University of Hertfordshire, Blended Learning Unit (BLU)
| Contact Details: | The Blended Learning Unit (BLU) website: www.herts.ac.uk/blu Jon Alltree, Deputy Director, BLU: j.r.alltree@herts.ac.uk |
| Type of Project: | The Blended Learning Unit (BLU) has developed two learning spaces at the University of Hertfordshire - one in the main College Lane accommodation and one in the College Lane Learning Resources Centre. They are refurbishments/re-purposing of original spaces. |
| Start/End Date: | The BLU, a HEFCE CETL, was established in 2005 and the refurbishment and repurposing work was carried out from mid 2005 and the spaces were brought into service in February and May 2006. |
Success Factors
What Makes The Space Successful?
ROOM ONE
The flexibility of the furniture and the technology facilitates different kinds of collaborative working and reduces the barrier between teacher and students. Tutors who use the space as a computer lab are particularly pleased with the opportunities the room offers.
ROOM TWO
The flexibility of the furniture and the technology facilitates different kinds of group working and the general ambience of the room has prompted very positive feedback from users.
What Is Innovative About The Design And The Use Of The Space?
The space is designed to provide maximum flexibility in its configuration. The room is equipped with a teaching wall that includes dual data projection, and an interactive whiteboard alongside a standard whiteboard. However, the main feature of the room is its ability to support student group activities: The remaining walls carry four further interactive whiteboards and a Crestron MediaManager system enables the output of any device e.g. a tablet, a VCR, DVD player, or visualiser, to be projected on to any one of the room's six screens.
A highly equipped space such as this must be flexible enough to accommodate varied pedagogic and disciplinary aims. The BLU has commissioned custom-made trapezoidal tables which are large enough to be used as individual workstations, and light enough to be rearranged to provide conference-style groups of seven for collaborative learning activities. The trapezoidal design has made optimum use of the available space and wheeled office-style chairs enable easy movement between groups or stations.
This testbed space will further the understanding of the role of technology in collaborative learning alongside established methods, and has already informed the development of other teaching spaces. A further BLU teaching room of a more generic design will be available for the academic year 2006/07. This will be equipped with one main teaching wall comprising a tablet, data projector, visualiser and standard whiteboard - it has been found that this combination will suit large group teaching rooms better than an interactive whiteboard. With access to the wireless and local area network, resources on StudyNet will be more readily integrated into teaching sessions. Once again trapezoidal tables have been installed in this room to support varied pedagogic approaches, but with an emphasis on collaborative group learning.
