Week 8 Digital Learning Spaces

For this week I will be discussing Digital Learning Spaces and this ties right into many past topics I have discussed.

                Learning spaces are environments, whether physical or digital, where learning happens.  According to Dr. Jeremy Brueck, who spoke in a video given to my grad class, contemporary learning spaces are based in learning ecology composed of physical, digital, and virtual experiences.  Digital learning spaces can encourage student engagement because it provides students with multiple pathways to reach the desired proficiency.  In a video by Holli Tonyan, four forms of learning are discussed as possible pathways to create digital learning spaces.  These four forms are: campfires, watering holes, the cave, and the world.  If educators can effectively develop spaces for each of these forms of learning, I believe they will then be able to reach and encourage more student engagement. 

The campfire space could be a podcast or a video of a teacher lecture that students can pace themselves through.  The watering hole is the student interaction with peers and a form of this could be as simple as an online discussion form.  For the cave, a space for this would be anything that is reflective. This space allows alone time for students to engage in deep thought and reflection.  The final form is the world and this provides students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to actual world situations.  This also engages students in sharing and allows them to go outside of the classroom and see how others are learning about a similar topic. 

                Google Apps for Education will most likely be the future in the development of learning spaces.  GAFE provides a multitude of applications that can be the center piece in each space that an educator will develop.  One easy example of an app is Google Classroom.  This app simply is a classroom that is online; it is the epitome of a digital learning space. 

                One assumption that we should challenge as we design learning spaces for the future is that one specific application or piece of technology has a defined use when it comes to learning.  I say this because educators must delve into the technology and explore all the ways it can apply to learning.  According to Dr. Jeremy Brueck, we must ask ourselves “what do we want to accomplish beyond the device?” 

                We can see examples of the development of learning spaces right here in The University of Akron’s campus.  The main space utilized by the campus is Brightspace.  Brightspace is an online resource that professors can use to share, communicate, encourage discussion, assign assessments, and even hold class.  The discussion form in Brightspace can be the watering hole, a reflective assignment can be the cave, and added class content can be the campfire.  I believe that these learning spaces are very beneficial to my needs as a graduate student.  Many grad students hold full time jobs and the convenience of Brightspace allows us to be connected to our classrooms at all times.  I have also grown fond of learning at my own pace while using online sources as I never had the opportunity to experience this in my undergrad studies.