Learning spaces and environments

This is going to be a big year for FLEXspace, the Flexible Learning Environments Exchange. Academic year '23-'24 will bring FLEXspace version 3.0 with a total portal redesign plus numerous new features and services.

New University of Melbourne research calls for co-creating the built and natural environments of universities to support university student wellbeing.

University of Melbourne experts reveal the course being charted by modern Australian university campuses, including the increasing role of Indigenous co-design

Setting up HyFlex courses on any campus requires thoughtful planning, careful analysis, continual assessment, and faculty support. But is HyFlex somet

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.

Bavarian Center for Special Operations (BayZBE) uses video security technology and simulations for realistic training of emergency forces.

Built pedagogy: Architectural embodiments of educational philosophies.

Too few schools have used Covid relief funds to improve air quality properly.

Open-plan classrooms proliferated when “team teaching” became fashionable in the 1970s, but parents, students and teachers have long complained of noisy environments unsuitable for learning.

An architecture and design firm in New York installed indoor air sensors during the pandemic. Then the wildfires hit.

Free for educators, FLEXspace.org is your one-stop shop for best practices, detailed examples, and a community
dedicated to improving learning spaces around the world.

Pedagogy + Space + Technology = FLEXspace.org — The only open resource that brings together teachers, faculty, designers, experts and decision makers in higher education, K-12, libraries, and museums who are focused on classroom design, campus planning and facilities, learning technology, A/V systems integration, instructional design, teaching, and research.

Remote work is forcing companies to rethink their workplaces, after years of cramming as many employees as they could into open-plan cubicle farms.

University of Melbourne research finds middle years primary-school students are at risk of academic delay when learning in noisy open-plan classrooms.

Scientists and educators are searching for ways to improve air quality in the nation’s often dilapidated school buildings.

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.

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.

Office space is leasing at a discount, making this a good time for employers to give workers individual offices, complete with desks and doors that close.

The pandemic changed nearly everything about work. Why are we still stuck with performative long hours?

The increase in the use of noise-cancelling devices at work is a plus for productivity but can discourage collaboration.