The whole landscape of space use is undergoing a radical transformation.
In the workplace a period of unprecedented change has created a mix of
responses with one overriding outcome observable worldwide: the rise of
distributed space. In the learning environment the social, political,
economic and technological changes responsible for this shift have been
further compounded by constantly developing theories of learning and
teaching, and a wide acceptance of the importance of learning as the
core of the community, resulting in the blending of all aspects of
learning into one seamless experience.
This book attempts to look at all the forces driving the provision and
pedagogic performance of the many spaces, real and virtual, that now
accommodate the experience of learning and provide pointers towards the
creation and design of learning-centred communities.
Part 1 looks at the entire learning universe as it now stands, tracks
the way in which its constituent parts came to occupy their role,
assesses how they have responded to a complex of drivers and gauges
their success in dealing with renewed pressures to perform. It shows
that what is required is innovation within the spaces and integration
between them. Part 2 finds many examples of innovation in evidence
across the world - in schools, the higher and further education campus
and in business and cultural spaces - but an almost total absence of
integration. Part 3 offers a model that redefines the learning landscape
in terms of learning outcomes, mapping spatial requirements and
activities into a detailed mechanism that will achieve the best outcome
at the most appropriate scale.
By encouraging stakeholders to creating an events-based rather than
space-based identity, the book hopes to point the way to a
fully-integrated learning landscape: a learning community.
