The purpose of this blog is to take a step back in time to 2001 and chart the work and projects undertaken to completely refurbish and revolutionise the learning space provision at the University of Birmingham.
In these busy, dynamic times we are relentlessly looking forward and rarely take time to look back and reflect, it is easy to forget what has gone before and therefore not fully registering the cumulative effect of the changes that are made, or fully understand the impact upon the delivery of teaching and learning and therefore the student experience. We roll the "lessons learned" from each project into the next, but the longer term evaluation of learning spaces is not yet fully implanted at my institution, time and resource as ever is the issue here.
Although some significant investment into learning spaces had been undertaken around 2000 - 2001 with the creation of some new "open access" computer cluster facilities and a new two storey learning centre, developments didn't really take hold in a long term strategic plan until the JISC Funded Study; Study into the impact of Technology on Physical Learning Spaces in the post 16 sector which resulted in the following publication.
‘Designing Spaces for Effective Learning’ builds on the JISC-funded eSpaces study by the University of Birmingham Learning Development Unit on How innovative technologies are influencing the design of physical learning spaces in the post-16 sector with additional research conducted in 2005-2006. (image and quote taken from the http://www.jisc.ac.uk/eli_learningspaces.html )
The team from Birmingham who undertook the study, quickly realised that many Universities had begun to develop new, innovative and non traditional spaces for both formal and inform study, many of the newly established "CETLs" were setting up using new designs and philosophies for their spaces.
 |
| University of Sheffield CETL; Copy Boards |
 |
| Add caption |
As a result of observing the work being undertaken in the sector, a strategy for the development of learning spaces was created. The current Learning Spaces Strategy adheres to the original principles, with the driving principle being that Academic and Pedagogic needs drives the strategy.
Once established, any funding relating to the enhancement of learning spaces was approved only on the basis that the proposals fitted in with the strategy. This meant that it was going to be easier to control the type of development and ensure that it was consistent with the institutional requirements.
