My updated definition of a learning space
Looking back at my first definition of a learning space, it is clearly a very learner centred definition, rather than a teacher’s perspective. I also didn’t really take into account the technology of my learning space which is kind of ironic considering the topic of IDEL and the way it is taught. But maybe that is also the strength of an online programme; by existing across so many mediums and areas of study, it feels very present in all aspects of life.
The idea that an online programme is a distance programme in the negative sense is a very traditional way of looking at education (Bayne et al. 2014). Even before we had to make a dramatic shift to digital education because of the pandemic, the Clinical Educator Programme that I work for was already using some digital teaching methods to be more accessible for our learners, for instance the use of online models as part of the programme, videos during workshops and meetings through online programmes like Skype. All of these were used, even though the programme was considered a face to face programme at the time. I think that the education has been taking place across a range of technology for some time already, so much so that it is difficult to separate one from the other completely. From my own experience as a learner during IDEL, I think consciously considering the possible separation of learning in the digital and physical spaces, has actually made it more obvious to me that the two are interconnected and completely relational.
Nordquist & Laing (2015) make some really interesting points about this in their article about the design of medical schools which I can see reflected in the way the Edinburgh Medical School has been changed over the last 5 years while I have worked there. There are more in-between spaces for students to go between lectures and also more spaces that incorporate technology where student and staff can use computer labs to show presentations in groups or work quietly on a project. The bigger picture they paint for medical education to take place within the city and where learning is blended with both work and after work activities (Nordquist & Laing 2015) is visible in the plans for the new medical school and vision of the new BioQuarter at Little France, which will incorporate housing, retail, relaxation spaces etc. When this becomes a reality, it will certainly impact the way we teach our students, but this currently feels very far off both in time as building hasn’t started yet and in physical space because of the pandemic.
During these last 2 weeks of looking at learning spaces, my definition of a learning space has changed. It has made me think more specifically about what kind of impact the learning space can have for both teachers and learners. Playing around with Minecraft and considering the Minecraft Expressionism (Flint et al. 2018) in the use of a learning space was a very useful tool for this because it made me step back and think about what I would consider using as a teaching and learning space in this almost reality environment and by extension what I consider to be really important in reality.
Bayne, S., Gallagher, M.S., & Lamb, J. (2014). Being ‘at’ university: the social topologies of distance students. Higher Education, 67(5), pp. 569-583.
Flint, T., Hall, L., Stewart, F. & Hagan, D. (2018). Virtualizing the real: a virtual reality contemporary sculpture park for children. Digital Creativity, 29, pp. 191-20
Nordquist, J. & Laing, A. (2015) Designing spaces for the networked learning landscape, Medical Teacher, 37:4, 337-343, DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2014.1001349
Mulcahy, D. (2018). Assembling Spaces of Learning ‘In’ Museums and Schools: A Practice-Based Sociomaterial. In Ellis, R.A. & Goodyear, P. (Eds.). Spaces of Teaching and Learning: Integrating Perspectives on Research and Practice (pp13-30). Singapore: Springer.
Do you think there is a distinction between a learning space or spaces, and a teaching space? Your points about the collapse of distinctions between the digital and in-person based education is an important one. I struggle to think of any programme that has no digital component even if it is simply at the level of digitally communicating with students and using a VLE as a file repository. The changes at Little France are interesting to hear about – spaces similar to the Google campus or even the RBS HQ where the amenities available enable work and life and learning/ education merging together – possibly as fluid spaces or perhaps as fire spaces (or both).