Steelcase has come up with the concept called Media:Scape. The concept brings students around a table with comfortable seating, but more importantly it provides a mechanism for each student to share their computer "image" by way of an innovative "puck." You simply click on the puck, and your computer is displayed on the main monitor. This Media:Scape provides the opportunity for students to share and collaborative. This same system is being used at Drexel University in the Hagerty Library atrium. As we design spaces to promote collaboration, simply changing the furniture can help to enhance the experience for the students.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Today, when designing new learning spaces perhaps we should reflect on how these environments can be enhanced with Web 2.0 technologies. While, some of these technologies may have no immediate effect on the spaces we create, perhaps when we think about how students utilize rich media in their social lives, and academic lives, we can maximize their learning (and social) environment. One area we can make an immediate impact is with furniture.