Designing Blended Learning Space to the Student Experience 
By Andrew J. Milne / Tidebreak Inc. (Article found on www.Educause.edu)
 December 17, 2013: My notes on reading of the above named article.
 
This article outlines the ways in which media savvy students who have established a baseline in multimedia skills could contribute to "needs finding activities that are important to understanding the student experience at any particular campus for use in designing more effective blended learning environments.


Trends which are worthy for consideration are the following:

• Classrooms are not the only form of learning space.

• Social interaction is a growing part of learning.

• Technology is natural. Consider the digital immigrant versus the digital native.

• Internet resources can bypass peer review.

• Learning can occur out of sequence. (My favorite!)

Students construct content rather than just consuming it.


The article talks about how publishing can now bypass ways of vetting invalidating information. It also says that it becomes increasingly important for students interact with one another and with faculty to analyze and critique online resources. I find this to be especially important particularly if raising the bar in education toward greater scholarship is a priority.

One of my favorite things about this list of considerations is that learning can occur out of sequence. I'm interested in how taking information out of deliberate sequential manner allows for other opportunities to create overlapping discussion threads and parallel activities that span different types of media devices and communities. What also excites me is how there are natural extensions to these ideas that lead to thoughts of online community exchange of information. Raising the bar on scholarship standards in almost any area of academic study is really dependent on communities of practice and these ideas support that goal.
 
Online modern learning space design seeks to provide freedom of access and interaction with peers that is comfortable flexible and permits interaction and collaboration. That's where it's all going. 

The article states that learning technology includes a wide range of devices, software products, and user experiences. The differences are important. 

Learning technologies fall into six categories:

A.Virtual technologies:

    1.Online presence.

    2.Online resources.

B. Installed appliances:

    3.Media presentation systems.

    4.Remote interaction systems.

    5.Room-scale peripherals.

C. Mobile devices:

    6.Personal information and communication devices.



I love this quote page 2:
Ubiquitous computing embeds technology within the fabric of the physical environment creating opportunities for nontraditional human-computer interfaces. What's fascinating to me is the point that physical context shapes the Interface to virtual spaces; The experience of using virtual spaces changes depending on the nature of the physical space from which one or more people access it.The reason this is so interesting to me is because I like the idea of designing tours that engage visitors and every space is individual and unique.


On page 3 it talks about "creative opportunities why at the interface between virtual and physical worlds." This is totally exciting to me because in my interest in developing online critiques for painting and fine Art this is what it's really all about again.It makes a great deal of sense that institutions are going to need to deploy new approaches that require iterative design and prototyping methods that move toward developing and building more effective learnings spaces. Examining the ways in which building construction or renovation is executed is important because building design standards have not changed in the last 20 years. These particular ideas give me better insight as to why New York University has established the NYU-POLY magnet program in the physical ways that it exists on the eighth floor at the Metro Center in Brooklyn.

It is interesting to see how facilities development is so estranged from the ideas and approaches pedagogically speaking that concern what available technologies are installed and exist over time in physical environment for education. P.4

Another important idea is if an "institution successfully leverage the power of [students' own] computing devices [then] these devices in conjunction with installed technology systems, financial resources used to support traditional computer labs could be weak purpose to create new forms of informal learning spaces. p.4"

This is exciting because that's where the real opportunity is to design unique learning spaces that are based on the premise of the students originating their own participation in ways that are comfortable to them.

I totally love this idea: "In today's world the character of our workspaces is defined by the nature of dynamic digital content with which we interact in the spaces. The character of space is defined by a total experience;... Learning space design processes have not yet caught up with the implications of these new technologies." p.5

This inspires me because I think of technology (The projection of presentations for example) in many ways like a waterfall. It's streaming right? If you think about how I waterfall can be integrated into the architecture of a space then why can't technology be considered in the same kind of ways -at least conceptually?
 
All the complexities of a facility in the effort it takes to design learning spaces effectively lead me to think about how situated learning using mobile devices and virtual systems really seems the list most of these problems out of the context of physical obstacles that do exist. Of course there are real needs to integrate virtual with physical hence blended learning is a necessity.

Was really fascinating is to consider how a technology consultant can play a critical role in space design by interpreting the institution's needs specifying systems that will address them. What's surprising is that the usual pallet of A/V products is limited to emphasizing presentation which reinforces a lecture paradigm rather rather than enabling students interact directly with digital content an ad hoc manner. p.5
 
How exciting it is to read about ideas that say "learning space technology systems will consist of integrated software modules that run on component hardware devices..." I envision these modules and the potential power they have to be presented in and out of sequence of their overall content structures. It's great to see the ideas of infrastructure supporting my ideas of content design. These consultants look like they have a really great line of work and it's curious to me that I could imagine doing that professionally.

Here's an important quote: 
Ultimately, learning space technology systems will consist of integrated software modules that run on an array of component hardware devices, in contrast to today's systems of highly specialized devices and customize cabling. I knew class of technology design services will be needed, delivered by consultants who are well-versed in "user experience" design and observant of Evolving student workpatterns. As learning space systems evolve toward all-digital interactive media tools, these consultants and the academic constituencies they serve will co-develop opportunities for new forms of interactive learning experience. p.5


This is a prescription for how to consider designing the curriculum for interactive experiences with regards to communities of practice and new environments for learning that integrates such approaches.
 
This article is one the most important articles I think I have read about blended learning and ways to integrate technology into academic institutions. It is additionally worth quoting the following:
 
Current design practices will need to change to meet student expectations and support evolving pedagogical approaches with the onward advancing technology materials and architectural concepts, academic institutions I hope to successfully leverage their facilities and technology assets will involve their approach to learning space design. They will drop flexible prototyping methodologies, take steps to modernize funding approaches, and embrace student – centered participatory design Practices in the same way that they have students-centered learning pedagogies. p.7