Urban Learning Space Seminars

The seminar opened our minds to the disjointedness of the physical space where children currently learn versus the content of what they are actually learning. Sean looked at how other countries are approaching the renewal (and, in some case, replacement) of their educational models in preparation for the challenges posed by globalization and the emergence of a knowledge economy.

The Workplace Forum lecture, by Andrew Harrison, explored the impact of educational transformation on the university and school estate, the workplace and the community. A response was given by Gordon Davies.

Education at every level in the UK is undergoing radical transformation. Universities are responding to changing demographics and economic pressures and the impact of technology on learning and teaching, further education’s role in skills development and preparing young people for the workplace is expanding through the widening participation agenda and schools are being radically transformed through the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ and the Scottish Schools PPP programmes.

Glasgow 2020 has been a two year project of events facilitated by the UK think tank Demos. It has looked at how people in the city of Glasgow look at the future, using a variety of creative and imaginative processes in a mass imagination exercise. Just before Glasgow 2020 unveils its findings and resulting publication, join Gerry Hassan (who created and headed up the project) to examine some of the fascinating points that it uncovered. These range across a variety of areas covering specific Glasgow issues, wider factors about cities and the future, and such specifics as public engagement, public space and how government, public agencies and institutions think and act.

Biography

Gerry Hassan, Head of Scotland 2020 and Glasgow 2020: Co-author, The Dreaming City: Glasgow 2020 and the Power of Mass Imagination (Demos forthcoming); Co-editor, Scotland 2020: Hopeful Stories for a Northern Nation (Demos 2005).

Professor O'Connor presented a case for the role of creative industries in the future of towns and cities, operating in a complex ecosystem that involves not only artists and business people, but people from every area of urban life.

Taking Manchester as a prime example, he looked at the relationship between the cultural economy and the wider image and profile of Cities. He concluded by looking at some of the abuses as well as the uses of the cultural and creative industries.

Online tools such as Blogs, Wikis, email, Instant chat and First Class communities can all be used to enhance the learning experience. This seminar included examples from some of Ultralab’s recent projects such as: (1) Ultraversity: a content-free on-line degree for full time workers. (2) Heads Together: how groups of professionals (in this case Head teachers in Scotland) can benefit from online community. (3) eViva use of mobile technology for assessment. (4) mLearning: use of mobile technology for learning with disaffected youngsters.

This presentation looked at general trends in the use of technologies in learning environments and showed how collaboration in learning is key. It focused on how on-line learning is changing to become more participative than receptive - collaborative rather than content-based - and how the Internet can maximize opportunities for education to groups previously excluded.

Joanne Jacobs demonstrated exemplary projects in mobile and social learning undertaken by the Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID) and provided useful guidelines on how we can potentially implement these concepts within a Scottish context.

This workshop focused on the importance of interaction design in the creation of effective mobile and social learning experiences. Such experiences help to create a "social identity". Additionally, central to a successful learning experience using emerging technologies is the need to involve the end user at every stage.

Currently Assistant Professor in the University of California’s Department of Visual Arts, Natalie was previously Lecturer Convertible in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yale University, Consultant to the Advanced Computer Graphics Center, NYU, and Distinguished Critic in the Department of Art, Virginia Commonwealth University. One of America's top young digital pioneers, she has been named one of the top 100 young innovators by the MIT Technology Review and was a 1999 Rockefeller Fellow.

Natalie's work has been exhibited in museums in New York, Frankfurt and London. Within this event, Natalie showed how she creates such innovative and unique projects: from the process of idea generation to assembling a collaborative team, with the aim of the transformative potential of new technologies, particularly information technology, for social change.