that information. 

5. It integrates with other platforms

The best thing about an online calendar is that it can very well integrate with other platforms of your school, such as your school website and mobile app. 

If you would like the parents or students to access your online calendar, you can simply sync it with your internal system and the information available on your calendar will be made public. They will easily be able to see the dates of online events and other necessary information they need to access anytime. 

6. It enhances your productivity levels

Besides all other benefits, you can use an online calendar to boost your productivity levels. 

You can block dedicated slots in your calendar to complete the priority tasks within that time slot. You can either block time to complete an urgent school project or have dedicated one-on-one sessions with your students or other school members. 

Blocking slots also ensures that others do not send any meeting invites during that time or disturbs you with any unnecessary interventions. 

Conclusion

As you can see from the points mentioned above, an online calendar doesn’t just enable you to schedule your online events and meetings, but also acts as a time-saver and productivity enhancer. 

Start using an online calendar today to save your valuable time for handling the most critical functions of your business. If managing an online calendar is your only worry, then you can definitely take the help of School Jotter. 

This year is a year like no other, and alongside managing the risks of day to day school life, schools are also encountering problems with fundraising in a safe and fun way. As a Co-Chair of a local village primary school, I am going to share some ideas we have had for fundraising efforts that could easily be replicated in other schools.

1 – Sponsored Walk to the North Pole

This one has a Christmas twist. Hurry! The idea is simple, your school needs to reach the North Pole for Christmas to meet Santa Claus. You create a walking or running target for each child and family participating, and then those groups get sponsorship to achieve their part of the walk. The World Walking App are offering bespoke routes to schools allowing parents to download the app and track the route to the North Pole. 

2 – The Smartie Challenge

An oldie but a goodie! Simply send a tube of smarties home with each pupil to eat. The child keeps the tube and needs to do some good deeds to fill it back up with coins. This can be done over the weekend and during half terms. Once the activity is complete parents just leave the tubes outside each class in a basket so they can be collected and counted. The class that raises the most money gets a mini prize. Some small village primary schools have been known to make over £1,000 on this activity alone. 

3 – Create a Cookery Book! 

Ask all the parents and guardians in each class to provide their favourite recipe to feature in your very own school’s cookbook! Companies like Cauliflower Books can create these for only £5 each, and you can probably sell them for around £10 each. To make it even more fun, you can ask pupils to write out the recipes or even add drawings to the pages. 

4 – Virtual Balloon Race

This is a seven day computer simulation race where everything is real apart from the balloon. You can buy one or more virtual balloons for just £3 each and give them a name, shape or pattern. The software designed to run the race uses live weather data to determine the progress of each balloon and each entry can be tracked on Google satellite map once launched. The winner is the balloon that has travelled the furthest in a straight line from the starting point. One company that offers this is Eco Racing. 

5 – Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Sale

Obviously you would need to wear masks and gloves for this one, but this is a super easy way of making money! After all, who doesn’t love a doughnut? Krispy Kreme offer a special discounted price on their original glazed doughnuts at £5.50 per dozen, which works out at 45p each. Selling the doughnuts at £1 each would quickly raise some funds for your school. Setting up this activity is easy, just order your donuts on the Krispy Kreme website with at least 10 days notice, collect them and on the day get a few volunteers to sell them at a social distance. 
As an added extra….Create a community directory of all local businesses (not for profit)
Lastly the school’s PTA could compile a directory of local businesses that any parents might be involved with, showcasing the products and services available. This is a great way for your community to show support for local businesses within their extended parents family.
With any of these activity and fundraising ideas, all of the relevant information could be easy to circulate to parents using the School Jotter Mobile App.
If you have any great and inventive fundraising ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Email them to info@schooljotter.com and we’ll update this blog post with our favourites.
Blog post authored by Claire Morritt

We are now in a completely different society from when I was growing up. Children are now best friends with their phone rather than the children next door. There is more pressure than ever before, popularity is rated by how many likes, views, and retweets you receive from social media. Yet they could be the timidest student in the classroom. How tracking location of someone has become a social norm and meeting up with your friends has turned into drinking coffee whilst sat on phones.
I, like plenty of others mums have an Instagram, Facebook and Twitter account. I know many mothers who use it just to keep updated with their children’s lives. It’s easier to see what they’re posting than wait for a text to let you know they are safe. However, I’m pretty ignorant about other social media apps, particularly the ones aimed at school-aged children… So let’s investigate.

Houseparty –

This one seems to be the ‘coolest’ of the Apps for teens. First impressions you would think people are throwing house parties and inviting people, but it’s not. The Houseparty app is for live video chatting. Like Skype, Facetime and Messenger aren’t enough! You can have up to eight people in a room and have several “parties” going at once. Teens are going crazy for it: the app launched last February and now has more than 2.5 million daily active users. The age limit is 13 years old, but like so many other apps and social networks, they don’t ask a user’s age at signup so they aren’t even trying to exclude the kids. All you need is a smartphone to join and use the service. However, parents biggest fear is pressure in pornography. On ‘protectyoungeyes.com’ the site explains that ‘there aren’t many serious risks with Houseparty in terms of accidental exposure to inappropriate content just from casual use. We were not able to find any hidden browser views and when clicking into their Privacy Policy, it kicks you out to Safari.’

Ask.fm –

I have personally heard a few horror stories about this particular App. The most frightening stories for parents to hear is a 12-year-old girl who committed suicide due to Ask.fm. It is an anonymous question and answer platform website used regularly by lots of young people around the world. It allows anyone to post anonymous comments and questions to a person’s profile and is increasingly being used as a means to communicate abusive, bullying and sexualised content. The questions can be shared via other social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. There are a staggering 215 million users and a staggering 10,000 questions asked on the app every minute. 50% of users are under 18.

Kik Messenger –

Kik has around 300 million registered users and is used by 40% of the teenagers in the US. It sends and receives photos, messages, and sketches over the internet connection of a user’s registered account. Kik’s special feature is the fact that it preserves the person’s anonymity, as users register using a name and username without registering a telephone number. It is very similar to WhatsApp, the main functions are:

• One to one chatting
• Sending messages, videos, and GIFs
• Group chat with up to 49 users
• Anonymous chat (the scary part as a parents point of view)

What are the risks? Cyberbullying, experiencing or sharing inappropriate content and chatting with strangers which is very easy to do on the Kik app.

Snapchat –

158 million users worldwide. This App allows you to view ‘snaps’ of your friends and celebrities with a 10-second video or picture clip. You can use various filters to enhance your appearance from touch-ups to cat and dog tongues! Once viewed the videos then disappear. The main users of Snapchat appear to be between 13-17 years of age. Parents may be oblivious to this but there is a social pressure to do sexting as a teenager. Research shows one in seven teens report they are sexting and the easiest app to do it is snapchat as you can be notified if someone takes a ‘screenshot’ of the photo or they can even now ‘screen record‘ chats and videos.

Whisper –

Whisper is an anonymous social networking app. Users post confessions, either facts or fiction by superimposing text on a picture. Whispers unique selling point is that it is completely anonymous. This is the worrying part for me as I think why do they need to upload something anonymously? Are they embarrassed, and if they are embarrassed then why?

Instagram –

Oh Instagram, where more teenagers are aspiring to be an Instagram influencer as their dream job over becoming a doctor. Instagram has become one of the most influential but depressing social media sites ever made. The most beautiful, tanned and slim men and women post pictures promoting something and get paid thousands. Yet there no doubt the photos have been edited. However, the influencers who make it big on Instagram tends to be the ones affected with mental health as it is so easy to post your view on them. It is a powerful app and now it is becoming illegal to not use the hashtag #ad as too people such as the Kardashians were promoting products that they might not even believe are good but getting paid so they did not care.

More than 55% of children have been abused or bullied online. Ditchthelabel.org, an international anti-bullying charity, estimates that around 5.43 million young people in the UK have been the victims of cyberbullying, with 1.26 million people suffering extreme cyberbullying on a daily basis. There has been a rise in mental health diagnosis since social media evolved due to all the negativity and constant comparisons and of course many other reasons. Social media definitely has its positives and negatives.
Staying safe on the internet can be easy, just do not feel pressured. Always remember what you see is not always what you get. People will post the best angles and always remember no one posts their failures.
My main tip for looking after yourself is you can always say NO.

• If someone gets angry at you for not doing something they want whether it is not posting a selfie, feeling pressured into sending things you don’t wish to send then say no. They will feel more like a fool than you and they do not always care.
• Talk to your children, I know they will hate it and go ‘oh mum/dad I know’ but don’t give up because you will blame yourself if anything bad happens. Be selfish.
• Always talk to someone if you’re worried about someone on social media, at least then they can offer you advice and you are not alone.
• Before you post something, think ‘would grandma like to see this’. That enough to put me off anyways!
• You are not alone. There can be people who get ten likes on a photo who have tons of friends. Yet people who receive hundreds/thousands of likes who struggle to make friends outside of the internet.

School Jotter is the UK’s #1 school website platform already used by over 4,000 schools. Its new anti-bullying button lets students anonymously report safety threats with a single touch. Contact us to learn more about creating your school website and mobile app using School Jotter.

April 2016 marks 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare – an English poet, playwright, and actor who is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time. Some of the most famous Shakespeare’s plays include “Hamlet”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Macbeth”. His plays remain highly popular, and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted throughout the world.

This month, the celebrations have officially started in the United Kingdom and across the world to honour Shakespeare. Today we are sharing some of the main events happening to celebrate the 400th anniversary as well as some online resources for improving your knowledge about Shakespeare and his work.

Events

1616: A Momentous Year at the Shakespeare’s Globe

Visit Shakespeare’s Globe in London for a year-long programme of performances, exhibitions, talks, workshops, conferences, a family story-telling festival, and even a Kabuki inspired ‘Ophelia’ in Japanese.

Shakespeare Lives by The British Council and the Great Britain campaign

Shakespeare Lives is a global programme of events and activities celebrating William Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. The work of Shakespeare will be celebrated throughout 2016 directly on stage, through film, exhibitions and in schools.

Shakespeare400 by King’s College London

Shakespeare400 is a consortium of leading cultural, creative and educational organisations, coordinated by King’s College London, which will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016. A number of public performances, programmes, exhibitions and creative activities will take place in the capital and beyond in 2016.

Online learning resources

BBC bitesize learning resources for schools
Check out the BBC bitesize learning resources to learn about Shakespeare and his work. Great for schools!
Teaching Shakespeare on TES
Teaching Shakespeare provides a number of useful resources for learning more about Shakespeare’s work.

Other activities

Visit Shakespeare’s birthplace
Visit the house where Shakespeare was born and grew up.
Visit Shakespeare’s classroom
The original classroom where William Shakespeare is believed to have studied and seen his first plays opened to the public for the first time last week.

School website is very important for making a good first impression as it often is the first contact that people have with the school. Therefore, the school website affects the overall image and reputation of your school which can lead to increased admissions. Having good school web design is also very important for delivering a good user experience for its regular users, including teachers, students and parents.

Here are some of the most important features of why having a good school website matters.

The features of a good school website

Website Appearance

The overall look of the website is the first thing that users notice when they visit the website. This includes the layout, colours, images and fonts you use to build the website. Make sure that all these factors are considered when building the website as they contribute towards creating an overall impression of the school.

Make sure you check our infographic on how to design an awesome school website here.

Quality content

A good school website is expected to include a range of quality content. Remember to add basic information like contact details, welcoming messages, school value and images to the homepage followed by learning resources, curriculum information, news, events calendar and other school information.

Navigation

The website design and good content are very important, however, if visitors cannot easily find the information they are looking for, they will become frustrated and it will negatively affect the overall user experience.

This is especially important when talking about parents researching the schools for their children because if they find the website impossible to navigate, they might just leave the website and search for another school.

The right message

Make sure your website sends the right message to its visitors and it actually represents the values and promotes the strengths of your school. Your website is very important when it comes to creating the best image of your school.

Mobile version

This is another very important feature that should not be ignored in the modern days. Most users, including teachers, parents and students will visit the school website on their mobile devices. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the website remains clear on all devices.

Check out our new mobile apps for schools here.

It is engaging

Finally, make it engaging!

Having a school website is very important, but making it a good website is what creates a good image of your school and leads to the positive user experience.]

The Importance of Having a Good School Website

A well-designed school website is crucial for creating a solid first impression and shaping the school’s image. Focusing on appearance, quality content, easy navigation, clear messaging, mobile compatibility, and engagement means schools can ensure a positive experience for all visitors.

A great website attracts new students and parents and is a valuable resource for the school community. Investing in a high-quality school website is vital in showcasing the school’s values and commitment to excellence.

Whether you are doing your homework, preparing for an assignment or studying for an exam, it is very easy to lose motivation to study if you do not feel organised, you are distracted or just feeling tired. Sounds familiar? These simple study tips will help you get in the right mindset.

Create the perfect studying environment

The first step to smarter studying at home is creating the perfect studying environment. Make sure your study area is quiet, comfortable and free from distractions. Try to experiment with different study areas. For example, if you get too distracted when you are at home, try studying in the school library or in any other quiet area. If you are not required to use technologies for your studying, try switching off all of your devices.

Stay organised

Use an academic planner to keep track of your assignments, homework and deadlines.You can use a traditional paper based planner or use the resources available on your school website or online. Always organise your learning materials. Keep all materials for different subjects in different folders, use colour coding or labelling to make your studying more effective. Most importantly, not all organisational systems work for all students, so make sure you develop a system that works for you.

Manage your time

Effective time management is one of the most useful skills that you can learn while at school. This is a lifelong skill that will benefit you in many ways. Plan how much time you want to spend studying a specific subject every day and set yourself realistic deadlines. Do not forget about any extracurricular activities that you might have and make sure you have enough time for studying.

Communicate with your peers and teachers

Engage with your peers on social media for asking questions, sharing your thoughts and resources or collaborating on different projects. What is more, teachers are always more than happy to answer your questions and to help you with your studying. This also shows that you care about your academic performance which can eventually lead to improved grades!

Turn your notes into flashcards

Turning your notes into flashcards is very useful when you are studying for an assignment or an exam. For instance, if you are studying geometry formulas, write the name of the formula on one side and the formula itself on the other side of the card. Use paper index cards or try some online resources and mobile apps for creating flash cards.

Take a break

Your brain can only take a certain amount of information at a time. If you do not take regular breaks, you will most likely find it difficult to memorise information and you will end up feeling stressed and frustrated. For every hour that you study, you should take at least a 15 minute break to do something that takes your mind away from studying. For example, go for a walk, listen to some music, play a game, chat with your friends or even take a nap.

Reward yourself

Positive reinforcement is a great tool for staying motivated. Reward yourself in small ways after completing tasks. Treat yourself to having your favourite snack, watching a movie or playing a computer game. Find whatever keeps you going!

Study all the time

Finally, try your best to study all the time instead of studying a day before your test or exam. Reviewing your notes daily and learning in smaller chunks will help you stay organised and will lead to better knowledge retention. This will definitely lead to achieving better academic results.

Studying does not have to be very stressful and time-consuming all the time. It is all about taking a different approach and finding what works for your. Hopefully, you found these tips useful.

The importance of spelling

Learning how to spell words is one of the most useful lifelong skills and it builds the basic foundation that all children will need throughout their education and life in general. Learning how to spell is very important for other basic skills, including writing and reading. These skills support children in achieving good results and progressing through various grades. What is more, being good at spelling may have an impact on the future careers of students.

One of the hot topics surrounding the education sector also relates to learning spelling in schools. The introduction of compulsory spelling tests for all key stage 2 pupils in England is expected to improve the literacy of students.

The new spelling tests are justified by making sure the students are prepared for the secondary school. This is expected to eventually improve the standards of learning and to raise England’s position in reading and writing. However, it has caused a number of negative responses in terms of being unnecessary and putting too much pressure on pupils, causing stress or even discriminating against students who might have special learning requirements caused my mental health.

Another point that some people make against spelling tests or even against teaching spelling in school is based on the irrelevance of learning how to spell in the age of technologies.

How technologies affect the way students learn to spell?

The rise of different learning technologies causes discussions on how they could be used to support education in schools. Some people see endless opportunities in how modern technologies could benefit education, while others only see the negatives associated with technologies or even believe that technology should be banned in schools. Talking about the relationship between spelling and modern technologies, most of us are familiar with ‘autocorrect’ on our smartphones or other online resources for checking spelling. Does that mean that that it is less important for students to learn spelling at school?

Having good spelling skills is just as important as it was before different technologies were available. Although technologies provide great alternative ways for practicing spelling, it should not be assumed that learning how to spell is less relevant nowadays. Mobile phones correct our spelling and if we are not sure how to spell something, it is easy to check it online. However, different learning technologies should be seen as opportunities for learning and practising spelling and we should not encourage students to view technology as a replacement for their own thinking as there will always be situations where technology might not be available.

It is clear that it is very important to learn how to spell and it should not be considered less important in the age of technology. However, it might be worth focusing more on teaching spelling in many different ways and helping students achieve high standards without causing unnecessary stress by making them take complicated tests for spelling.

We’ve created a handy infographic to help explain some of the more confusing aspects of website creation, click on the image for a higher resolution version!

How do you imagine a modern 21st century classroom? The reality is that the school environment in which most students learn remains old-fashioned in terms of how the classroom is designed and how the students learn. There are many things that could help modernise the classroom as well as to improve teaching and learning. The improvements you can make for your classroom range from simply changing seating arrangements to integrating latest technologies into the classroom. There is no right answer and every school should choose what works for their classrooms. Here are some characteristics of a modern 21st century classroom.

Technology integration

This is probably the most obvious solution for creating a modern classroom. Integrating technology into the classroom can make learning more fun and engaging and it can help to provide students with essential skills that will prepare them for the environment they will enter as modern day workers.

For instance, there is a number of easily accessible online learning resources that could be used for learning languages, practicing spelling or learning maths. You can also experiment with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) where you allow your students to use their own devices for learning. This is a great way to encourage independent learning as well as for creating personalised learning plans. Not to mention the enthusiasm and excitement created by letting students use their own devices! Gamification is another amazing tool for creating a fun atmosphere in the classroom and for encouraging collaborative learning.

Flexible learning environment

Consider experimenting with seating arrangements and see what works best for your students. Think about whether your classroom layout and seating arrangements have a positive impact on learning. For instance, a traditional arrangement of the classroom where teacher is at the front and students are in rows facing the same direction, might not be the best solution for encouraging collaboration.

What is more, learning can take place anywhere and should not be limited to staying in the classroom all the time. Use other school facilities or other locations to make learning more engaging. Remember that a change to physical environment is believed to encourage creativity and collaborative work.

Teacher as facilitator

Most classrooms consist of tables and chairs, usually arranged so that children face a teacher and the teacher is considered as the source of all knowledge. However, the role of educators in the 21st century has evolved. That does not mean that the role of a teacher is less important. What it means is that teachers are expected to become facilitators in terms of inspiring students to take ownership in their own learning by providing them with opportunities to learn key concepts and to discover the tools they need for learning.

Collaborative learning

Learning through collaboration is one of the most effective forms of learning. As mentioned before, there are many ways for encouraging collaboration in the classroom. It can be done by integrating technology and using tools like gamification or engaging in discussions on social media. Other collaborative learning activities include group projects, debates or peer reviews. All these different activities are great for developing collaboration as well as for improving other useful skills like problem solving, creativity and critical thinking.

Characteristics of a 21st century classroom

Although, there are many different ways in which any classroom can be changed to meet the needs of modern learners, technology plays a big role in developing most of these characteristics for modern classrooms. If you are interested in learning about the evolution of technology in schools, check our infographic here.