By Lisa Stephens and Rebecca V. Frazee of FLEXspace.org, featuring guest contributors 

To browse details, images, floorplans, and more from spaces featured in this column, plus hundreds more, login to FLEXspace.org and visit the Gallery “FEATURED IN HIGHER ED AV MAGAZINE”.

With so much to report, let’s start with a FLEXspace recap over the past few weeks:

·   SCHOMS, where we presented a workshop and toured some spaces first-hand in the UK

·   SCUP 2022 Annual Conference, where thought leaders presented FLEXspace as a planning tool while Higher Education exits the shock of the pandemic.

First, congratulations to Zach Frazee on his upcoming college and career start at UC Berkeley! Chatting with friends like Zach serves to remind why “FLEXspacers” love supporting faculty and students. Thanks for helping us “keep it real” Zach!

We eagerly accepted an invitation to deliver a FLEXspace workshop at the Standing Conference for Heads of Media Services (SCHOMS) at Durham University in the UK in June! Joined by Mark McCallister, an early collaborator and advisor, we left our respective campuses In Florida and Buffalo to explore spaces “across the pond.” Rebecca joined us virtually – an excused absence for attending Zach’s graduation.

Following a very informative AVIXA Workshop on preparing a network for AVoIP, we spent several days in the new Teaching and Learning Building at Durham. TLC 113 is the type of active learning space (ALC) anyone would love. Birds sing from the dense trees and foliage, fresh air flows through the adjustable louvers, and furniture is easily reconfigurable to group students around plentiful technology.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Alan Houston warmly welcomed us with, “As any good faculty member knows, the AV team is your best friend coming into an unfamiliar teaching environment. They are helpful, friendly, and will always point you in the right direction.” Who can beat that as a backdrop to the start of a conference? Kudos to our Durham host Chris Pearson and his staff, as well as Mark Dunlop (Chair) and Caroline Pepper (Chair Emeritus) for arranging an informative, upbeat conference!

Many SCHOMS participants kindly remarked how the workshop was a success: particularly the use of the new FLIPP – the FLEXspace Integrated Planning Pathway to understand each other’s roles and challenges.

The FLIPP begins with defining the project scope to be benchmarked with the LSRS and ranking according to LSRS scores.  The campus registrar’s office or institutional research can overlay enrollment information to further inform investment priorities based on program demand.

Regular advisory meetings (including student and faculty governance, AV/IT, faculty support, librarians, and designers/architects) can take advantage of a private, shared idea board within FLEXspace to focus discussion. This process promotes transparency and has been reported to inspire conversations amongst faculty advisors (and beyond) on how they might best apply active learning pedagogy to their students.

SCUP: Including Designers into the Conversation

Just a few weeks later, FLEXspace was well represented at the Society of College & University Planning (SCUP) in Long Beach. The SCUP leadership has long been an advisor/supporter of FLEXspace, and participants were eager to learn more about how to share ideas about the direction education seems to be moving in post-pandemic.

The conference kicked off with an informative and entertaining keynote presentation by strategist, futurist, and author, Heather McGowan, on the impact of working and learning in a post-pandemic era drawn from her new book, The Adaptation Advantage. She explored the “who, what, where, how, and why” strategic transformation is critical for the future of both the campus and the workplace. A perfect segue to three presentations that featured FLEXspace over the next two days.

In one of the first sessions, Parke Rhoads, from the Vantage Technology Group, and Chris Dechter, from the University of Wyoming (and podcast host of AV Superfriends) invited Lisa to participate in “Technologist Perspectives Post-Pandemic and Beyond.”

Parke focused on how students were choosing – if not demanding – a better use of high-value class time for collaboration (less lecture, more discussion/group time and access to elements that are a challenge to provide via the Internet).  Of course much of this is influenced by where they are in their academic journey and the value placed on any particular course, but now that delivery options are more available and often times more robust than traditional course capture, it is not difficult to anticipate the need for better “audio + video” and collaboration technologies to enable interaction between students who are face-to-face and those joining remotely (as well as a better experience and use of recorded media and online learning tools).

“Don’t Panic” was Chris’ theme – that knowledge workers within the academy are dedicated and flexible, and how the pandemic was a lesson in not allowing perfection to become the enemy of the good. Panic buying didn’t help anyone – particularly when not done in a coordinated manner, e.g., “Inexpensive microphones for faculty desktops are not going to be useful in a lecture environment — bottom line was that many institutions have closets full of unused, or under-utilized equipment, in spite of good intentions.”

Lisa focused on the FLIPP as a solution encouraging collaboration and leadership. Although nobody could have foreseen the necessity of how to best respond to a pandemic, relationships and campus culture can be well-served when the key stakeholders are all talking with one another   to best serve the learners.

The next morning, Rebecca and Lisa invited Joe Way, USC’s director of academic technology (and founder of HEAV magazine and HETMA) to join in “FLEXspace: The world’s largest academic planning resource.” Joe described how he first became aware of FLEXspace at a CCUMC conference (Consortium of College and University Media Centers). “Lisa was presenting, and Rebecca was in a tiny Zoom box, and they started describing how anyone in education could get a free account to look at spaces with all sorts of details contributed by campuses from around the world – how cool is that!” Joe described how he used FLEXspace to build the budget case for a large upgrade at USC. “A colleague and I presented our ideas to senior leadership – and they granted our entire budget ask. Being new to the role, I didn’t realize that it was a BIG deal to get the number you asked for!” Again, do endorsements get any better than this?The final presentation at the SCUP was a panel discussion titled “Technology and Equity: Creating Connections for Inclusivity” led by Sumegha Shah from CannonDesign, and Craig Park from Clark & Enersen, along with Lisa, Rebecca, and Joe.

The session focused on the importance of equity and inclusion relative to learning space technological advancements. Various tools and approaches were discussed towards more equitable outcomes for student success. Without a doubt, campuses that have done a good job communicating across different disciplines were able to pivot more effectively to respond more cost-effectively.

“I had a huge awakening with my assumptions when the pandemic hit USC,” said Joe, “I heard a student crying in a cubicle on my way out the door. Turns out it was one of my lead student assistants who for the past many months had provided no indication of any home or personal life challenges. In conversation, I discovered that the reason she wanted a job on campus was to have access to the computing after hours, and dinner was often the leftover cookies or treats routinely in the office.” He continued, “USC, like many private colleges, is filled with young people coming from privileged backgrounds. I was shocked when we had to order 1,000 laptops – my naïve assumption was that every kid came to school with a Chromebook or laptop or desktop. It was an eye-opener for many of my colleagues and we have become more aware and sensitive to needs.”

With a focus on the importance of including equity and inclusion (and technology) in campus strategic planning. The panel described the approaches to and anecdotes on the technology underlying evolving pedagogies with respect to learning spaces, and again, the FLIPP model to help people get on the same page before an emergency situation – like a global pandemic.

We appreciated learning more from our colleagues at both SCHOMS and SCUP and hope everyone at these gatherings will contribute and take advantage of the resources contained in FLEXspace!

Want to contribute to the FLEXspace Community?

The growing FLEXspace community is always looking for the latest examples of innovative and effective learning spaces. Please share your campus spaces by logging into FLEXspace.org, and contact Rebecca or Lisa if you would like to be featured in an upcoming issue of Higher Ed AV magazine.  

The FLEXspace Team

LISA STEPHENS, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean, Digital & Online Education
School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, The University at Buffalo
Project Director, FLEXspace.org 

Lisa serves as Assistant Dean at the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences leading the Office of Digital & Online Education, and also serves as Senior Strategist for Academic Innovation in the Office of the SUNY Provost.  She enjoys an appointment in the UB Department of Communication as an Adjunct Associate Professor. Her SUNY portfolio includes leadership of FLEXspace.org™ and serves as the SUNY Partner Manager for Coursera.

---

Rebecca teaches in the Learning Design and Technology program at San Diego State University and is the FLEXspace.org Manager. She enjoys experimenting with new technology tools and techniques to support active learning and team collaboration in higher ed and the workplace. Rebecca is a singer and songwriter and has been having fun with asynchronous ‘socially distanced’ recording projects this year. Contact Rebecca at rfrazee@sdsu.edu, and Twitter at @rebeccafrazee.

The Flexible Learning Environments eXchange (FLEXspace.org) is an award-winning community and open digital repository for higher ed that houses a growing collection of user-contributed content “by campuses for campuses,” with detailed examples of formal and informal learning spaces ranging from multimedia studios, maker spaces, computer labs, hybrid/flexible classrooms, and huddle spaces to large exhibit spaces, simulation labs and renovated lecture halls. FLEXspace was launched in 2012 as a collaboration between SUNY, the CSU Cal State University system, and Foothill-DeAnza Community College District and has since grown to include over 5000 members from 1400 campuses around the world, with PennState joining the partnership in 2019. FLEXspace won the Campus Technology Innovators Award in 2016, and the California Higher Education (CHEC) Collaborative Conference Focus on Efficiency Award in 2018.

FLEXspace users include practitioners, experts, and decision-makers in higher education, K-12, libraries, and museums who are focused on campus planning and facilities, learning technology, A/V systems integration, instructional design, teaching, and research. The FLEXspace portal provides a sophisticated suite of features that enables users to document and showcase their own campus learning spaces, share research, best practices, and tools for planning.