Durham University, Techno-Café [CETL for Active Learning In Computing]
| Contact Details: | E L Burd, liz.burd@durham.ac.uk For photos of Techno-Café go to www.durham.ac.uk/alic/technocafe/ |
| Type of Project: | A refurbishment to create a Techno-Café as a prototype for a future development in a new build. |
| Start/End Date: | December 2005 - January 2006 (a 6-8 week timeframe over the Christmas vacation). |
Lessons Learned
The first year the Techno-Café was open the students had huge adjustment problems. They liked the facility, they would come in and say 'this is great' they would sit there for ten or fifteen minutes and go back to the old style lab and start typing on their computers. The issue was that they had become so ingrained into the way in which they operated and so used to having an individual desktop machine and they did what you wanted on their machine and then communicated if when they needed to. It was actually very hard to encourage them to use any other approach to working.
The second group, who started straightaway in the Techno-Café did need to be shown how to use the equipment particularly the interactive whiteboard but they were much more clued in to how they were going to potentially use it and much more accepting of the way and the style of which they were working. They were prepared to communicate and to communicate face to face rather than 'well I'll do this and then email you when I've done it'.
Much of the concern about the old style labs is that it wasn't actually a collaborative environment. All they had was somebody passing 'well I've done this' and someone saying 'well I've added this to it'. It was almost as if things were being done in stages by one individual taking responsibility at any given time it wasn't a truly collaborative activity. Those students who started in the Techno-Café straightaway adapted to it quicker and therefore sped along in terms of the way in which they interacted and also the length of time in which they were conducting these activities.
Interestingly it has been used with a number of school children (age 13-14) and they just accepted the environment as it is and they had no trouble in using the interactive whiteboard or equipment. They had some of the facilities in school but they didn't have that kind of design or group work space so they recognised that as new but they were much more aware of the use and format of the facilities and how the could be used and what they were for.
The issue of cabling: there were some interesting discussions whether to only allow students to use the wireless facility. The bandwidth at the moment for wireless isn't really that good so it has been acknowledged that you have to have access to permanent networking facilities and to look at ways to minimise the amount of cabling. If you've got too much cabling on the table then it limits the writing space and ability for people to utilise books.
They recommend going with LCD and not plasma because of the problems with issues of burning.
They were concerned at the risk of electrocution if students spill drinks and have sourced an inventive gadget that protects the transformers under a rubber seal.
They recommend allowing food and drink in flexible environments. The way in which students perceive they are being treated affects how happy they feel and the way in which they treat the environment and spillages don't occur. In the 18 months of running the Techno-Café no equipment has been damaged.
