Everyone working and studying in an educational setting knows the importance of focus and a distraction-free environment for good learning outcomes. Improving students’ ability to focus on their school tasks and helping teachers to maintain a peaceful learning environment starts with the design and planning of classrooms and other educational spaces. One approach to this is adding study pods of different sizes in places where learning and teaching take place. Framery’s soundproof pods have been found to work not only in the office but in the classroom as well.
What is a study pod?
Study pods (also known as learning pods or study rooms) are small booths and pods that can be used in an educational setting to support students’ learning and facilitate group work between study groups. This kind of enclosed learning space can usually fit one to six students depending on the size and can be placed freely around the classroom as well as in other areas of the school.
For a study pod to fulfill its purpose (i.e. help students learn and focus), it needs to have a few certain features. These include:
- Soundproofing. First and foremost, a study pod needs to be well-insulated so that it does not let in external noise or allow sound to escape.
- Ease of placing the pod. When the pod can be placed freely around the classroom or the corridors and other public spaces of the school, it can be used for different activities from private phone calls to loud group meetings.
- Lighting and ventilation. Study sessions or meetings with a group of students can be long once the students get into the flow of learning. Therefore, the pod should enable both short and long study sessions spent inside the pod.
- Transparency. A pod with solid walls might feel too claustrophobic for most students. That is why a study pod that promotes learning should have transparent walls while still being soundproof and have great acoustics inside.
How do study pods improve focus and help students to learn?
Even adults have a hard enough time staying focused on a single task at work with all the numerous distractions of the office environment competing with their focus. As external stimuli, such as the noise made by other people, have a greater toll on children than on adults, good soundproofing is all the more important. One great challenge facing students at all levels of education is the size of classrooms with too many other students and, therefore, more distractions. The younger the students, the greater the toll of external stimuli on their ability to focus and learn tends to be.
One way study pods help students to focus and learn is by limiting distractions that can take them out of the task at hand. Studies have found that disruptions in concentration can harm students’ ability to learn (Vander Ghinst et al. 2019). Unfortunately, in classrooms and open offices alike, different visual and auditory distractions are aplenty, competing with the attention of both students and adults. For instance, reading, writing, and comprehension are all cognitively demanding tasks that are hindered substantially by speech and loud noises (Hongisto 2005).
Study pods placed in the classroom can create spaces where students can focus on their schoolwork. However, just about any study pod will not do, but the pod needs to provide superior soundproofing whilst being comfortable to study in. Framery’s soundproof pods make for perfect study pods to be placed inside the classroom.
Study pods for different needs
The classroom can be transformed into a more peaceful and motivating learning environment by incorporating study pods of different sizes. The pods enable students to engage in different tasks, whether alone in quiet, face to face with a teacher, or in a group of several students. Removing distractions of different kinds benefits especially students with learning difficulties or special needs and sensitivities to external stimuli.
Just a moment of reading inside a study pod can help reduce the stress experienced by students in a noisy and lively classroom environment.
Framery has worked together with different educational institutions, such as the Hanze Univerity in the Netherlands as well as several elementary and middle schools in our native Finland. Based on this experience, we know that our booths make for excellent study pods for students both big and small. And it’s not just the students who have found the study pods helpful, teachers have reported great satisfaction in making classrooms more peaceful and improving students’ ability to focus as well.
Framery soundproof pods have found their place in the classroom
The Framery One soundproof pod is perfect for solitary focused studying and keeps out external distractions without feeling too cramped or small. The industry-leading soundproofing keeps out speech and other sounds that can hinder focus and productivity. Additionally, the sidewalls and door of the pod are made of transparent, yet sound-insulating glass. Therefore, the student does not feel closed in a tiny space or secluded from the rest of the class.
The Framery Q can accommodate two to four people inside, making it perfect for personal tutoring midst the classroom or small-scale group work. For larger groups, the Framery 2Q has well enough room for up to six people.
Positioning the pods is easy which is why the Framery pods can be accommodated in different settings than just the classroom. The versatility and compact size of the pods make it possible to fit them in entrance halls and along corridors as well, making for great multipurpose spaces around the school. The minimalistic yet stylistic design of the pods helps them blend into any environment imaginable and they can be customized with colors, for instance, to fit the space around the pods.