Informal Spaces
and snack. How do informal spaces be successful learning spaces? First, they need to be multitasking to ensure that they meet the needs of a variety of students, evolving technology and changing learning styles. The requirements are simple— flexibility, comfortable seating, good lighting, and access to technology and learning resources. Flexible seating arr a n g e m e n t s a r e a m u s t — t h e y allow students to “work in groups, engage in debates or have face-toface conversations”. Dugdale feels that campus planners need to anticipate demand for learning that is more “collaborative, with active learning and group work; blended, with learning and other activities happening anywhere/anytime; enabled with mobile technology; integrated and multidisciplinary; immersive, with simulated or real-world experiences; and hybrid, combining online with face-to-face learning activities, augmented with mixed-reality experiences”. Designers are reconfiguring the learning environment as changing trends have implications on campus design – all spaces need to be designed differently. Spaces that were traditionally used as usage and flow areas, courtyards, plazas, hallways and corridors, take centrestage as spaces that aid learning. Lomas believes that the “most useful features are WiFi and power (and they have to work well all the time!)”. “Access to food is extremely important. Other useful features include large shared displays that students can control, access to printers and other media creation tools. Booth-like seating for small group work is very popular. One key goal of the design is to create spaces where students can work and review in small groups and where other students can watch what is going on,” she says. In Educating the Net Gen, Malcolm Brown says: “Net Gen students, using a variety of digital devices, can turn almost any space outside the classroom into an informal learning space.” This is true these days on most campuses where students tote around a multitude of devices.
“All ISB students carry a laptop and wireless connectivity is available at most informal spaces. WiFi access is also provided to smartphones. Whiteboards are provided in study rooms. While these tools are useful, nothing compares to the learning that happens simply by talking to a fellow student. The more time students spend in informal settings, the more the learning,” Ravindran says. XLRI has cafes with extended hours of operation and also provides open access to all informal learning spaces. Venkatesh S Iyer, a student of the 1-year GMP Course, says the cafeterias function as informal learning spaces. “Students and professors often head here after classes and it’s common to see
campus
use technology (cell phones, laptops, etc) and so we are adding wireless to our campuses.” However, designers need to be vigilant as too many distractions can reduce the success of learning. Campuses need to monitor informal spaces and keep tabs on whether they are actually promoting learning or only acting as venues for socialisation. Assessing the true value and impact of informal spaces is tough and could take a long time. “The discourse of knowledge may be deeply buried in conversation and activities that look social and fun! Some positive things to watch for: interaction between senior and junior students, interactions with instructors
“Open spaces, semi-open spaces or even spill-out zones such as corridors or games rooms help people interact and exchange ideas in a lighter mood” —Abin Chaudhari
Architect, IMI Kolkata, Founder Abin Design Studio
them conferring about a topic that deserves an outside-the-classroom discussion,” he says. Like other design areas, learning space design evolves over time and as student usage patterns become defined. MacPhee says: “Sometimes we redesign spaces after watching the way students use them.Students have been bringing food into class, for example, and recently people realised that providing food services in libraries and other study spaces keeps students there longer. Students also increasingly
and faculty members, debate, reading, etc,” says Lomas. What exactly is the future of learning spaces? “The differences between formal and informal learning spaces will become even more blurred. With evolution of blended or hybrid courses, the concept of required ‘seat’ time in the classroom will become less meaningful. As pedagogy evolves to less didactic, more inquiry-based learning with teamwork and joint projects, more and more learning activity will shift to venues outside the classroom,” ends Dugdale. April 2012 EduTech
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