Podcasts; Learning Space Design; and Strategic Planning, Teaching and Learning

In my second interview with Lori Gee and Terry Hajduk,  we discussed participant questions related to their ELI '05 Fall Focus Session presentation, The Importance of Informal Spaces for Learning, Collaboration, and Socialization. While our first conversation focused on issues of institutional culture, this interview addresses the design process for informal learning spaces. Participants asked Gee and Hajduk to address:

• How widely Gee and Hajduk's views on informal space design are shared across the architect / designer community
• The extent to which architects and designers may be approaching the design process based on "boilerplates from the past"
• The weaknesses of applying business space design models to learning environments, and
• Their starting points for designing a library today, based on contemporary views of informal spaces.

If you would like to view their original presentation in addition to listening to the attached MP3 file, you can access it via the focus session proceedings.

Lori Gee, Learning Environments Strategist for Herman Miller, Inc., and Terry Hajduk, Principal at ARX Design, conducted the general session presentation The Importance of Informal Spaces for Learning, Collaboration, and Socialization at ELI's 2005 Fall Focus Session in Sept. Recently, they joined me to discuss two sets of participant questions stemming from their presentation.

In the first interview, which is attached as an MP3 file, Gee and Hajduk discuss some of the cultural issues related to the design of informal learning spaces. In particular, focus session participants were interested in getting their views on:

• Integrating a student-centered design philosophy into research-centric institutional environments
• Guidelines for piloting informal space design approaches;
• Strategies for getting student input into the design process, and
• Whether assessment findings establish the effectiveness of informal space design approaches in enhancing learning.

As you listen to the interview, you may find it useful to review Gee and Hajduk's original presentation, whi

The attached MP3 file contains the audio from the general session presentation conducted by Lori Gee and Terry Hajduk at the ELI ’05 Fall Focus Session – Design of Informal Learning Spaces. In their presentation, Gee and Hajduk highlighted the following principles as central to the design of effective informal learning spaces:

• The entire campus is a learning environment that provides opportunities for further learning;
• Informal spaces for learning, collaboration, and socialization are critical components of both scheduled and unscheduled campus spaces; and
• Space drives behaviors and behaviors need to change for our society to realize its learning goals.

Gee and Hajduk explored these principles across a range of institutional examples. To view those examples while listening to the file, you can download a PDF file of their presentation from the focus session proceedings.

The attached MP3 file contains the full audio from the general session presentation conducted by Malcolm Brown and Phil Long at the ELI '05 Fall Focus Session - Design of Informal Learning Spaces. In the presentation, Brown and Long identify three trends as significantly influencing the present and future of informal learning space design:

• Intentional support for social learning strategies, informed by principles
• A return to human-centered design, and
• Support for diverse, personally-owned devices to enrich academic learning.

You can review the presentation slides while listening to Brown and Long’s session by downloading their PowerPoint file from the focus session proceedings.