By Dr. Martin Horejsi
A recent and rather simple-sounding request caused me pause. And then tugged at the very foundation of education as I knew it.
The request was to help define what a modern learning commons should look like. Quick and traditional answers bubbled up from the depths of my experience, and were confirmed in milliseconds by a Google search, as I found what I was asking for. Essentially, I was in familiar territory and used technology to tell me what I wanted to hear about using technology. But still something was gnawing at me. Something was wrong.
The back story to this situation involved the need for a true 21st century integration of technology. Yet, technology was also the main antagonist in this drama. In other words, technology is both Jekyll and Hyde; it is the reason students would come together to learn, but also provides powerful tools that can be used to avoid face-to-face meetings.
Wikipedia provides the following definitions:
Learning is “acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information.”
Commons refers to “the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth.”
Yet, when the words are combined, the following definition is given:
“Learning commons, also known as scholars’ commons, information commons or digital commons, are educational spaces, similar to libraries and classrooms that share space for information technology, remote or online education, tutoring, collaboration, content creation, meetings and reading or study.”
It is easy to assume that 1 + 1 = 2, or Learning plus Commons equals Learning Commons. But something tremendous is missing. A learning commons must represent the highest form of face-to-face learning. In essence, a learning commons must have a soul.
A learning commons is a three-dimensional physical space that epitomizes the reason we still have brick-and-mortar institutions. The purpose of a learning commons must capture and concentrate into one space the essence and spirit of face-to-face educational interaction. Technology must supplement and support that spirit and not attempt to replace it, but dancing the fine line between the two will be a challenge.
Educational technologies are a strange combination of great potential and great distraction. When inserted too early into a discussion about a learning commons, instructional technology can easily cannibalize the design, moving it away from a student-centered focus to one where technology is front and center. The danger is not with the technology, nor with the design. The danger is to the soul of the learning commons, which will have a direct effect on how and how much the learning commons is used.
There are obvious strengths and weaknesses to instructional technology. Some things can be done much more efficiently and effectively with technology. While other things are rapidly contaminated by technology, leaving frustration, lost productivity, and damaged motivation in its wake. If a learning commons is to be inhabited by actual flesh-and-blood students, then the soul of the commons must embrace the students who are physically present in the room and not just the ones visiting as pixels.
But what does this mean in reality? It means that the reasons we desire a face-to-face interaction, in-person classes, in-person meetings, or any other in-person experience must not only be acknowledged but embraced by the commons aspect of the space. Regardless of the latest and greatest technology, the value added by in-person experience of the arts, music, feasts, travel, or just hanging out demands that the technology does not compete with other people. Instead, the technology should empower them and their tasks.
It’s a tall order to harness the power of 24/7/365/worldwide access to information, communication, and entertainment as an asset to a particular educational location, especially one designed to attract students. And since it’s not unusual for students to have one or more mobile devices as part of their daily diet of electrons, not to mention the expectation of universal access, a learning commons must leverage technology to improve the face-to-face experience without selling a more appealing alternative.
As social creatures, humans will migrate toward real spaces over virtual ones when other factors are held constant. Why do kids get together to play video games? Why do students text their way through face-to-face lunches? Why do we take endless photos and video of our travels, knowing that we will likely never look at them again? There is a simple answer to these questions, and it is a core foundation to outfitting a physical learning space with technology. The answer is that technology can extend our experience by acting as an upgrade or backup to reality. Technology supplements reality, broadening and deepening the immediate experience.
A learning commons should provide its users a rich environment of peripherals that leverage communication, innovation, motivation, and collaboration. Each included technology must be viewed through the lens of how it can expand the in-person experience through, at minimum, the following:
- Capturing aspects of the experience with interactive whiteboards, video/audio recording, and creating cloud-based documents
- Sharing the experience through video conferencing, blogging, embedding content, generating collaborative documents on a common screen, photo/video support including lighting, microphones, and tripods
- Maximizing the user experience (or minimizing the amount of fixed-position aspects) by having wheeled everything, including tables; abundant access to power, including the presence of popular adapters and converters; fast connecting to video out for projection; and flexible space that can expand and contract as needed
The ever-present risk of a learning commons is that it will become a technology showcase rather than a true commons supporting learning though technology. Technological agents of change, motivation, collaboration, and most importantly, inspiration are necessary elements of a learning commons, but the overall purpose behind all design elements must begin with the students.
Dr. Martin Horejsi is an associate professor of Instructional Technology and Science Education in the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Montana, Missoula. He was previously a middle and high school science teacher, and his areas of specialty include mobile technologies, collaborative applications, digital creative expression, standard and nonstandard digital assessments, wireless data collection, hybrid and blended learning environments, and innovative classroom uses of consumer technologies. Dr. Horejsi is a board member of the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE), writes a column and blogs for the National Science Teachers Association called Science 2.0, and has been blogging about meteorites and space science since 2002 in his Meteorite-Times.com column titled “The Accretion Desk.”
