Learning Spaces

Dr. David Thornburg uses his expertise in emerging trends to help educators build the skills needed to use technology as a tool to teach for understanding, backed by solid research and a coherent vision of an educational future in which every learner thrives. The teacher in the 21st century setting will operate in a system based on four components: campfires, watering holes, caves, and the mountain top / life.

The campfire is the informational space associated with lectures and other methods of direct instruction.

The watering hole is the conversational space occupied when learners converse among themselves or with their teachers about a particular topic.

The cave is the conceptual space where ideas are developed in relative solitude and where student projects are designed and built.

The mountaintop / Life is the contextual space where the things that have been learned are applied in the world outside of school. Learning has always taken place in these four spaces, yet twentieth century schools often failed to provide the right balance, and learning suffered as a result.