The opportunity to design a learning space does not come along often. Usually, it involves the construction of a new building or the complete remodel of an old one, and both of these require a lot of money. Smaller projects, such as renovation of a single room or a defined space, can be the best way to test ideas and establish a model for…

In these troubled economic times, members of college and university communities must provide effective learning environments to support ever-changing curricula while reducing budgets. At the same time, a growing body of literature points to shifting needs of the variously named digital natives, Millennials or the Net Generation. This article…

Conceptions of the learning process have varied over time, from seeing learners as "blank slates" for a teacher to fill to the view that, unless a learner is engaged in actively constructing knowledge, little will be learned or retained. As research on the physiological aspects of learning has revealed, active engagement with the learning…

Georgia Tech Library has undergone two learning space renovations in the past six years, with a third in 2009. This work is grounded in techniques that elicit user input. Library staff hope one day to completely renovate the entire 220,000-square-foot main library facility. Until that day arrives, library staff are making incremental improvements…

User-created virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are a hot topic in higher education. Thousands of educators are currently exploring and using Second Life, and hundreds of colleges and universities have purchased and developed their own private islands in Second Life, including the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). Because it is so easy…