Category Archives: eLearning

Here’s How Collaboration Happens

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Students surround tables in a large group with papers and laptops spread all around.

Students collaborating in the Digital Computer Lab building on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.

A quick post today because this scene caught my eye as I was coming back into the building after lunch. I have a habit of looking down to the lower level of DCL where we have several tables and chairs in an open workspace. One of the tables is an interactive media table meant to attract students for collaborating using a large monitor and multiple laptop plugs to share the display. In the last year I have never caught any student or group of students sitting at that media table with the display on or a laptop attached to the table connectors. However, I quite frequently see students sitting at the other old, plastic tables (and on other non-furniture items) working together. Today, though, was by far the largest group I’ve seen. I had to snap a photo.

In this photo I see lots of paper and pens, 2 laptops, 3 students actively using mobile devices, and 3 other mobile devices idle on the table. I am most blown away by the amount of paper I see, and all the backpacks. That’s how collaboration is happening around here today.

125 Classrooms Getting Comprehensive Renovation Over Next 5 Years

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The Instructional Space Improvement initiative is a $70M, 5-year project that will bring some substantial improvements to learning spaces on the Illinois campus. A recent article in Inside Illinois shares the details of the huge project and features photos from the flexible learning pilot spaces in Henry Administration Building. The HAB classrooms are used as examples of some of the innovation the campus hopes results from this kind of comprehensive renovation.

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you are well aware that this project on flexible learning classrooms is near-and-dear to my heart. Based on the CITES Faculty Development Lab I designed in 2006 to showcase a flexible learning environment and conduct a pilot study on student engagement, faculty support and learning space design, the HAB rooms were funded by the Library IT Fee Committee to increase support of the highly collaborative pedagogy and increasing dependence on digital educational resources, such as etexts, that the Rhetoric Program required.

Front Page snapshot from Inside Illinois - classroom in HAB

A snapshot of the article teaser on the Inside Illinois website. This photo shows one of the renovated Henry Administration Building rooms.

I am thrilled to see that learning spaces and innovation in our classrooms are becoming top speaking points at the highest levels of our administration, and I am even more thrilled to offer a place for every interested person to gather to learn and share a vision of learning spaces for our campus’ future. Join the Informal Group on Learning Spaces every other week to get in the conversation.

Photo Set of Flexible Learning Classrooms @ Illinois

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Rhetoric Program Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Administration Building - Flexible Learning ClassroomRhetoric Program Flexible Learning Classroom - Henry Administration BuildingHAB - UIUCHAB - UIUCHAB - UIUC
Rhetoric Program Flexible Learning Classroom - Henry Administration Building1 of 3 LCD screens in Rhetoric Program Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Admin Building - Rhetoric Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Admin Building - Rhetoric Flexible Learning Classroom1 of 3 LCD Screens in Henry Admin Bldg Rhetoric Flexible Learning Classroom2 of 3 screens in Henry Admin Bldg Rhetoric Flexible Learning Classroom
Henry Admin Building Rhetoric Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Admin Building Rhetoric Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Admin Building Rhetoric Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Admin Building Rhetoric Flexible Learning ClassroomHenry Admin Building - instructor podium controls for laptop plug-inInstructor podium in Flexible Learning Classroom
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HAB Photos Spring 2011, a set on Flickr.

Rooms 148, 152 and 154 in Henry Administration Building are general assignment classrooms utilized by the Rhetoric department. The Rhetoric Program Director, Dr. Catherine Prendergast, received a grant from the Library/IT Fee to renovate these classrooms to meet her program needs and pilot a new approach in classroom design that brings flexibility and new models of technology implementation to general assignment classrooms.

Supporting a curriculum that is highly collaborative and relies on a digital eBook platform, this space is designed to enable easy transitions into group work modes, multiple displays for better student access to technology, improved sight lines to engage with the electronic materials, and an easy-to-use control system for the instructor to manage the classroom.

Spring semester 2011 was the first semester these rooms were used. As we learn from the experience in all stages of design, construction, and teaching in flexible spaces, we are better able to work with faculty and students to meet the needs that technology, new approaches to teaching and learning, and emerging curriculums bring to the daily life of our campus community.