In this introductory post for the Classroom of the Future Blog Series, we’ll look at how the team conducted a design-thinking-inspired discovery process with the goal of uncovering the MIT Sloan community’s unique teaching and learning needs.
At MIT Sloan, we know that learning happens everywhere – not just within four walls. That’s why we’re thrilled to share the story of the Classroom of the Future (CoF) Initiative Discovery.
The broader Classroom of the Future Initiative aims to help us better understand and improve MIT Sloan’s entire learning ecosystem. We’re reimagining physical classroom spaces, teaching and learning technologies, and resources across campus. This ongoing effort will include three phases:
- Discovery: Learn from the MIT Sloan community
- Experimentation: Collaborate to prototype and test enhancements
- Implementation: Deploy the most promising solutions across campus
The Discovery phase started in 2022 and wrapped up in Spring 2023. This foundational project was a collaborative effort between Dean Dave Schmittlein, the STS Teaching & Learning Technologies Team, and the Teaching and Learning Team. We also owe so much to the MIT Sloan community members who enthusiastically participated in listening sessions, workshops, surveys, and more. Thank you to everyone who helped make Discovery a success!
This blog post series will dive into the five steps in Discovery:
- Identifying Needs: Conducting listening sessions and reviewing class recordings
- Organizing Insights: Using collaborative design thinking methods to invite the community into the process of analyzing results
- Determining Priorities: Conducting a survey to learn how community members perceive the expressed needs’ importance and the school’s performance in meeting those needs
- Envisioning the Future: Collaborating with the community to explore possible solutions
- Looking Forward: Forming a steering team to carry forward what we’ve learned
Both the Classroom of the Future Initiative’s three-part structure and the steps in Discovery were inspired by IDEO’s Design Thinking Process, the Voice of the Customer Process, and the LUMA Institute’s Human-Centered Design methods, among others.
This blog series will explore what the CoF Team has learned and achieved together with the MIT Sloan community. Keep an eye out for more opportunities to help shape the future of education here on campus and beyond!
