Learning Resource Centre, Paignton
Background & Context
Start and End dates
The whole project took 3-4 years. The move took place in 2 phases: the technology department (construction and motor vehicle) moved in Sept 2005 and the rest of the College moved Dec 2005/Jan 2006.
Case Study tags: learning spaces, refurbishment, south devon college, south-west england, further education
What was the context of the development?
The College wanted to redevelop itself as an IT and ILT based College. It had a lot of old buildings, some of which were structurally unsound, so it took the opportunity to sell the original site for housing development and move to an empty factory site.
The College has moved from several buildings into one and has downsized its footprint whilst increasing student numbers. It downsized from 28,000 square metres to 23,000 square metres. FTE growth was achieved in 2002/03 from under 3,000 to over 4,000 in 2006/07.
The development has significantly increased the profile of the College and furthered its relationship with its local communities and local businesses who make use of the innovation centre development (joint venture with the local council) and superb training and other facilities.
Type of project
The whole college moved to a three-year old building that was originally used as a factory so was a very big open space with few internal walls and limited natural light.
What is it?
The College is a medium sized general Further Education college running programmes from introductory to higher education levels across all disciplines in creative industries, business and general education, care and learning opportunities and technology. The main College is on two levels.
Included on both levels is the open plan Learning Resource Centre with an interconnecting spiral staircase. Each floor is designed to support different curriculum areas and both contain a wide range of books, journals and DVDs to support learning and a total of 90 PCs. The Skills Centre staff will be based within the Learning Resource Centres and this will provide students with an additional support service. Higher education students have access to their own suite of 20 computers.
There are also 6 open access PC zones called Open Access Learning Centres which are self managed by departments. Each zone has up to 20 computers. These PC zones utilise the latest teaching technology including wireless laptops, digital projection and interactive whiteboards.
The design puts the LRC at the centre of the building. They wanted people to feel like it was not too far to go and to have somewhere that had 'flow' so that you could walk in and clearly see everything set out in front of you. It was designed so that people aren't walking through the middle of a class or group of students so they feel free to walk around spend time perusing the resources. The books are around the outside of the area and the PCs in the middle to give clean lines. The space is designed to be used flexibly and will be configured differently at exam time. The College used the move as an opportunity to get rid of lots of old material so that the College would be fresh and new and more relevant for its students. Visibility of learning was a key principle in designing the building.
The LRC is basically a Library where students can borrow books and other resources like journals and use 90 open access PCs. Staff are allowed to book some of the PCs so they can bring in a group to use the resource space.
The PCs are located on circular pods. Each pod takes 8 PCs but a decision was made to have some pods with only 4 or 6 PCs to allow plenty of space and allow for people in the same group using laptops.
There is a journals pod with comfortable seating and staff sometimes work with small groups in this area.
There is a policy across the whole of the College whereby students and staff are only allowed to eat in designated zones. Bottles of water are allowed in the LRC provided students either keep them in their bags or on the floor.
The centres are fully staffed by Learning Centre Assistants who can help in finding resources and accessing the computers. The close integration with the teaching staff ensures we provide students with a comprehensive selection of books and modern, up to date learning resources.
Funding Sources
Learning & Skills Council, Property Sales, Loan Finance
Cost of Project
The project value including land purchase, new builds and redevelopment was £28 million
Technology
Subsequent to the move the College has implemented a site-wide wireless network. It actually has two separate networks - the College network and a guest network so that users can bring in their own laptops and still be able to access the Internet.
The College has data projectors in 94% of rooms and interactive white boards in 54%. There is an ongoing programme of looking at whether or not that number is adequate for their needs.
PCs are available in the LRC and 6 open access areas. They also have 2 sets of 16 wireless laptops and some tablet PCs that can be set up in classrooms without PCs. An ILT Facilitator trains all staff on how to use IT effectively for learning and manages the Moodle VLE. The emphasis is for all full time courses to use the VLE and part time courses are increasingly being encouraged.
Portable equipment is used for a range of events and presentations such as a health and fitness week where the students organised a big seminar in The Street. Technology is used to support learning but not always traditional learning.
Adding Value
The emphasis on technology is new for the College. The technology in the classroom shows students the College is engaging a modern approach to learning. They feel like they are in a College which has spent a lot of money on technology for their education and that makes people appreciate what they have. The College has also promoted use of its VLE as part of the change thus giving better support to students on and off campus and enabling students who miss classes to catch up.
Success Factors
The LRC moved into the main building first which meant that staff had time to settle in and prepare for the students arriving so that they felt the move went unexpectedly seamlessly. The early opening of the LRC allowed teaching staff to work away from others unpacking in staff rooms and meant they were fresh and fully prepared for the start of term.
What Makes The Space Successful?
Much of the change is cultural. The new space with new equipment the makes the College feel like a 'buzzing' environment. Student numbers are up and it is felt that word has got around that it is a great place to come and study and to learn so the whole College ethos of e-learning and embedding IT has encouraged students to go there instead of staying on at school.
Since the move the College has developed a strong programme of initiatives such as 'student ambassadors' whereby they hold open evenings and students show other people around. There is plenty of opportunity for students to learn anywhere in the college, whether it be in the quiet atmosphere of the main LRC, in a open access drop-in IT zone or in one of the café areas. All space is used flexibly by both staff and students for learning.
The College also received a 'Highly Commended' at the Beacon Awards in the category of The Becta Award for An e-Enabling College.
What Is Innovative About The Design And The Use Of The Space?
The flexibility of the space is new as is the creation of open access PC zones that can be booked by staff or students. The zones are close to departmental offices so that there are always staff on hand.
Plasma screens are being used in an interesting way: for example members of the public using the restaurant in the evenings can watch the students cooking their meal inside the kitchens on the plasma screens. This can then be recorded and used back in the classroom. A current project is looking at other ways of using plasma screens innovatively for learning.
Top Tips
It is important to have a clear vision for future learners together with meticulous planning and project management.
Trialling and doing pilots with new technology before you spend a lot of money can be helpful.
Use of equipment is greater than on the previous campus as access to IT equipment is easier. Give plenty of opportunities for staff to develop skills and share good practice.
The college trialled the network and PCs in the LRC and also piloted the idea of students using printer credits to ensure the process worked so that students got what they needed and paper ordering etc was optimised.
Lessons Learned
The College probably underestimated how much the student social side of things would grow in a new environment. Although the whole of the ground floor is a huge canteen area, the students also want other recreation areas so the College has grassed one of the areas outside the building as well for football etc and is looking into providing more TV facilities.
Sustainability issues weren't high on the agenda when the design was first planned. Various recycling and other initiatives are now ongoing but more thought could have gone into this aspect.
Post Occupancy: Changes Made As A Result Of Feedback
Although student social areas were considered as part of the design, the area provided wasn't quite what the students wanted at first. A student common room and a pool table have been provided as well as an outdoor recreation area and consultation with the student association about future changes is ongoing. Part of the reason for this is that the new building has stimulated better social interaction.
Staff are very keen on teaching rooms where one wall is entirely glass and have requested that more of the rooms that are mainly walls have glass areas in them.
The College has feedback boxes at strategic points such as entrances and 'I'd like to say' cards in the LRC. It has also held a Governor's hour where student representatives from each course were invited to speak to the Governors about their feelings about the College.
Contact details
Karen Brazier, LRC Manager Karen.Brazier@southdevon.ac.uk
Fiona Mills (responsible for IT and ILT across the College) Fiona.Mills@southdevon.ac.uk
Stephen Criddle, Deputy Principal Stephen.Criddle@southdevon.ac.uk
John Evans, Head of Technology Department John.Evans@southdevon.ac.uk
Case study written June 2007.
