2019 Annual Conference

Colleges and Universities

Shared Concurrent Session (Approx. 12 or 20 minutes)

This session presents an opportunity for educators to creatively discover what comprises the 21^st century learning space.  A focus on all the environment encompasses and the foundational characteristics necessary for creating effective learning spaces and facilitating learning in the 21^st century will be explored.

The primary target audience participant for this session includes educators, instructional designers, administrators, learners, and scholars.  Anyone who is interested in education and creating successful adult and higher education learning environments regardless of setting is welcome. 

Participants in this session will be able to: 
1. Identify the various elements that comprise their learning spaces.
2. Determine the necessary elements and support structures required for designing learning spaces that support adult and higher education students in on-campus and distance settings.

Creating visuals allows time for reflection and often insightful dialogue.  When you visualize a learning space, what do you picture?  Possibly, you think of a square room with rows of desks and a teacher at the front of the room.  Or maybe, there are tables in a circle, or computers throughout the room.  But, what else is the learning space comprised of?  What do you think of when you visualize distance education, experiential education, or a study abroad experience?  Is the learning space contained within four walls?  Is the facilitator in the same physical space as their students?   

What are the necessary components for creating successful learning spaces that support students in adult and higher education?  In the 21^st century we’re being forced to reconsider how information is obtained and how to facilitate the learning process.  The creation of a visual image depicting the learning space is an opportunity to further explore the 21^st century classroom and elicit new and additional ways to support student success through optimal learning spaces.

The proposed session is designed to be engaging and creative.  It will begin with a reflective activity designed to explore learning spaces and all that they entail.  Following the activity, examples of 21^st century student learning spaces and the various components included in the spaces will be presented.  Finally a discussion, supported by research and literature, on the necessary elements that comprise an educational learning space in the 21^st century will be discussed.