Modular learning commons desk at ANU Library Menzies

I dropped into the R. G. Menzies Building to pick up a copy of "Running the war in Iraq"from the ANU Library. While there I noticed some new modular computer desks for use by borrowers. These are arranged in clusters of four around a central point. Each desk has three sides: two straight sides at 90 degrees and a curved front. The desks are not symmetrical, with one straight side about two thirds the length of the other. The desks are in mirror image pairs with sights screens between. The desks are about 1.6 m wide. All cables are run to the center of the cluster of desks and down to the floor. The cables are visible under the desk, but are not very noticeable amongst the four black back legs of the desks. Standard Dell PCs and monitors are used and the 90 degree angle results in there being plenty of depth on the desk to accommodate the equipment.

The curved fronts of the desks look good, but are not particularly functional, as the curve is so sharp that one hand tends to be unsupported when using the keyboard. It would be useful if two or three students were working together, but not in the section of the library for silent study. The library could save some space by making the front of the desk straight or concave, rather than convex.

Fit twice as many students in computer lab with better design

This is to suggest that smaller computer equipment and careful room design can double the capacity of computer equipped teaching spaces and make them more flexible. The space required can be reduced from 4 m² per student to 2 m², comparable to the space allocation for non-computer equipped collaborative learning rooms.

These computer equipped rooms can then be used for blended learning: combining individual computer based work, small group work, group teaching and language laboratories. The learning style need not be fixed by the instructor, with each student selecting their own style. A compact design will allow the instructor and the students to hear and see across the room.

Bodies such as the Australian Government are advocating one computer per student, but are only budgeting for the cost of the computers, not the doubling of floor space which would be needed to accommodate them using current designs.

Computer Labs Have Taken More Space

It has been the practice at universities, vocational training centres and schools to have "computer labs": rooms specially fitted out for computer use . More recently similar layouts have been used in the "learning commons" of educational libraries. Larger desks are provided in labs and commons to accommodate one computer per student. These rooms use twice the floor space of "Cabaret-Style" collaborative learning rooms, which do not allocate a computer to each student.

Seating Densities for Different Learning Styles

The MIT Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) rooms have 2.38 sq m per student. The University of Melbourne guidelines recommend 2 m² per student for a "Cabaret-Style" Collaborative Learning room. When computer equipped, these rooms have one computer for every three or four students. Computer Lab equipped for teaching have required up to 4 m² per student.

Seating Density

Type of Space	m2 per student
Lecture Theatres	1.0
Seminar Rooms, tight schoolroom set-up	1.5
Seminar Rooms, schoolroom with more table space	2.0
Collaborative Learning "Cabaret-Style" with room to move and larger tables	2.0
Computer Lab - Student Access	3.2 - 3.5
Computer Lab - Teaching	3.5 - 4.0

Adapted from: "University of Melbourne Teaching Space Design Guidelines", University of Melbourne, 15 December 2004.

Old Design

Consider a computer lab that is 7.2 x 12 m, with four rows of five desks each 1200 x 900 mm. In this case the rows of desks run down the room. Two rows of desks face each side wall. Two rows of desks with the students sitting face to face, form one large table in the middle of the room, with circulation space around it. A teaching space at the front of the room has a whiteboard/projection screen and a console with audio visual equipment and controls.

A large proportion of each desk top is reserved for a computer monitor, and PC box. Space is provided on the desk for the student to have text books and notepaper while using the computer.

For 20 students, the 86 m² room provides 4.3 m² each, slightly over the UoM guidelines. Can the room be made to accommodate more students, but still allow each enough space to operate a computer?

Suggested Layout

Smaller, curved desks with slim computer monitors can be used with offset seating. There is then room for an extra two rows of desks, forming a second island, doubling the seating capacity.

Bulky PC boxes can be removed from the desktops to provide more work space. Less desk space is needed as most instructional material will be provided via the computer and the student will type their notes directly into the computer. However, enough space is provided for an A4 pad while using the computer, or an A4 pad and a textbook when the keyboard is pushed under the monitor.

The table end nearest the whiteboard can have an oval shaped raised area added for the instructor's lectern, with the audiovisual equipment underneath. The other table ends can be similarly rounded and provided for wheelchair and other accessibility access. A second whiteboard can be placed at the other end of the room for breakout group work with provision for a second projection screen. Additional display screens can be placed on the side walls, if needed.

Smaller Computer Desk for Smaller Computers

The size of computer desks in current use were determined when computers had large CRT monitors and processor boxes. The user had to have access frequently to the PC box to insert floppy disks or other rotating media. Also there had to be desk space for paperwork. Computers now use slimmer LCD screens and smaller processor boxes. Removable rotating media is all but obsolete, reducing the need to access the processor box. Less paperwork is needed on the desktop, with instructional material being provided via the computer and student work being typed directly into it.

A computer lab designed for teaching might currently have desks 1,200 x 900 mm, as specified in Australian Standard 3590.2-1990 single task office desks used for for screen based workstations. It is proposed to reduce the single row desks to 900 x 750 mm, with a 150 mm deep curve cut out of the front, in which the student sits. The face to face double row island desks would be 1050 mm deep, with a row of monitors down the middle of the shared area of the desk, giving each student the same space as for the single desks.

Computer Case and Monitor Size Reduction

The original IBM PC case was (HxWxD) 140 x 495 x 408 mm (XT type 5150 of 1984) taking up a large proportion of a desktop. A typical slimline desktop case is now 112 x 398 x 362 (Dell OptiPlex 330 Desktop). These are small enough to be mounted under a desktop. Manufacturers are now introducing desktop computers with the footprint slightly larger than a DVD Drive: 165 x 165 mm (Apple Mac mini). These are small enough to be placed on the desktop next to the monitor.

A typical CRT monitor is 419mm deep (Dell E773c 17-inch CRT Monitor). The depth of a typical LCD monitor is 165 mm (Dell E2209W 22" LCD monitor is 163.9 mm), saving 254 mm of desk depth.

Older PS/2 style computer keyboards are about 450 mm wide (Lenovo 31P7415 is 453 mm). Newer compact keyboards, are slightly narrower at about 430 mm (Dell PH316 is 432mm x 152 mm). Some sub-compact keyboards are as small as 400 mm.

Desk Depth

Provided there is room for the student's legs underneath, the depth of the desk can reduced by about 260 mm when a CRT screen is replaced with an LCD, without reducing the usable desk space. With the LCD stand taking up 165 mm at the back of a 600 mm deep desk, this would leave 435 mm, which is sufficient space for a computer keyboard and A4 paperwork. With the keyboard pushed under the monitor, there would be room for a textbook and A4 paper.

Desk Width

With 200mm to operate a mouse (Fellowes - Mouse pad 200 mm), a compact keyboard would leave room for an A4 notebook (210 mm) and 20 mm between each item on a 900 mm wide desk.

Fitting Desks in the Room

A row of five 1200 mm desks is 6m wide. Reducing to 900 mm desks allows seven desks in a row, with the loss of 300 mm circulation space at the front of the room. This would increase the room capacity from 20 to 28.

If the single row desks are reduced from 900 mm to 600 mm deep, the double row desks made correspondingly narrower, and the space between them from 1300 mm to 1220 mm (the US minimum for wheelchair access), an extra two rows of desks could be added, increasing the room from four to six rows. With 1200 mm width desks, this increases the capacity to 6 rows of 5 students = 30 students. With narrower 900 mm desks, this increases the capacity to 6 rows of 7 students = 42 students.

Heat output

Apart from the space requirements, air conditioning loads need also to be considered from fitting twice as many students into a room. However, the drop in energy use of modern computers will just about compensate for the heat produced by twice as many people.

The Dell E773c CRT consumes 71 Watt, whereas the Dell E178FP 17-inch LCD is only 40 Watt. The Dell OptiPlex 330 Desktop PC has a 280W power supply. The Apple Mac mini has a 110 W power supply. A person puts out about 60 Watt of heat at rest.

So an old system would produce 340 Watt of heat per workstation and the new one and a new one 210 Watt. This is not quite half, but I expect that the figures the air conditioning engineers use are based on higher power levels.

Making the room look larger

Leaving other aspects of the room design unchanged but adding twice as many students could result in a crowded looking space. Changes can be made to increase the effective space and also make it appear larger:

* Curved desk fronts: Having a curved front edge, projecting out 150 mm each side of the student would make the desks larger, without greatly reducing circulation space in the room. This would also better define each student's desk area. The inward curve where the student sat would accommodate an empty chair, providing additional space when the room is not fully occupied and giving it a less cluttered look. This is similar to the arrangement for casual use terminals at the Information Commons, University of Calgary.

* Staggered Seating: In typical computer labs, students sit in rows, one behind the other, or facing each other across a shared desk. If the seating is instead staggered, so that students do not face each other, and the backs of their chairs do not back onto another, there is more effective space and the room will look less cramped. The depth of the double row desks could be reduced in this way. This is the arrangement used for the Connecticut School of Business.

* Angled Seating: Typical computer labs have the students facing either the front or side walls. If the students instead face slightly to the front of the room, at about 75 degrees, this will increase the effective depth of the desks. This will also make it easier to see a presentation at the front of the room and their own screen at the same time for blended learning. In may computer classrooms it can be difficult to see the front of the room past all the rows of computer screens. This arrangement is used in the computer classrooms at the Information Commons, University of Calgary.

* Concealed Cabling: Computer cabling and power supply "bricks" commonly clutter the work surface in computer labs. Where cabling is buried in desks or walls, maintenance can be difficult. Instead the cabling can be run in a tray under the rear of the desks, and brought up through a hole in the desktop. This allows the cabling to be hidden, but accessible for maintenance. Standard, low cost power and data cables can be used with excess cable stored in the trays. The University of Queensland Ezones uses this arrangement with wire baskets under the desks to hold the cabling.

* Computers Under Desks or Smaller computers: The largest item cluttering the desks, but the most difficult to remove, is the PC box. Previously this needed to be accessible to the student for inserting floppy disks or CD/DVD drives. But these are no longer required and the processor box can be placed under the desk, or a smaller unit fitted to the LCD stand. Extension cables can be used to make audio and USB sockets accessible on the desktop. Power sockets can be provided in the desktop, if needed for ancillary equipment, and a power switch to turn off all equipment. PCs can be mounted on the under surface of the desk, between each student, with straps, allowing them to be accessible but out of sight. Straps are used to retain computers on the USS Blue Ridge.

* Instructor Console on end of Student Desks: Teaching spaces typically have a rectangular console at the front for audiovisual equipment, controls and a work surface. This takes up space and looks cluttered. Instead, the front of one of the student desks can be extended for the instructor console. This can have a rectangular box underneath for audio visual equipment, with the top curved to match the other desktops and raised for presentation. It is used for the University of Queensland Ezones.

* Color: Labs are usually a dull mix of muted colours. The usual beige or grey plastic strip placed around the edges of desks can be replaced with one keyed to one of the building colours. This will define the space much more clearly and make it look larger, as well as more interesting.

* Computer Cut Desks: To keep costs down, and raise green credentials, it may be possible to recycle the existing desks and legs, cut to the news size. Small numbers of desks can be cut from low cost manufactured board, laminate or corrugated core sandwich from recycled wood pulp. Larger quantities can be computer cut. Modular systems as featured in "Conference and Communication Environments: Conference. Excellence" are likely to be prohibitively expensive. While movable modular desks may seem a good idea, as Dr Kathy Lynch at the University of the Sunshine Coast pointed out, they may be rarely moved in practice. Where desktop computers are installed it is very unlikely that a system which allows them to be secure and movable is feasable.

* Interactive Screens: An interactive whiteboard could be considered as part of the fit-out, as was pointed out to me at Hawker Primary School. The interactive whiteboard takes no additional space. Side walls can have have supplementary projection or LCD displays (with low power LED back lights), repeating the main image for students who can't easily see the front of the room.


ps: The curve on the desks could be a "hyperbola": an appropriate shape for the "hyperbole" commonly expressed in teaching rooms. ;-)

Guide to designing training rooms

"Conference and Communication Environments: Conference. Excellence" by Guido Englich , Burkhard Remmers and Wilkhahn, is a clumsy title for a masterfully presented book on designing rooms for conferences, meetings, training, seminars and teamwork. The book provides floor plans for room layouts, including details of desks, chairs and storage for equipment. The authors emphasise flexible layouts with movable furniture and partitions for different meeting styles. The also address cabling and installation of computer, audio and video equipment.

The furniture, fittings and floor space specified in the book look expensive for the average educational institution, and more suited to a bank boardroom, but the ideas could be applied. After addressing individual rooms of different sizes, the authors offer designs for some larger multi room spaces, the most interesting of which is a multi-level canteen which can be converted into an assembly hall. Another interesting design is a multifunctional partitioned conference and congress centre, of the type I proposed be built at the ANU in Canberra.

The full text of the book is indexed by Amazon.com and this provides a useful supplement to the book itself, for example to find the 43 pages with references to "computer":

1. on Page 31:
"... darkening the room and media technology may be operated very easily - for example, via a touch panel. If a computer display is already integrated into the table, it may also serve to operate the above functions. Integration of media technology ..."
2. on Page 43:
"... trolley to match sideboard 2 Sideboard for catering materials, incidentals and telephone 3 Table portals with techni-stations for connecting portable computers 4 Server with video visualizer To support decision-making processes, digital media are increasingly being used in classic con- ference environments ..."
3. on Page 47:
"... Wall-installed flat screens 4 Modesty panels for privacy 5 Techni-stations, flush-mounted in table tops, for connecting portable computers 6 Mobile folding table with integrated techni-station and cable management 890 110 ~ Technical progress in the development of ( ..."
4. on Page 48:
"... for connecting portable computers 4 Retractable computer, flush-mounted in the table top, as the meeting convenor's workplace 1740 640 IRea l 1 t_^ _ ..."
5. on Page 49:
"... The dominant seat position of the horseshoe configuration is occupied by the convenor, and is equipped with an electrically retractable computer display. The back plate of the display is veneered to match the table top to create a uni- form table ..."
6. on Page 51:
"... 2 750 1 Wall-mounted flat screen with a camera and loudspeakers 2 Techni-stations, flush-mounted in table tops, for connecting portable computers 3 Retractable computer, ..."
7. on Page 53:
"... topics 5 Modesty panels for privacy 6 Techni-stations, flush-mounted in table tops, for connecting portable computers 7 Retractable computer, flush-mounted in the table top, ..."
8. on Page 55:
"... for connecting portable computers 3 Integrated microphone system 4 Mobile single table as removable segment, providing access to centre of table configuration 220 Conferences ..."
9. on Page 57:
"... 300 sgrri i Server for conference material or for catering materials 2 Techni-stations, flush-mounted in table tops, for connecting portable computers 3 Integrated microphone system 4 Retractable flat screen display integrated into the tops of ..."
10. on Page 62:
"... are generally not necessary either as participants in confer- ences do not sit in one fixed position in contrast to computer work - after all a conference thrives on human interplay with correspondingly frequent changes in posture. When selecting upholstery materials ..."

Planning Guide for Conference and Communication Environments: Conference. Excellence
by Guido Englich (Author), Burkhard Remmers (Author), Wilkhahn (Editor)

List Price: $84.95
Product Description

Englich and Remmers provide a comprehensive, analytical, and programmatic introduction to face-to-face communication in the work world. Against the backdrop of globalization, with its dynamic transformations of office environments and worldwide digital networks, they analyze the strategic significance of the various communication processes for organizational and corporate development. They show how the motives and aims of communication, the organizational forms and procedures appropriate in a given case, the size and arrangement of spaces, the required capabilities of furniture and furnishings, and modern communications and media technology all condition and influence one another. Their integrated and user-oriented approach to analysis and planning enables architects, interior designers, and facility managers to foster communication processes, structure them sensibly, and avoid unnecessary friction and needless follow-up costs, all through proper planning.


About the Author

Guido Englich is a professor of strategic concept and product development at the Hochschule für Kunst und Design Halle (Halle University of Art and Design).

Burkhard Remmers is director of communication and corporate development for the Wilkhahn company in Bad Münder.

Product Details

* Hardcover: 304 pages
* Publisher: Birkhäuser Basel; 1 edition (March 28, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 3764387580
* ISBN-13: 978-3764387587
* Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 10.2 x 0.9 inches

Ecovilla buildings for classrooms

At Canberra' flower festival, Floriade, I came across an Ecovilla. This is a steel frame building designed for homes and public buildings. It has been used in indigenous communities and would appear suitable for a computer equipped learning centre for such communities.

Construction starts with "mega-anchors" (steel piles driven into the ground), then galvanised steel framework built up. The building is covered with a Tophat curved steel roof. The demonstration building had corrugated steel cladding on the outside and min-corrugated steel on the inside. Usually flat sheeting would be used on the inside for aesthetics, but the min-orb looks good when painted and would provide a very durable finish. The buildings can be made single or two stories high and can be provided with instructions as a kit for local assembly.

It looks feasible to use this system for building classrooms for a learning commons or flexible learning centre. Because the floor is above the ground, it would be easy to add extra wiring underneath for computers.

This is a pre-cut building, rather than a prefabricated one. That is the components are cut to size in a factory, shipped to site as a flat-pack and then assembled on site. The volume of material to be transported this way is far less than prefabricated buildings. The system would lend itself to modular building designs, with a standardised kit of components assembled into different configurations to suit local needs. The system also lends itself to the buildings being easily modified and added to. Local materials can be used to clad the building so it can blend in to the local environment.

The demonstration building had an interesting "Unitank" flat pack water tank. This looks like a giant ice cream tub, being an inverted truncated cone. The tank is transported as flat sheets of steel, then rolled up and assembled on site.

Outside the demonstration building was some corrugated steel which had been perforated into decorative fence. This made me think this would be a good way to make security windows for the Ecovilla, especially if it was equipped as a classroom filled with computers attractive to thieves. Instead of having to fit security screens, a sheet of corrugated steel with holes punched for ventilation could simply be fixed in place at the window.

The building had a solar panel on the roof and LED low power lights inside. There was a composting toilet and a clever shower cubicle made of a curved sheet of the same mini-orb corrugated steel as the walls.

Designs for the Learning Commons

It is time I took "Learning Commons: Evolution and Collaborative Essentials" (Barbara Schader, 2008) back to the library, so I thought I would blog the best bits:

From information commons to learning commons and learning spaces: This makes the case for the Library to take on a central role in learning, beyond just handing out books. I would have liked to see some of the practical issues covered. Traditional, at the universities I am familiar with, the Library was one place on the campus which was open for extended hours and staffed. Most teaching spaces were either unlocked and unstaffed (such as lecture theatres) or locked and unstaffed (such as computer labs). Just the fact that libraries have staff makes a useful improvement in service.

The Information Commons at the University of Calgary: Susan Beatty: What were most interesting were the photos of desk and classroom designs. What are described as "curvilinear" desks (I have called serpentine). After some searching I found photos at the University of Calgary web site with similar photos to the book, showing the curved desks both unoccupied and occupied. These seem to be older photos with large CRT screens, whereas the book shows the same desks with more modern flat LCD screens. The occupied desks seem to be for individual study, having low zig-zag partitions down the middle of the desk to give the students some privacy. The students are sitting at 90 degrees to the length of the desk.

In contrast the unoccupied photo seems to show a classroom. The same style desks have the students sitting at 45 degrees and no partition down the middle, so they can see the teacher. The rows of desks seem to be much closer together.

Building for learning: synergy of space, technology and collaboration: Susan Thompson and Gabriela Sontag:Interior floor plans are shown for the Kellogg Library of the California State University San Marcos. The plan shows a more rectilinear design and more stacks of books than is now common.

The Saltire Centre and the Learning Commons concept: Jan Howden: The photos of the Saltire Centre, appear to be works of art in their own right, unlike the utilitarian photos of other libraries. In finding these I came across "Planning and Designing Technology-Rioch Learning Spaces" (Northumbria University and JISC, 2008), which comes with a remarkable collection of resources:

1. Case Studies
2. Flickr Photo Library
   
3. Virtual Campus
4. Further Resources

I was unable to get some of their plug ins to work, but there is also a printable version.There are also the Designing Spaces for Effective Learning (March 2006) and Spaces for Learning.

Transforming library space for student learning: the Learning Commons at Ohio University's Alden Library: Gary A. Hunt: DesignGroup undertook the work for the Alden Library Learning Commons at Ohio University. This shows some very narrow and uncomfortable looking desks wrapped around poles.

Improving Student Life, learning and support through collaboration, integration and innovation: Crit Stuart: Georgia Institute of Technology, West Commons is shown. This has large desks with a very slight curve along the front.

The Information Commons at the University of Auckland, Hester Mountifield: Floor plans, and papers about the Kate Edger Information Commons are available. An image gallery is also offered, but in contrast to the Saltire Centre, these photos are so artisitc as to be useless for any practical purpose.

How to Create On-line University Courses in Electronic Archiving: Part 15 - Redesign for 2008

Last year I developed and ran a short course at ANU on Electronic Document Management, reporting as I went along. The course went reasonably well and is being offered again in 2008, along with modules by others on Material Science , Innovation Management and Data Mining. Also I am to produce a module on Information Architecture and suggested one on Green ICT. But the first priority is to revise the e-document management course from last year, applying what I have learning about blended learning in the interim. Also I would like to change the emphasis from that of using electronic records to get work done more efficiently, rather than the emphasis of records managers for keeping records. There is no value in keeping records, electronic or otherwise, there is only value in what those records can be used for.

Reducing the amount of content

The 2007 e-document module, which is available via my Moodle system, was based on the material I developed for the ANU course "IT in e-Commerce" (COMP3410/COMP6341). My part of the course was "Metadata and Electronic Document Management for Electronic Commerce". As the module developed I also included material from " Writing for the web" (a short course I had run for local government) and "Extreme web design" (used in ANU course "Networked Information Systems" COMP2410/6340).

There was far too much material for a 12 hour module. The original intention was for the web design and web writing material to be in a separate short module, but that one did not end up running in 2007, thus the temptation to pack all the material into the module which did run. So now what I can do is remove some of what was in the e-document course and put it back in the web course where it can be given the depth it deserves.

No accreditation

The intention was also to apply for accreditation of the course from the ANU. However, the advice was that the 12 hour course was too short to practically fit with the ANU's longer courses. The course would need to be expanded to make it at least a 3 credit point course (half the lenght of the usual one semester courses). This would make the unit far too large for 12 contact hours. The obvious solution would be to add work for the students to do in their own time away from the university, turning this into a blended course. But that would change the character of the course and is something which will have to wait for later.

New content

The course was designed for public servants and based on my experience when in the Australian Public Service. In particular it drew on the report "Improving Electronic Document Management: Guidelines for Australian Government Agencies" which was prepared by a committee I chaired. The description of the module mentions the National Archives of Australia's "Designing and Implementing Recordkeeping Systems" (DIRKS) strategy. However, this was only mentioned briefly in the module.

DIRKS Overview

NAA provide a very detailed manual for their eight step DIRKS strategy, based on the international standard ISO 15489 "Information and documentation - Records management". (Part 1 is the actual standard and Part 2 is the guide)

• Part One: The DIRKS methodology – A users guide (pdf, 448kb)
• Part Two: Step by step through the DIRKS methodology (pdf, 887kb)
• Step A – Preliminary investigation (pdf, 313kb)
• Step B – Analysis of business activity (pdf, 490kb)
• Step C – Identification of recordkeeping requirements (pdf, 391kb)
• Step D – Assessment of existing systems (pdf, 236kb)
• Step E – Strategies for recordkeeping (pdf, 262kb)
• Step F – Design of a recordkeeping system (pdf, 266kb)
• Step G – Implementation of a recordkeeping system (pdf, 298kb)
• Step H – Post-implementation review (pdf, 223kb)
• Part Three: Appendixes (pdf, 932kb)
• Appendix 1: Guide to documentary sources (pdf, 312kb)
• Appendix 2: Guide to interviews (pdf, 240kb)
• Appendix 3: Interview questions (pdf, 178kb)
• Appendix 4: Source identification forms – Acts of Parliament, Statutory rules (regulations), Other sources including interviews (pdf, 254kb)
• Appendix 4: Source identification forms – Acts of Parliament, Statutory rules (regulations), Other sources including interviews (doc, 396kb)
• Appendix 5: Organisation context document (pdf, 255kb)
• Appendix 5: Organisation context document (doc, 403kb)
• Appendix 6: Practical advice for using Keyword AAA and AGIFT terms (pdf, 305kb)
• Appendix 7: Function source document (pdf, 98kb)
• Appendix 7: Function source document (doc, 393kb)
• Appendix 8: Procedures for developing a records disposal authority in the Commonwealth (pdf, 261kb)
• Appendix 9: Guide to developing a business case for a DIRKS project (pdf, 298kb)
• Appendix 10: Recordkeeping cost-benefit analysis (pdf, 327kb)
• Appendix 11: Risk analysis in DIRKS (pdf, 286kb)
• Appendix 12: Recordkeeping feasibility analysis (pdf, 212kb)
• Appendix 14: Glossary (pdf, 249kb)
• Appendix 15: Guidelines for using selected generic activities from Keyword AAA in agency business classification schemes (pdf, 160kb)

One Step Process

In addition, I mentioned, but did not cover in detail "Note for file: A report on recordkeeping in the Australian Public Service", Management Advisory Committee , 31 August 2007. The MAC report suggests a simplified version of DIRKS and states that National Archives developed a quicker and more practical one-step process that complies with ISO 15489. However, the document contains no reference to where this one step process is documented and the link to an Australian Bureau of Statistics case study ‘Keep the Knowledge’ is incorrect.

• Preface
• Executive summary
• Chapter 1: What is a 'record’?
• Chapter 2: Focusing on the rIght records
• Chapter 3: The case for recordkeeping
• Chapter 4: Supporting good recordkeeping
• Chapter 5: How recordkeeping interacts with information collection, use and disclosure obligations
• Chapter 6: Assessing the current and future recordkeeping environment
• Appendix 1: Key products and initiatives
• Appendix 2: Contributions to MAC report 8
• Supplementary material: Case studies of effective recordkeeping systems in small, medium and large agencies

A simplified one step process would be useful for this short course, as the intention is not to turn out trained records managers, but to provide public servants with as much as they need to know in relation to electronic records. However, without a document which actually details what the one step process is I will have to make up my own.

Learning Commons Turning Libraries into blended learning places

On my way back from the University of Canberra Learning & Teaching Week, I dropped in at their library, which has an excellent selection of books on teaching. Amongst the new books on display was "Learning Commons: Evolution and Collaborative Essentials" by Barbara Schader (Chandos Publishing Oxford Ltd, March 27, 2008). I have been searching for a year for details on how to redesign university teaching spaces for blended and e-learning. This is the best book I have found so far.

The book is edited papers from a conference, so it approaches the problem from several different perspectives and there is some overlap and contradictions. However, it contains very valuable material, including floor plans of actual facilities built.

Since attending a seminar at ANU on MIT iCampus in July 2007 I have been looking at how university classrooms could be redesigned to incorporate computer systems for learning, including classroom room and furniture design. One frustration has not knowing exactly what to call this. Initially I referred to flexible learning centers then blended learning in those centres. While I could find much on the design of courses and e-learning I could find little on the design of classrooms specifically for this. What I did discover from looking at actual learning institutions was that the librarians seemed to be the ones who had the best idea of what to do.

The book is from the point of view of university and other teaching institution librarians, who have already evolved their libraries into "information commons", which provide information not only in book form, but electronically. It suggests taking another step in this evolution and bringing the formal and informal learning into the library with the "Learning Commons". This is something I have seen first hand at libraries across Australia (UQ, UNSW, RMIT, USyd, Concord) and as far a field as Malaysia in the last year (also at Hawker Primary School in Canberra). Also I have looked at classroom design, design documents from Flinder's University, and UK designs. But this is the first time I have seen it set down as a coherent strategy.

The book provides examples of learning commons at universities, mostly in the USA, with the different room layouts designing for different learning activities and how these relate to each other. Typically a library will have facilities ranging from traditional silent individual study, group work areas, discussion tutorial areas, mini-lecture rooms, and cafe style.

After speinding many hours searching for floor plans for "flexible learning" I find that all I had to do was instead look for "floor plans learning commons". I thought perhaps this was a new term, but only 39 of the 746 web pages found with a search are less than a year old. An image search found about 50 floor plans and photos of a delighted eclectic collection of curved desks.

The book covers much more than just how to lay out curved desks, including an overview of software, facilities planning and promotion of a learning commons. It is likely that different readers will find different sections of interest (I found the sections on promotion and planning of least value).

Now that I know I am not the only person obsessed with fitting curved desks with computers on them into a space, I can look at how such spaces might be used. One approach of particular interest is flexible, but fixed, designs. Several of the designs in the book are intended for desks to be rearranged for different learning styles. However, this is difficult to do, particularly where the desks have computers on them. It also assumes that one learning style will be used for one lesson. In computer assisted courses I have run, the learning style changes every twenty minutes or so, and it would not be feasible to move the furniture or change rooms this often.

The hidden agenda for university in consideration of facilities such as learning commons is to reduce costs by eliminating lectures, lecturers and lecture theatres. Advocates of the US "cabaret" style teaching, including the MIT TEAL, suggest that mass lectures can be replaced with a sort of mass tutorial/workshop. A room holding one hundred or more students has a main presenter in the middle (somewhat like a cabaret singer in a nightclub) and several roving tutors (like waiters at the cabaret). This approach also argues that mass machine marked multiple choice tests can be used, supplemented sometimes with students marking each others work. None of this sits comfortably with a research lead institution, like the ANU.

What perhaps will sit comfortably with institutions is a blended approach. This could eliminate large dull lectures, without creating the large cabaret tutorial. One approach would be to have small lectures for about 25 students. These lectures would be recorded and made available to the students, along with the same computer based materials used in the room. Students could choose to attend the live lecture, or view it online. They would be given the same interactive exercise to do regardless of if they came into the room or did it remotely.

Based on my experience of the effect of audio podcasts on lecture attendance, I expect only about 25% of the students would choose to attend any particular lecture in person. So the rooms used would need to hold only 25 students, for a class of 100. Rather than use cabaret as the metaphor, this format would use a "live" TV variety or game show with the students as the participating studio audience. This would provide for a more lively performance, than where a teacher pre-records a lecture sitting alone in a small booth, on in a darkened lecture theatre in front of hundreds of invisible students.

If only 25% of the students attend an average lecture, such a system would deliver similar savings in staffing and space to other computer enhanced teaching formats. Existing tutorials rooms could be equipped for this format, without having to move walls. Standard office buildings could be converted to and from teaching spaces, unlike lecture theatres which require specially engineered buildings. The cost of equipping each room with an interactive white board and a computer for each student are dropping, whereas the cost of buildings and land tend not to.

Summary: This book examines successfully planned and implemented Library Learning Commons at several different academic institutions around the world. These case studies provide a methodology for effective planning, implementation and assessment. Practical information is provided on how to collaborate with campus stakeholders, estimate, budgeting and staffing and determine the equipment, hardware and software needs.

Also provided are memoranda of understanding (MOUs), planning checklists and assessment tools. This book reflects a unifying focus on both the evolution of learning commons to learning spaces and the collaborative aspect of co-creating learning spaces. Key Features: Unique case studies representing very different types of Information Commons, Learning Commons, Faculty Commons and other Learning Spaces International breadth and depth is assured through inclusion of case studies from Canadian, New Zealand, Australian and European institutions in addition to six in the United States

Practical checklists of planning and implantation considerations, as well as memorandum of understanding(MOU)templates, form the appendices Readership: Librarians, administrators, faculty and other educators in both public and private academic institutions will find this book helpful in developing learning spaces in their institutions. They will learn how to adopt and adapt these spaces for their institutions. Graduate library science faculty will also use this book as a text. ...

From Amazon.com's summary of "Learning Commons: Evolution and Collaborative Essentials" by Barbara Schader (Chandos Publishing Oxford Ltd, March 27, 2008).

Contents

1. Introduction - Barbara Schader
2. From information commons to learning commons and learning spaces: an evolutionary context. Mary M. Somerville, Assistant Dean, California Polytechnic State University. Describes the evolution of information commons to learning commons to learning spaces with references to key literature and implementations/installations. A subchapter covers Library 2.0.
3. Beyond facebook: thinking of the learning Commons as a social network. It presents characteristics of the current generation of students and implications for collaborative learning spaces. Jill McKinstry, Director, Odegaard Undergraduate Library, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
4. Supporting the learning commons concept in the real world. Jenn Stringer, Associate Director for Educational Technology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
5. Transforming service delivery: Teaching and learning within the information commons. Shahla Bahavar, Information Services Coordinator, Leavey Library University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
6. Engineering student success through critical partnerships. Crit Stuart, Associate Director for Public Services, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA7. Susan Beattie, Head, Information Commons, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
7. Improving student life, learning and support through collaboration, integration and innovation. Hester Mountifield, Assistant University Librarian, Information Commons & Learning Services, The University of Auckland Library, Auckland, New Zealand
8. Evaluation and assessment
9. Conclusions and predictions

Appendices

• planning collaborative spaces in libraries
• planning checklist (checklist with sections on preliminary planning, project kick-off, project definitions, space planning, personnel, budgets, collaborations, service considerations, marketing, pre-launch analysis, launch, post-launch analysis)
• templates for Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) to be used when entering into collaborations with other institutional entities
• floor plans, diagrams and pictures of current successful learning spaces.

Small desks for blended learning

A curious trend I have noticed in universities and research libraries is to provide larger desks for those with a computer than those without. With a computer the desks seem to be about 1200 x 800 mm per person, without a computer 900 x 700 mm. The computer keyboard, processor and screen takes up space and so it would seem to make sense to provide a larger desk, but even so, the computer desks are much larger. This may just be because they are newer. After looking around it would seem reasonable that if you have just the computer and keyboard on the desk (no processor) box, then a 900 x 600 mm desk is adequate.

If there are two rows of desks pushed back to back, with the seating staggered (that is the people on one side do not directly face those opposite) then it should be possible to reduce the depth of the desk to 450 mm. For privacy and noise reduction, the usual library carrels could be used, but the monitors themselves will form a a partition down the centre of the desk.

See also books on:

1. Designing Campus Learning Environments
   
2. Library design
3. Classroom design

Cradle Coast Campus a model for flexible learning

The University of Tasmania's (UTas) new Cradle Coast Campus at Burnie might provide a useful model for flexible learning for secondary and tertiary institutions in Australia. The facilities, including a wellness centre are housed in the one building, with computer equipped open plan areas, cafe and library, as well as more formal study areas. It is a shame the building was not avialable when I gave a talk in Burnie last year.

ps: Of course, a cynic might say that the "wellness centre" was a way to get around the former federal government's ban on student union facilities. ;-)

My Last Lecture

Last Tuesday I told the COMP3410 students at the Australian National University that this was my last lecture. What I did not expand on was that this was not just the last one for my series in this course this semester, but I did not intend to give any more lectures at ANU, or anywhere else. It was time I put into practice what I have been learning about blended learning: combining online teaching and live group work.

I don't like giving lectures to groups of eighty or so students. It is very hard to get any feedback. In some lecture theatres difficult to see the students and in some of the old steeply tiered ones I get a a sense of vertigo: looking up from what feels like the bottom of a well.

I never liked attending lectures and thought them not an efficient way to learn. When I arrived at ANU as a visitor I fell into the lecturing role almost by accident, being invited to give one or two and then blocks of six.
For several years I have thought that it should be possible to teach at tertiary level using online systems. The Australian Computer Society (ACS) runs its Computer Professional Education Program as a purely online, postgraduate education course. As Director of Professional Development Board at the ACS, I learnt a lot about the process from David Lindley, who carefully structured the ACS program; see his: "Computer Professional Education using Mentored and Collaborative Online Learning" (in IJCIM special issues on e-learning, Vol.15 No. SP4, November, 2007). However, ANU is an elite, research lead organisation and it was not clear if a completely online course using such techniques would fit in.

Last June I attended a seminar on the MIT iCampus, which indicated that a blended approach to learning would be acceptable and effective at a respected university. The blended approach avoids purely online distance education. Part of the course is online using a course management system, but other parts are in a classroom with lecturers, mini lectures, demonstrations, group discussion, group and individual work. I then went on a year's investigation into e-Learning, flexible learning centre, blended learning and e-Portfolio.

In the middle of this I was asked to run a short course on "Writing for the Web" for a local council. To do this I set up a Moodle course management system and loaded it with a cut down version of the content I had prepared for ANU courses. The council staff set up an electronic classroom and I presented the course live in the room using the Moodle system.

The small group computer assisted approach worked so well that when I was asked to prepare a short course on e-documents at ANU for public servants I used the same technique. This also worked well and I have been asked to give further such courses, but I had the uncomfortable feeling this was not a "proper" university course.

I was encouraged to submit the short course for approval as a formal unit of the Unviersity. This was rejected, not because of the teaching method, but because it was too short and did not have enough content to be a useful size to fit into regular programs.

The pragmatic approach to making the short course longer was to add homework (the short course had been entirely in the classroom). Adding 50% of material the student does remotely online would bring the course up to the required size. This would also turn it into a true blended course.

In the interim the ANU attitude to such courses had changed. The university officially enthusiastically supports them, with funding and staff support for their development. The ANU College of Law offers a Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law & Practice using distance education (online) and "intensive" (blended) modes and is approved by the Australian Government. Traditional academics are grudgingly starting to accept there is a role for such techniques. However, what remains are the challenges of the mechanics of having the infrastructure to support the courses, such as speciality equipped classrooms and extensive online systems and how to apply this to advanced courses.

The remaining challenge is how to apply blended techniques to research based learning. With typical vocational online courses one group of people prepare the course and then another deliver it to a large number of students over an extended period. The courses have a very rigid structure and fixed content. This is a very good business model for educational institutions, as they can get the maximum return on the investment in the courseware delivered to a large number of students over a long time.

But research lead education requires new research results to be incorporated in courses quickly. This requires frequent changes to the content and also requires staff who understand the research to help the students. That is a difficult and expensive process. The ACS partly gets around this problem by using open assignment questions in its postgraduate courses: the students themselves conduct the research, looking into the latest findings in ICT. In a way the staff are just there as coaches, to help the students along with the process, without necessarily understanding the details of what the students find. This is the essence of how research is done at universities (I have learnt a lot from the students doing research projects I have supervised). However, more guidance will be needed for the average undergraduate student.

So much for the theory: time to get on and do it. What I am to do is adapt the material I previously prepared for traditional lectures so it can be delivered in a blended mode: short lectures, workshops and tutorials. Ideally the same content can then be used as part of a traditional course, in place of my previous lectures, as short courses in the normal university semester and as short intensive courses.

How to Create On-line University Courses in Electronic Archiving: Part 14 - Getting it accredited

Last year I developed and ran a short course at ANU on Electronic Document Management, reporting as I went along. The course went reasonably well, but it was not intended to be recognised by the Unviersity for credit towards a qualification. To get the course accredited is a complex process. Also there is the need to make sure the infrastructure is available to run it regularly and that it fits in with other courses.

The system used at ANU allocates courses credit points, with a typical one semester course being 6 points. However, the course I ran would only be the equivalent of 2 credit points and so would not fit in with other courses. It did not seem to make sense to make the course three times as large to make it up to 6 points, but 3 points seemed a reasonable level.

The course I had run was only face to face, while there was material online, it was assumed the student would do no prior preparation and complete all the work during the sessions in the classroom. This was done to make it easier for working part time students, but is not typical for the average course and probably is not the best way for students to learn. The students need time for reflection and this can't be done in a hectic workshop.

Having students do homework also saves on university resources. However, it is not free: there are substantial resources needed to make sure the online system the students use from home is working when they need it and that staff are available online. Also there is the need to carefully structure the course so that students can actually do the remote component. With competing demands for time it can be very easy to let the home work slip. It needs to be divided into reasonable size units and with assessment to reward the student as they complete the units.

But that said, it seemed to make sense to add 50% extra content to the course, to be delivered online and through student exercises. The exercises I had already prepared were far in excess of what was possible to do in the classroom and should be able to be expanded online.

The ANU is now setting up Flexible Learning Units in its Colleges, so I went along to see, Kim Blackmore, Coordinator of the Flexible Learning Unit for the
College of Engineering and Computer Science. Kim suggested looking at the way the courses are run for the ANU's Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law & Practice. Certificate is a good example, as it is run by the ANU College of Law, but is open to people without a legal background (usually people applying to be Migration Agents), as well as lawyers.

Students can choose either on-line teaching or face-to-face "intensive " classes in Melbourne or Sydney for the course. The ANU's Web CT system is used for delivery and on-line contact with tutor and other students. The courses are run several times a year.

An example of one of the courses is Australian Migration Law and MARA 1 (LAWS8167). The course uses written assignments, quizzes, case studies and simulated client interview and tribunal appearances (not sure how they do the client interviews online). There are two traditional printed paper text books for the course, as well as the online material. The course costs $2,100 for the 6-units (not including the textbooks). The same fee is charged for the online and intensive versions.

Curiously, there are few details of how the course is run, or even that is using online techniques. Given that universities are intensively competing for students and the ANU is seen as being a bit inflexible, I would have thought ANU would be wanting to showcase its flexible learning courses.

The ANU currently uses Web CT and I can look at how this was used for LAWS8167. But the university is planning to install a new Learning Management System (LMS), so it would make sense to prepare a new course using that. Hopefully Web CT will be replaced with an open source system, such as Moodle or Sakai.

Sustainable Design":

Jon from The Building Bookshop, has pointed out the book "Sustainable Design: Schools and Kindergartens: A Design Manual" by Mark Dudek (Birkhäuser Basel, 2007). This has quite a bit to say on designing for computers in education:

1.	on Page 22:
	"... will continue to do so at an ever-increasing rate. Today's 5- to 7 year olds are the fastest-growing segment of computer users. If you look only a few years ahead, their teenage siblings typically have five to six applications running at ..."
2.	on Page 23:
	"... Physical learning environments need to be adapted to further enable and encourage this shift. Dedicated spaces within classrooms and dedicated computer labs are being replaced with the oppor- tunities to ..."
3.	on Page 118:
	"... accommodated in the daytime teach- ing area will be three further teaching courtyards for the junior and senior schools, the computer and science laboratories, a library and community resource facility, art studios, an open-air assembly courtyard and a large multi-purpose hall. ..."
4.	on Page 120:
	"... 2 Offices 7 Science classroom 3 Kindergarten 8 Gymnasium 4 Multipurpose space 9 Library 5 Cafeteria 10 Computer laboratory ~:~~--•~°' _~ -~, ~l ,....~ „~:. ..."
5.	on Page 144:
	"... required a significant expansion of its accommodation including a new school kitchen and refectory/dining hall, a music room, a computer suite, a gymnasium and six classrooms. ..."
6.	on Page 146:
	"... >r . T ,,-'- - - Tr .. Ground floor plan (semi-basement) 1 Classrooms 2 Locker room 3 Gymnasium 4 Computer room 1 Coloured concrete panels I View of the refectory I Views of typical classroom I Subdued colours and wooden ..."
7.	on Page 147:
	"... of five identical classrooms, which open directly onto the wooded landscape beyond The computer room is located ..."
8.	on Page 161:
	"... , - 7 2 Computer classroom 7 Multipurpose space 11 Science cln,u„,n 3 Art classroom 8 Gallery 12 Kindergarten 4 Administration 9 Classroom (Head Start, ..."
9.	on Page 177:
	"... L ii 11 ~ First floor plan - . - 8 Middle school classrooms 9 Open court 10 Mediatheque 11 Computer room 12 Communal work and social areas ¡.. ,.,.~_... ....._-....__.. M X I = I ff Sections ? ..."
10.	on Page 180:
	"... opposite direction towards the open countryside beyond. On the second lower floor there are science laboratories and the sixth form computer room with spaces for vocational training, ..."

11.	on Page 239:
	"... computer and power access for study and smaller social groups outside the classrooms; the school's main canteen and dining area spreads ..."
12.	on Page 245:
	"... differentiated ceiling planes which create the sense of drama within the new building. Flexible technology is not just about computer aided learning, an individual working on his or her own, contained by four walls and the screen anyplace. ..."

1-5 of 5 pages with references to internet:

1.	on Page 18:
	"... school. It is planned that the new complex will include a business/workshop vil- lage, leased office and shop space, an Internet café, a fitness and leisure centre. ..."
2.	on Page 48:
	"... fitted kitchen for each group; many kindergartens do have this); room for special activities such as language training and development, internet and PC; an administrative office (if possible with a view of the entrance, playgrounds and interior); 1 staffroom for relaxation, ..."
3.	on Page 105:
	"... a greenhouse for educational and therapeutic plant- ing and an Internet café. The external site amenities include learning gardens, formal and informal playing fields, an outdoor stage, covered arcades, parking and ..."
4.	on Page 193:
	"... A suite of new classrooms in the middle school is furnished with specially designed timber fittings and integrated wireless Internet access There is seating for up to 20 students in each. Special consideration has been given to classroom acoustics in ..."
5.	from Copyright:
	"... The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie, detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http //dnb. ..."

interactive:

1.	on Page 235:
	"... bases of 60 square metres for each year group. Each classroom has flat screen Apple Macs with teachers standing at interactive white boards. ..."

From the book description:

In a global economy, the importance of education is now widely recognized. Furthermore, in the wake of international assessment studies, schools and kindergartens have become a focus of great public interest. As a new generation of educational environments are designed and built, this Design Manual illustrates the most up-to-date educational strategies and how they are realized in built form.

With 80 case studies from Europe, North America and the Pacific Region, this is an essential guide for architects involved in the design of schools and kindergartens. This specialized field encompassing ever-changing educational theories is explained in the context of varying national and regional approaches. Among the key themes analyzed are aspects such as the impact of modern communication technology, urban integration or internal circulation. The book will also be of interest to educationalists, parents and the wider community.


About the Author

The author is a practicing architect and a Research Fellow at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield. He is a consultant to organizations involved in the design of schools and kindergartens, including the UK Government s "Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment".

Computers at the new Unviersity of Sydney SciTech Library

The Unviersity of Sydney SciTech Library opened on Monday. So I went along yesterday to look at their computers for students. The library has an interesting design of modular hexagonal desk for computer users. But laptops are provided for group work in a closed room, which may not be such a good idea.

The Building

The library is on the Darlington Campus, with a pedestrian bridge across the road to the main campus. The SciTech Library combines the technology collections of the university, including architecture, engineering and mathematics.

The library is on Level 1 of the new Jane Foss Russell Building (160 City Road), which was previously the Sydney Central building. The building appears to be not quite finished, with the ground floor fenced off. There are two webcams showing progress: Webcam One and Webcam Two.

The only way I could find into the library, was through the ajcent student services building. While the building has striking colored panels on tdhe street side, it is a bit dull on the other and the library is discretely tucked in underneath.

The library appears to be on one floor, with most services at the front, books in the middle some student desks at the back and some glass walled teaching rooms along one side. It looks a lot smaller than I was expecting and there is the feeling of being in the basement (although the library is on the first floor).

Computers

There are some walk up computers outside the library and some just inside t