--- Forwarded Message from Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:00:40 -0600
>From: Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
<[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #9434 IALLT Language Center Design Kit
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>References:  <[log in to unmask]>

I'm not sure this posting will be of wide interest to the list, but in 
all of Barbara's contact information at the bottom of her message, I 
couldn't find an email address.  Perhaps she, like many of our 
students, is waaaay beyond email.  Maybe we could publish the IALLT 
Language Center Design Kit as a series of Tweets!  But I digress.

The trend that we have seen is increasing numbers of class 
presentations in our labs.  Sometimes these are just powerpoint, but 
often, they are much more active.  Groups of students presenting or 
demonstrating something to the rest of the class.  Teacher initiated 
activities also focus on multi-group activities.

All but one of our labs have 30 student computers in four fixed rows. 
This works poorly for almost all group activities.  I've worked in labs 
where the computers are in circular clusters spread around the room in 
islands of six computers each.  I feel that this doesn't help the kind 
of group work that I am describing, either.

The layout that I wish we had in all our labs is the one that we use in 
the Sign Language Lab.  In this lab, we arranged computers along the 
walls, with open space or a few tables in the middle.  Students can 
face away from the room's center, and toward their computers, and do 
focused individual tasks.  Then they can face the center and interact 
as a large group, or move their chairs and form a number of small 
groups.  There is plenty of space for small group presentations to the 
larger group.

The only problem is that this useful group space requires... space. 
Our Sign Lab has only 15 student computers, although that was specified 
for other reasons by the Sign Department.  When we recently replaced 
all the computers in one Lab, we tried to find a way to work with the 
open plan.  We couldn't fit more than 24 computers along the perimeter 
of the room that currently holds 30.  The larger the room, the more 
computer seats you lose by using a room perimeter layout.  In smaller 
rooms, you can sometimes put more computers on the edges than you can 
in rows.  The breakpoint seems to depend on the shape of the room, how 
many doors it has, how faithfully one observes the ADA requirements for 
row spacing, space between the ends of rows and the walls, and how 
thoroughly the design aids wheelchair access.

We have more and more students in motorized wheelchairs that are shaped 
more like scooters or carts, rather than traditional wheelchairs.  They 
take up more space and can't make as tight turns.  All these 
considerations make the open room center layout attractive to me.  If 
our rooms were about 5% larger, or our enrollments limited to 24 
students, this could work.  Anyone designing a new physical space 
should consider just how the computers will fit in the space, and get 
the extra 18" of room width into the drawings, if that is what is 
needed.  For those rooms intended for an open center layout.

Hope this helps,

Derek

--On Friday, July 2, 2010 7:49 AM -0400 LLTI-Editor 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Greetings:
>
> The IALLT Language Center Design Kit is being updated, and as one of
> the module authors I am in the process of revising the section I
> wrote for the 2003 edition.
>
> I am working on the  module entitled "Special Needs and Usages to be
> Considered in Designing a New Center."  This module is intended to
> help a Director anticipate additional potential uses of the Language
> Center ... beyond just being  "a lab."
>
> My goal is to make this revision relevant to our current (2010 and
> beyond) surroundings and realities. As I did for the last version, I
> would like to ask for input from the LLTI readership.
>
> In 2003, the additional spaces and places to be included in a Center
> that were suggested by all of you were:
>
> Smart Classrooms
> Multimedia Authoring/Faculty Workstations
> Audio/Video Recording Studios
> Small Multipurpose Viewing Rooms
> Larger Film Screening Spaces
> Individual Student Media Stations
> Discipline Specific Spaces (ASL training, LCTL meeting space)
> An office for the Director
> Space for Support Staff
> Storage Space
> A server room (if you have servers)
> Lounge
>
> Additional considerations:
> open cable runs (wiring outside of the wall vs inside) so wiring can
> change if need be
> both wired and wireless access
>
> If you were planning a Center today, knowing what you do about
> working with faculty, student and the instructional technology that
> connects them...what possible uses/ spaces would you recc'd be
> included?
>
> Let me know if you would like to be cited for your contributions.
>
> Feel free to respond here or to me directly.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Barbara
>
>
> --
> Barbara Sawhill
> Director, Cooper International Learning Center
> Lecturer, Hispanic Studies
> Oberlin College
> http://languages.oberlin.edu
> ph: 440-775-8595
>
> blog: http://languagelabunleashed.org
> twitter: bsawhill
> skype: barbarasawhill
> sl: Barbara Pluto
>
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> Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask])
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Derek Roff
Language Learning Center
Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: [log in to unmask]


***********************************************
LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for
Language Learning (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language
Teaching
and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/).
Join IALLT at http://iallt.org.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives at
http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=LLTI
Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask])
***********************************************