Over the past year you may have found yourself in one of the University’s new flexible learning spaces. These rooms have been designed by the Learning Spaces Group, with a membership made up of academics, Information Services, Property and Facilities, Educational Technologists and Learning Success. The rooms support new and emergent teaching models that encourage active learning; a method whereby students participate in activities that promote synthesis, analysis and reflection on course content, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning. The room facilities include all or some of the following:
- Enhanced design, such as colour schemes that change the atmosphere and mood within the room.
- ‘Write on’ Squiggle glass situated around the rooms for group work, and in some cases, multiple display screens to enhance visibility and enable alternative room layouts.
- Movable furniture, enabling easy transitioning between different room layouts to support a variety of teaching methods, specifically group work. Moveable furniture includes tables and chairs on castors, node chairs or the new swivel seat lecture theatre (BLG07).
- Power sockets available in BLG07 for students to charge mobile devices.
- Availability of educational technologies such as Lecture Capture, to record your teaching sessions, video and multimedia opportunities, PRS clickers, provisions to enable the use of mobile devices and more to come.
All of these facilities are designed to provide staff with the ability to redesign their learning spaces for students. Keep a lookout for a series of posts to follow, outlining ideas for innovative group work within the new learning spaces. Many of these techniques can also be used in an online format or as a blend of both offline and online. Please see the full list of Flexible Learning Space rooms below. Lastly, if you are in a new Learning Space please feel free to move the furniture!
Flexible learning spaces
- Rooms with tables and chairs with castors and squiggle glass: A109, A214, AG08, B307B/C, BLG08, BM02, BM03, C340, D104 and E212
- Collaborative style lecture theatre seating with squiggle glass- BLG07 has fixed swivel seating
- Learning rooms with Node chairs and squiggle glass: A112 and D222. AG24B (SHS only).
- Computer room with round cluster tables and moveable seating and squiggle glass: AG24A (SHS 2-week booking priority).
For ideas on group work activities in flexible learning spaces visit http://tinyurl.com/LSgroupwork.
