Abstract:

This work describes a collaboration between two European Universities to create innovative learning spaces that fuse new and emerging technology with traditional teaching tools. The goal was to utilise emerging wireless presentation and collaboration tools to foster new approaches to collaboration and innovation. In doing so we have created both an advanced classroom space and ideal environment for academic collaboration.

By thinking of innovation as an emergent feature of a complex system (Goldstein, 2010), we have created a space that maximizes the potential for innovation by creating a site for face-to-face dialogue and instantaneous synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated collaboration. By utilising the BYOD paradigm, we have created a space where open collaborative discourse can be captured and shared instantaneously. Participants can create, research and share digital artefacts using their own devices on up to 8 centrally controlled display screens. These are used with dynamic switching and cloud technologies to facilitate cross-group, whole room and remote collaboration. These emerging technologies are teamed with 'old school' classroom technologies to create and environment that is adaptable, extendable and instantly useable by a diverse range of collaborators.

This work discusses the creation of the space, including detail on the specific use of technologies and their limitations, and will case study a range of new pedagogies and collaboration methodologies that are possible with this environment. These include supporting undergraduate collaborative writing in groups of up to 60 (Almond, 2015), multi-site STEM problem solving and supporting staff development of innovative pedagogies in communities of practice (Wenger, 2009).

Keywords:

BYOD, Collaboration, Problem Solving, Innovative Pedagogies, Communities of Practice.