Architects design schools. Furniture companies furnish classrooms. But only Inventionland Education takes the next step by creating immersive learning environments in which students can think, build, collaborate, and invent.

A school building may be well-designed, and a classroom may have new tables, chairs, and technology, but those factors alone do not determine how students experience the space. The environment should further inspire students to learn, work together, and solve problems.

That is where Inventionland Education is different.

Rather than simply filling a room, Inventionland Education looks at how the space can become part of the instructional experience. Each immersive environment is designed to create a feeling of purpose and possibility from the instant students walk through the door.

A traditional classroom, library, or other space may tell students where to sit. An immersive learning environment can show them what they are capable of doing and inspire creativity, innovation, and an enthusiasm for learning.

These environments can include themed areas for collaboration, prototyping, presentation, research, digital media, and hands-on CTE learning. Custom environmental features, graphics, furnishings, work areas, storage, and technology are brought together around the school’s goals. The result is a space that looks amazingly different while remaining practical for everyday use.

The design also reflects how students learn today. Many lessons require movement, teamwork, discussion, hands-on learning, and iteration. Students may need to gather around a prototype, separate into project teams, present an idea, or make changes based on feedback. A successful learning environment should encourage those activities, not limit them.

Inventionland Education works with school and district leaders to understand the students who will use the space, the programs to be taught there, and the results the district aims to achieve. The process may begin with an outdated library, an underused media center, a traditional STEM classroom, or an empty room in need of repurposing.

From there, the space is reimagined with a clear educational purpose.

The finished environment can give teachers more flexibility in how they organize instruction. It can also give students a stronger sense of ownership over their work. When the classroom feels different from a standard school setting, students often recognize that they are being asked to work differently as well.

They are not only listening and taking notes. They are identifying problems, discussing ideas, building solutions, testing prototypes, and explaining their thinking.

These skills extend well beyond a single class. Creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and determination are important in nearly every career field. Schools need environments that give students opportunities to practice those skills in purposeful ways.

Furniture is still important. Architecture is still important. But a truly memorable learning space brings design, function, and education together.

Inventionland Education creates engaging settings which help schools move beyond furnishing classrooms and begin building places where students are encouraged to imagine, explore, create, and invent.

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Inventionland® Education (ILI): This is your first time using the ILI curriculum, how’s it going so far?

Meghan Hull (MH): Yes, it is. My primary role is to facilitate the use of technology and help students and staff to feel comfortable using the makerspace equipment involved in the curriculum. I am also learning to use the technology as I go, so it has definitely been a learning and growth experience.

ILI: What do you find most interesting about the Inventionland® Education curriculum?

MH: I like that it is cross-curricular and that it focuses on students learning as they create their own products.

ILI: What inspired you to start teaching?

MH: Honestly, I was first inspired by my love of literature to become an English teacher and I also had a background in Journalism. As I became more comfortable as a teacher, I naturally fell into project-based learning with a focus on technology. My English classes did large multigenre research projects in which they created a variety of products and a presentation and my journalism students created a new issue of the school publication monthly. They created videos and skits, newscasts and multimedia projects and graphic novels. I’ve always been a creator at heart, albeit more on the artsy than the technology side.

ILI: We’re a few months into the school year, what do you do to keep in contact with parents?

MH: I do a bit less of that than a classroom teacher, however, I have a website and a Twitter feed. My journalism students use Remind and Classroom.

ILI: What’s the best advice you can give to teachers who are trying a new curriculum?

MH: Give yourself room to learn and fail. Do not be afraid to be a learner yourself.

ILI: Most memorable experience about the ILI curriculum so far?

MH: Watching kids get creative and excited about what they create.

ILI: Do you run any extracurricular activities or clubs?

MH: I am the Newspaper Advisor and Senior Shadow/Service Project Coordinator and I organize and lead the school trips to Europe.

ILI: Tell us about yourself: Where did you go to school? Any hobbies you’d like to share?

MH: I am an alumna of the high school at which I currently teach with a bachelors in English and a Masters in Literacy who jumped head first into technology by just trying it and then running with it. I do amateur graphic design for small businesses on the side and am busy raising two bright and lovely daughters who also go to this school. I love reading, writing, food, film, and travel.

ILI: What does 21st Century Education mean to you?

MH: 21st Century Education means that students are taught to think critically to solve problems, but that they are also taught to be collaborators who can communicate clearly and effectively and work effectively with diverse groups of people. They are encouraged to think creatively to be innovators and educated citizens of their global community.

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