Learning spaces and environments

Addressing the challenges of new learning spaces requires a new strategic approach to innovative planning, stakeholder engagement, continuous professional development, and a commitment to ongoing evaluation and adjustment.

Beyond implementing reactive changes, how can institutional leaders think about the ongoing effort to create inclusive learning environments? In this

Hang mics from the ceiling for a clean look and better sound in your largest rooms with Mic Pod Pendant Mount. Be sure everyone can be heard wherever they sit.

Traditional teaching modes are engaged with teachers delivering knowledge to students with minimum feedback. Teaching is conducted in lecture theaters and classrooms, which are sometimes designed with minimum flexibility for university education. However, the rapid development of information and communication technologies has altered the teaching pedagogy from traditionally teacher-centered to more collaborative learning between teachers and students. Learning spaces should be designed to be interactive and collaborative with suitable physical movement and social engagement among teachers and students. This paper aims to examine the relationships between modern technology and pedagogical shift, and to identify and discuss the essential design principles for effective active learning through built pedagogy. A recent renovation project of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in converting conventional classrooms and lecture theaters to active learning spaces was adopted as a case study to illustrate and validate the design principles and their actual implementation. Feedback and responses from 410 end-user students on the impact of the renovated classrooms and lecture theaters on teaching and learning effectiveness were gleaned through empirical survey questionnaires dispatched face-to-face to students after attending classes in the renovated classrooms and lecture theaters. The results of factor analysis indicated that the 15 variables of key design criteria for active learning spaces were consolidated under six underlying clustered factor groups: (1) Versatility of learning space; (2) interior design of learning environment; (3) modern information technology / audio and video (IT/AV) technologies; (4) interior lighting; (5) comfortable furniture and acoustic design; and (6) interior temperature. The survey findings can serve as good references and useful insights for architects in designing new learning spaces and facilities that assist active and collaborative learning for university students in future.

From furniture to digital displays and cameras, here’s what to consider when creating or redesigning classrooms on your campus.

This case study shows how the transformation of just one traditional classroom can help jumpstart campus-wide conversations about active learning.

It was the most complex set of design requirements that any architectural practice could ever have land on its drawing boards.

The construction of a new medical education building provided an opportunity for the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine to reimagine its learnin

Moving classrooms outside is not a new idea. It’s been done in past disease outbreaks such as tuberculosis and the Spanish flu.

Companies are trying to work out the best post-pandemic working model. What can we learn from these four companies?

In this chapter, the necessity of broadening the concept of education through a lifelong learning lens is emphasized, proposing a new, learner-centric theoretical framework for educational spaces. This shift requires a fundamental reevaluation of the relationship between education and learning, prompting a significant transformation in modern educational thinking. Primarily, it is proposed that the learner’s world comprises five layers: absence of learning, unintentional learning as a result, intentional learning activities, receiving education, and being taught. Secondly, in a highly networked society’s lifelong learning context, a comprehensive framework should be derived spatiotemporally, encompassing four types: Here-Now, Here-Anytime, Anywhere-Now, and Anywhere-Anytime. Corresponding teaching spaces are thus categorized as the Classroom Gathering Model, On-Site Learning Model, Live Broadcasting Model, and Message-Leaving Model. Contrasting “Stage Teacher” with “Studio Teacher,” four teaching styles emerge: Stage Actor, Tour Guide, Announcer, and Film Actor. The potential for instructional concepts to coexist in hybrid forms is best considered using the attributes of Here-Now, Online-Now, and On-Demand. Thirdly, the advent of metaverse spaces powered by virtual reality technology has created novel learning environments. Within the Another-Here Now and Another-Here Anytime types, learners can engage in learning activities, receive education, and participate in self-expression and interaction.

Colleges and universities often need to balance educating a great number of students with the desire to encourage interactive and engaging teaching st

A commitment to transformational learning is what unites our efforts and orients our actions. For some this may involve finding ways to foste

The term learning environment encompasses learning resources and technology, means of teaching, modes of learning, and connections to societal and global contexts. The term also includes human behavioral and cultural dimensions, including the vital role of emotion in learning, and it requires us to examine and sometimes rethink the roles of teachers and students. The focus on information technology in education is expanding from the enhancement of learning spaces to include factors beyond hardware, software, and the network. The learning environment is a composite of human practices and material systems, much as an ecology is the combination of living things and the physical environment.

To keep the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl's school cool in the heat of the Thar desert, New York architect Diana Kellogg incorporated a range of traditional and natural cooling methods.

We hope our work can help shape building planning and design. That could be classrooms that help us concentrate, or hospital waiting rooms that reduce our anxiety.

The transformation of learning spaces is ubiquitous among higher education institutions. IT leaders can provide essential support for driving transfor

A little more than a year ago, the EDUCAUSE Learning Space Rating System was integrated into FLEXspace. Here, a round table discussion provides 5 perspectives on what the integration has meant to users.

A little more than a year ago, the EDUCAUSE Learning Space Rating System was integrated into FLEXspace. Here, a round table discussion provides 5 perspectives on what the integration has meant to users.