EDUCAUSE | Podcasts, Learning Space Design, and Learning

Informal Spaces & The Design Process, An Interview with Lori Gee & Terry Hajduk

jcummings — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:18:03 -0500

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.

Importance of Informal Spaces for Learning, Collaboration, and Socialization - ELI '05 Fall Focus Session Audio

jcummings — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 10:23:00 -0500

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.

Informal Learning Spaces in Support of the Institutional Mission - ELI '05 Fall Focus Session Audio

jcummings — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 12:35:00 -0500

The attached MP3 file contains the audio from the general session presentation conducted by Nancy Chism at the ELI ’05 Fall Focus Session. In her presentation, Chism sought to set the context for the design of informal learning spaces in terms of their relation to the institution’s academic mission. She discussed:

Establishing a shared understanding of what might fall under the heading of "informal learning spaces"
Thinking about what constitutes the "instituitonal mission" and its various dimensions
Identifying how institutional mission and space intersect
Examining different spaces and determining what they say about learning (built pedagogy), and
Identifying informal learning space issues about which we need a greater understanding.

If you would like to view her PowerPoint slides while listening to the presentation, you can access them through the focus session proceedings. A PDF file with the text from her remarks is also available as part of the proceedings.

Trends in Informal Space Design - Audio from ELI '05 Fall Focus Session

jcummings — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:48:11 -0500

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.