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LEARNING LANDSCAPES
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About Learning Landscape
View a full-length video about the Learning Landscape (6min)
Learning Landscape is a scalable, grid-based playground system for elementary math education. The spatial grid is intended to combine active movement and competition with mathematic curricula, providing an outdoor classroom framework for fun and engaged learning. Because math is universal, Learning Landscape can be adapted for use in any country and can be tailored to a range of skill levels.
The designers conceived of various math-based games to be played within a square grid, which can be built in a 4x4 or 5x5 configuration based on the number of students and space constraints.
For the pilot installation at the Kutamba School for AIDS Orphans in Uganda, a 16-point grid was constructed using reclaimed tires arranged inside a large sand box. The tires mark points on the grid, and during game play, numbers can be written directly on them with chalk. (The tires can also be used as outdoor classroom space when coupled with an integrated bench system.)
The games, including Match Me, Math Musical Chairs, Math Around The World, and more, teach concepts including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as spatial and logical reasoning through individual and team-based competition. Because of the system’s flexibility, teachers and students are encouraged to invent their own games as well.
Since the Kutamba installation, Project H has installed 4 Learning Landscapes for the Bertie County School District in North Carolina, and one at the Maria Auxiliadora Primary School in Mao, Dominican Republic. The Bertie District (North Carolina) teachers have adapted the system for geography, language arts, and science material, and have helped Project H expand the functionality of the Learning Landscape as a testing/assessment tool. With their feedback, the design team is developing a set of peripherals including small and large whiteboards for outdoor use. Learning Landscape, as an educational tool, is both universally adaptable and context specific, making it functional on a global scale and in variable implementations. Project H has continued its adaptation of the system, working with Palo Alto-based design firm nonobject to develop off-the-shelf retail and tabletop versions available to teachers.
> Photos of the installation at the Kutamba School for AIDS Orphans
> Photos of the installation at the Bertie County Schools, North Carolina
> Photos of the installation at the Maria Auxiliadora Primary School, Mao, Dominican Republic
> View press coverage of the Learning Landscape via Core77, Inhabitat, and BLDGBLOG
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Project Locations: Various (Global)
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Project Milestones & News
September 2009: Compiling of games for web-based game-sharing network for teachers begins
August 2009: Installation of Learning Landscape in Mao, Dominican Republic completed
June 2009: Test installation of Velcro-mounted whiteboards on tires at West Bertie Elementary School, NC
April 2009: Construction of four Learning Landscapes for Bertie County School District, North Carolina, USA
March 2009: Development of retail version, in collaboration with nonobject, begins
January-February 2009: Construction of pilot Learning Landscape for the Kutamba School for AIDS Orphans in Uganda
November-December 2008: User testing in New York, Rhode Island, and the Netherlands
October 2008: Design Development
September 2008: Research and concepts
August 2008: Project Start Date
April 2008: Initial visit to Kutamba School for AIDS Orphans
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Donate to Learning Landscape
To make a donation to support this specific project, Learning Landscape, please use the Donate button below.
We will try our best to allocate your donation to the indicated project. However, by donating here, you authorize us to reallocate funds when absolutely necessary to a similar project. Thank you!
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Project Team
Locations: Various
Project Leaders: Dan Grossman, Heleen de Goey, Kristina Drury, Neha Thatte, Ilona de Jongh, Emily Pilloton, Matthew Miller
Contact: info@projecthdesign.org