How to Create the Best Workspace for Home Learning

  Over the past year or so, many of us have grown used to home learning, whether for ourselves or our children. This might seem to be coming to an end (although we're certainly not out of the woods yet) but that's not necessarily the case. The uncertainties the pandemic has thrown up around education may well lead to a rise in home-schooling. In any case, now we've seen that it's entirely possible to deliver many classes online, this trend is likely to continue, whether for remote college classes or working with the private tutors who'll be helping many children catch up. So what should we be thinking about when we set up workspaces for ourselves or our children to learn at home?

Why Is a Workspace Necessary?

 On the face of it, you might assume that learning at home can be done from anywhere — the sofa, the kitchen table, or even your bed. In fact, that's not a great idea. There are good reasons why schools take care in designing their classrooms. The right kind of space can make it a good deal easier for a child (or even an adult) to learn. The object is to provide as much stimulation and as few distractions as possible — and, most of all, to have a place you automatically associate with learning.

Workspaces for the Individual

 School classrooms are designed to be the right workspaces for the largest proportion of children, but when you're designing one for yourself or your child, you have the chance to do better than that. Is the workspace for someone who likes to be on their own, or who works best with external stimulations? Do they need all their supplies within easy reach, or does regularly getting up help to stimulate them? Do they work best in a plain space or with certain colours? Whatever the answer is, you can design the workspace to be right for just one person.

What Might I Need for a Home Learning Workspace?

While any home learning workspace should be designed specifically for the person using it, there are various things to consider:

• Keep it just for learning — The more the student associates the space with learning, the easier it will be to settle into learning when there. Even if it's part of a multi-use room, make sure that area is kept for study.
• Keep it tidy — Although this can depend on personal taste, it's usually better to have a tidy, decluttered space to work in. Advantages range from making concentration easier to avoiding waste of time having to hunt for things.
• Make sure it's well lit — Studies of the effects of lighting in schools suggest that students learn better the more natural light (or natural-type light) they have. If possible, the area should have plenty of windows, or failing that use artificial lighting that simulates sunlight.
• Make the area comfortable — The more comfortable the student is in the workspace, the more successful their learning is likely to be. The exact arrangements will depend both on personal preference and the type of learning — anything from beanbags for sprawling on to a well-adjusted desk chair.
• Make it visually stimulating — If the workspace is for a young child, this might be brightly coloured posters or wallpaper with designs related to their learning. An older child or adult might be inspired by an image of someone they look up to, such as a writer, thinker or scientist. On the other hand, too much visual stimulation could backfire.

However you design the workspace, though, the quality of the learning still needs to be high. Register with TutorExtra to find out how to ensure this.