If you were to page through The Third Teacher and select a handful of ideas: Make it new, Build neural networks, Multiply Intelligences, Form follows function, Unite the disciplines, Think hands-on,Expand virtually and Unleash learning, and then design a space that reflects and promotes these ideas, you would probably design something that looks a lot like ThinkeringSpace.
Created by students and professors at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design, ThinkeringSpace is a freestanding installation, designed to be “places within spaces” in libraries, museums and other content-rich institutions. ThinkeringSpace is designed to “encourage school-aged children to learn through self-directed discovery and social interaction.”
In July 2006, the Institute of Design began a funded research project, now part of the MacArthur Foundation’s five-year, $50 million Digital Media and Learning Initiative, to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. ThinkeringSpace is a “physical and virtual environment” that tailors to a library or museum’s focus, while remaining flexible and promoting open-ended learning through play.
