Learning Spaces:

the Final Frontier in Educational Development

@santanuvasant#bett17

Image: B200 Lecture Theatre,

City, University of London

Overview

Where is the research in Learning Spaces now?1

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What are the challenges of new Learning Spaces?

What are the benefits of new Learning Spaces?

How does this all link into educational development?

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What do you understand by a

learning space?

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What do you understand by a

learning space?

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What the

audience said…

Where is the

research in Learning

Spaces now?

@santanuvasant | #bett17 Image: ELG01,Lecture Theatre,

City, University of London

A very abridged version of

research so far…

In recent times it started again Oblinger (2005) and her EDUcause

book

There was SCALE-UP (2007), putting the teacher in the centre

More recently, in the UK, we had the UCISA Learning Spaces Toolkit

(2016) taking all the findings and sythesising them for a technical

audience

Australia has a lot of research into this area one such book is Learning

Spaces in Higher Education: Positive Outcomes by Design (2008)

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Challenges in Learning Spaces

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“…education is on the

brink of being transformed

through learning

technologies; however, it

has been on that brink for

some decades now.” Professor Diana Laurillard, London

Knowledge Lab, IoE, UCL

(Laurillard, 2008, p1)

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Medieval Learning SpacesWhat do you notice?

Image: Bologna, 1350s CC Public Domain

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Medieval Learning SpacesWhat do you notice?

Image: Bologna, 1350s CC Public Domain

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What the

audience said…

A very challenging area of educational

development, but why?...

Teaching was until the 1800s*, a private thing between the teacher

and students… then inspections etc arrived

We are moving slowly from a teacher-centred to a student-centred curriculum

Structures and politics in education and technology adoption

(Selwyn & Facer, 2014) are difficult to navigate – Learning Spaces

involves a multi-stakeholder engagement (Estates, IT/AV, Academic

Development etc)

In higher education, the academic is autonomous (compared to a

School teacher)

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*approximately

“…In light of this apparent

disparity it seems

appropriate that the field

of educational technology

begins also to question

that could be termed

‘state-of-actual’.” Professor Neil Selwyn, Monash

University, Australia (2008)

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Benefits in Learning Spaces

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Some very big benefits in this area of

educational development...

The way a room is laid out can have a big impact on the activities you

can do in the space with ease

You can move around the space yourself more, giving students more control

You only see students for a small time in their learning journey so

not do something more than talk at them

Changing your teaching style can make your students more

employable

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*approximately

Learning Spaces in Higher Education: Positive Outcomes by Design (2008)

Modern Learning SpacesWhat do you notice?

Image: University of New Mexico, 2000s

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Modern Learning SpacesWhat do you notice?

Image: University of New Mexico, 2000s

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What the audience said…

“Creating a narrative of agency, rather than compliance.”

“Lots of student writing space”

“Movement, practice, activity.”

“Flexible, encouraging interaction”

“Mics on the tables”

“hands on work”

“Teachers as facilitators.”

“Team work”

“… Teamwork makes the

dream work, but a vision

becomes a nightmare

when the leader has a big

dream and a bad team..” Dr John C Maxwell

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Are you a teacher-centred or

student-centred teacher?

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Are you a teacher-centred or

student-centred teacher?

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What the audience said…

What type of teacher-centred or

student-centred activities do you

do in your teaching?

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pollev.com/svasant

What type of teacher-centred or

student-centred activities do you

do in your teaching?

@santanuvasant | #bett17

What the audience said… student designed project based learning

Guided reflection

Self assessment

Debates

Groupwork

Listen

Role-based activities

Speak with students - not AT them

Polling!

Jigsaw activities

Peer teaching

CBC

Metacognition

It starts with constructive alignment in

your teaching...

What do you want your students to learn?

Learning Outcomes

How will you know they have learnt something?

Assessment Tasks

The last point is most often left out by many teachers, dependent on

their level of experience? (Nicholls, 2005)

How will you get them to this place of learnt?

Learning Activities

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LO

ATLA

Constructive Alignment,

Biggs and Tang (2011)

What does this all

mean?

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What do you to after a CPD

session?

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What do you to after a CPD

session?

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What the audience said…

Have a little cry to myself

Try it

Depends, reflect, inform network

Take one key idea and share with colleagues

Discuss with peers

Think about how I can improve students' experiences

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There is a gap in the development of

staff in higher education

Without reward or recognition, staff usually don’t engage

What is your CPD offer to staff ? What about the experienced staff? Can they

be seconded to carry out a project?

All areas of education – Primary to Higher, the excellent institutions

have strong leadership and direction and a culture of

experimentation

Do you have a Community of Practice (Wenger, 2000) approach?

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What is one thing you have taken

from this talk on learning spaces?

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What is one thing you have taken

from this talk on learning spaces?

@santanuvasant | #bett17

What the audience said…

Not yet 'figured out' - let's left to learn and improve upon.

The importance of the learning environment

Space / environment influences learning interactions. Can't be

ignored.

It is not about fancy furniture (only) *

Pollev as a tool

Follow through of references and explore further

*Corrected after audience member

forgot the word not

@santanuvasant | #bett17 Images: Northwood School,

Hillingdon, London

THANK YOU!

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@santanuvasant | #bett17

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