2. Encourage Collaboration
The Game Room
The Terrace
The Dunes
Horizon Media has created open work spaces for
its employees, encouraging them to host
meetings, brainstorm and create think tanks in
these areas. The Game Room comes complete
with shuffle board, two large-scale televisions and
an X-Box console. The Dunes is the largest open
meeting space in any NYC office building and has
hosted client events and even its own concert
series with bands like Collective Soul. The Terrace
is an open-air meeting space complete with a
wrap-around outdoor patio, and also serves craft
beer from three in-house taps for work ‘happy
hours’.
Cool for School?
Okay, so maybe craft beer doesn’t belong in a
school, but engaging and collaborative spaces
certainly do! By giving students open meeting
spaces BPJPII can encourage the free-flowing
exchange of ideas, spark collective thinking for
group assignments and class meetings, or simply
give students a place to unwind. Removing the
traditional rows of desks and seats allows
students to feel more comfortable participating in
discussions, expressing their ideas and spending
time with their classmates in a constructive
setting.
3. Socially Awkward?
The Trading Floor
Horizon Media’s Trading Floor is the first of its kind: a
Wall Street style set up where Horizon Media’s digital
strategists trade in social currency. On this floor, all
social media interactions for client campaigns are
implemented, monitored and measured with the latest
available technology. Those two large screens you see in
the back? Those screens aggregate all Horizon Media
client social engagements and calculate the value of the
combined effects of Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare and
Pinterst campaigns.
Cool for School?
Twitter isn’t just a place to post Vine videos of students
chasing each other with shaving cream in the hallway.
Facebook isn’t just a place to share “selfies” and party
photos. No. Social media is the wave of the present and
the future, allowing students to connect with one
another, mentors, leaders and many more. Social media
lets students stay abreast of current events and the
ever-changing social, financial, commercial and political
climate of the world. It also engages them in video
editing, and promotes sharing of ideas and
understanding of new technology. We can encourage its
use (in the right way) and students will have a leg up in
future careers.
4. Hands-On Experiences
The Voyager Lab
The Terrace
The Dunes
Horizon Media’s Voyager Lab is a state-ofthe-art meeting space where digital video
networks are on display. Clients and
employees can view, in real time,
emerging advertising networks that are
usually located at airports, bars, office
buildings, health clubs, malls and more.
This helps the Horizon Media staff sell the
value of each advertising environment to
its clients, test new mobile and social
features on each screen, and even upload
client ad campaigns to each screen to
gauge audience reaction and recall.
Cool for School?
The Voyager lab is how Horizon Media
stays ahead of advancements in
technology. BPJPII can do the same, by
implementing assignments and courses
utilizing the latest in tablet and mobile
devices. The world is becoming more and
more digitally-focused every day, while the
old pen-and-paper method quickly
becomes extinct. By exposing students to
new technologies, we will provide handson training for their future.
5. “Third Teacher” Wish List
The Voyager Lab
Let’s give it to
them!
Here is a list of ideas from my Grade 9 IB class. Let’s listen to
the “Student Voice”:
•A Genius Bar with at least three laptops inTerrace
The each classroom
•Bar-like shelving for charging stations for laptops, iPads and
other devices
•A SMARTboard and projector in each classroom
•Improved lighting and more windows
•Whiteboards instead of blackboards
•WiFi in the portables
•Improved colour of paint on the walls
•A ramp to move TVs and Netbooks to and from portables
(when we have WiFi access)
•Coloured paint on the outside of the portables with symbols
The Dunes
of hope and community
•More innovative chairs and desks (i.e. bean bag chairs,
exercise balls, etc.)
•Digital clocks in the portables
•Dry-erase paint on the walls and desks to brainstorm ideas
•”Surround sound” in each classroom that is connected to
laptops and TVs
•Reading station/lounge area in the classroom
•Green space (plants/flowers) placed around the classroom
and around the portables
•Larger classrooms; remove the walls in some classrooms to
create more collaborative meeting spaces
•Collaborative meeting areas around the school where
students can discuss class projects and charge their laptops
and other devices
6. “Third Teacher” Wish List
The Voyager Lab
Let’s give it to
them!
Here is a list of ideas from my Grade 9 IB class. Let’s listen to
the “Student Voice”:
•A Genius Bar with at least three laptops inTerrace
The each classroom
•Bar-like shelving for charging stations for laptops, iPads and
other devices
•A SMARTboard and projector in each classroom
•Improved lighting and more windows
•Whiteboards instead of blackboards
•WiFi in the portables
•Improved colour of paint on the walls
•A ramp to move TVs and Netbooks to and from portables
(when we have WiFi access)
•Coloured paint on the outside of the portables with symbols
The Dunes
of hope and community
•More innovative chairs and desks (i.e. bean bag chairs,
exercise balls, etc.)
•Digital clocks in the portables
•Dry-erase paint on the walls and desks to brainstorm ideas
•”Surround sound” in each classroom that is connected to
laptops and TVs
•Reading station/lounge area in the classroom
•Green space (plants/flowers) placed around the classroom
and around the portables
•Larger classrooms; remove the walls in some classrooms to
create more collaborative meeting spaces
•Collaborative meeting areas around the school where
students can discuss class projects and charge their laptops
and other devices
