Sketches for the classroom chairs and tables design

          Besides working on the technology , our group also planned to design the table and chair which would bring more convenient to the students. Well , we had done some sketches of the table and chair design . 

The table sketches were done by Wen Li . We planned to design the table which could let the students to put their belongings under the table . 

The first 3 sketches of the chair were done by me . 

Another 3 sketches of the chair were done by Andy Lim . 

          For the chair design , we got the inspiration from the rocking chair . Since most of the students did not like to sit for a long time in the classroom as they felt that they did not have the freedom . Most of them liked to move and walk around the classroom . Some more , they might felt not so convenient and relax when they sit on the formal classroom chair . With the rocking chair , the students could have a bit ' freedom ' as they could ' move ' their body even though they was sitting on their place . Furthermore , they could have the relax mood when sitting in the classroom for a long time . 

Sketches > Design > Futuristic classroom view > Woohoo !

         Basically , these were the sketches for our advance projector design . The projector would be hung on the ceiling that near to the wall . Once the projector was switched on , the wall would be changed into the background which related to the lesson of the students had on that day . 

          Besides that , there was a device on the glass panel on the table which was connected to the projector as what were taught by the teacher would be shown on the glass panel . This was the advantages of the combination of the advance projector and the glass panel as the students needed not to keep focusing on the whiteboard . Now , they had their own screen on the table !

          Well ,  this was the futuristic classroom view . The glass panel was fixed on the table surface and the HUD was shown on it ! The galaxy background on the wall has shown the function of the projector as it could be changed anytime . 

Inspiration from the good ideas

          Out of the two more ideas which were the 3D printer and the advance projector , our group had decided to choose the advance projector and work on it . Since we wanted to produce an advance projector , so we started to do the research from the internet . 

          We got the inspiration from the movie which was called ' Iron Man ' . In that movie it had shown many  of the advance and even the futuristic technologies . 

We also found some references pictures from the movie . The HUD pictures from the movie gave us the inspiration to implement it into our design for the advance projector . The futuristic design such like that was what we looking for . In the movie , the glass panel was used for the HUD to be shown on it . So what we planned to do was that we would took this concept for our advance projector as the table surface was made by the glass panel and the advance projector was used to shown everything taught by teacher on the glass panel . 

Two more good ideas

          Our group member , Andy Lim came out with two more ideas of how the technology could improve the boring classrooms condition . He planned to design the advance technologies which were 3D printer and advance projector that brought the convenience to the students when they were in the classrooms . 

          What he thought about the 3D printer was that the 3d printer could print out different kinds of furniture and the furniture will dissolve back to the material after 1 day . The students could choose their preferred furniture picture from the website and printed it out by using the 3D printer . In other words , the patterns of the classroom furniture like the tables and chairs all were decided by the students themselves so that they could have their own table and chair which were totally different with each other . The purpose of dissolving the furniture after 1 week was that the students could printed different kinds and patterns of tables and chairs for everyday . Besides that , the material for printing out the furniture can be reused so that it would not be wasted . 

          For the advance projector , it could change the glass wall around the classroom into the theme that was chosen by the teacher . The theme was regarding what lesson they had on that day . And the images would be like a video  that was playing  so the students would feel like they were in the fresh and relax environment rather than in the classroom . 

          So far , what I thought was that his ideas were really not bad and the comments from the lecturers were positive . We would choose either one to work on it . 

          

Good book good ideas

          I had borrowed one more book from NAFA library which was called ' Design for Small Spaces ' .  To be very honest , it was a design book which was quite good for me as I could get a lot of inspirations and ideas from there .

          Since it was a book for designing the small spaces , the concept for designing the furniture was to make the furniture in multipurpose . It was very important as it could help to save more places and show that it was multifunction and useful as well as convenient to the people . 

          I had taken some pictures of the multipurpose furniture from the book . All these furniture definitely brought the convenience to the people who used them .

Corner shelves . Who says it only can be the shelves ? It also can be the decoration for the wall .

Coffee tables . Who says it can just be the coffee table ? It also can be the chair as well . 

Desk . When it is closed ,  it is just a very simple desk . When it is opened , its actual function is shown .

Fold-out secretary desk . Its length can be extended so as to put more things to it .

Table and chair system . It can be arranged into different shapes for different uses . When   

all of them are combined together, the tables shown . When they are separated , the chairs shown as well . 

Adjustable table . 

Combination of one table and few chairs .

          Last but not least , I could implement this concept in our classrooms design in order to produce the convenient classrooms . 

 

Ideas start ' pop out '

          After we had done the survey and interview , we decided to focus on the theme and design for our project title , ' Classrooms are Boring ' . Since we found that the result of the Survey Monkey as most of the students preferred their classrooms to have the improvement in the theme and design , so we supposed to work on it . 

          We started to do some researches to get different ideas from different websites. We planned to do the painting and the decoration for the normal white walls. Different colours and kinds of painting can come out with different themes so that the classrooms will look different . This is because the multicolour walls not only will bring the feeling of fresh to the students but also will not let them to feel boring in the classrooms . In the other words , the students will not feel sleepy and they will pay more attentions during the lesson .  

          Overall , theme and design are the good points to be used for improving the classroom environment . Without the different themes and designs , it is just a normal classroom as the students will not be interested to it .

First time interview with my friends

          Interview is part of our group works as it includes in the chapter 2 of the proposal. I was in-charge to do the interview . Well , I had found some of my friends who studied in Malaysia as well as in Singapore and had the interview with them . Luckily, all of them were willing for the interview . 


 1) Chong Can Nie  ( Malaysian , 19 years old , studies at Malaysia private international college , Crescendo International College )

          She told us that her classroom is in the hall. What she unsatisfied with the classroom environment is that there is no windows and she did not have the chance to see the environment outside the classroom .  She also said that  the place for the students to sit are a bit pack as there are too many students in every each row.

           For the classroom provided facilities, the microphone is not always in the good condition so that the voice of the lecturer cannot be heard so clearly.  Due to the down light effect on the projector , she could not see the the slides clearly from the projector. Besides that , the desk drawers are too small so limited things can be kept inside there .  She felt a bit disappointed that the school did not provide the computers in the classroom for every student. Furthermore , the attendance marking  system is still in manual manner .

           For the classroom layout , she gave the comment that the classroom ceilings are too ordinary as she can see that in everywhere . She prefer there have some special design for the classroom ceiling . Because of  her classroom is in the hall and no windows , the sunlight cannot penetrates into there. This makes the classroom becomes dull . Besides that , she was disagree with the position of the storeroom which is located in front of the classroom because it will affect the image of the classroom .

2) Chong Wei Nie  ( Malaysian , 21 years old , studies at Malaysia private international college, Crescendo International College )

          She felt that the classroom environment is less convenient to her because she did not like the classroom in the hall as there is no windows provided in the hall and she did not have the opportunity to see the sky and the outside environment .

           For the facilities , the classroom projector is not in the good condition as the projector light not so clear .  She satisfied with the classroom furniture including tables and chairs because they are still new .  More ever , she suggested that the ceiling can be made in transparent  so that the sunlight can be penetrated into the classroom and she can have a look of the sky .  She also pointed out the defect of the attendance marking system by manual way .  She shared to us that one of her friends who studies at Australia , the university attendance marking is done by using the i-phone . It is more systematic and save more time to mark the students’ daily attendance .  She hoped that her school also could apply it for the attendance marking system . 

            For the classroom layout , she felt boring to the single colour of the wall that there is only the white colour for all the walls in the classroom . Her suggestion for improving the current condition is that the wall painting can be done by the students as the students are encouraged to design and draw for their own classroom so that different classroom have different designs .

 3) Darren Chow Fei  ( Malaysian , 21 years old , studies at Singapore private university , James Cook University (JCU) )

           He told us that the environment of the classroom is not enough convenient for him .  For instance , he was unsatisfied with the arrangement of the classroom tables . The tables is arranged to close to each other . It is a bit hard for the students who want to move from there .  Besides that , for the certain lessons , the classroom is full of students and the space become limited for them to move around .

            For the facilities , he commented about the classroom projector was not clear and the students was difficult to see the slides through it . Furthermore , there is lack of microphone as the microphone must be prepared by teachers themselves but not the school . More ever , the chairs are not comfortable too to sit .

            For the classroom layout ,  he found that the colours that was painted on the wall is boring because there is only two colours which are white and grey . he preferred the colourful wall .  In the other words , there is not much on the wall .

 4) Nickless Mart  (  Malaysian , 19 years old , studies at Singapore private college , Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) )

           She said that the classroom environment is inconvenient to her because it is too cool for her and she felt very sleepy every time .  Some more , the lighting of the classroom need to be improved as the lighting was inconvenient for her . 

           For the facilities , the projector sometimes is not in the good condition as well as the wifi connection is always unstable . Furthermore , the computer softwares seldom to be updated . For a student who comes from 3D Design Department as her ,  it  brings some bad effects to her in her study .  Besides that , she was very unsatisfied that the tables are not enough that sometimes the students need to share the table with others . The students do not have their own table in the classrooms .  She also found that the position of the whiteboard is too low . The students who sit behind the classroom always felt hard to see the words written on the whiteboard .

           For the classroom layout ,  the space is too small and she felt that she could only the limited activities in the classroom . More ever , there is too much of staffs in the classroom that affect the classroom image .