Fully technology-enabled, but not technology-driven, the Sussex creativity zone provided teaching staff with personal, pedagogic and technical support, along with resources that could be used in a variety of configurations. It was hoped that this would support more innovative and effective teaching and learning – in both the InQbate creativity zone itself as well as other teaching spaces on campus.
Our two key remits were to support both the teaching of creativity and creative approaches to teaching and learning.
While use of the zone for teaching purposes took priority over all other uses, the zone supported a wide variety of extra-mural activities.
In the Sussex creativity zone tutors were encouraged to come and see the zone in action before teaching in there – in order to experience and develop ideas for using the zone.
Using the Sussex Creativity Zone
The Creativity Zone was not a “bookable room” in the same way as other rooms on campus. Users of the Zone first worked with Diane Brewster, the Learning Facilitator, to devise a session that would use the Zone, and its unique facilities, in innovative and appropriate ways. Courses using the zone were usually identified at least one term in advance – and possibly up to a year. InQbate staff were on hand to help with the planning, preparation and delivery of these sessions, and there was full technical support on the day. More complex sessions might require a substantial “run through” before delivery.
Because of the flexibility of the space and the technology careful planning was needed well in advance of the session, particularly for new users. The role of the learning and technology facilitators is to make this process as interesting (and painless) as possible for tutors – but a time commitment to this planning process was required.
One of the key principles behind the design of the Zone was that of “learning through observation”. (The initial plan that sessions in the Zone would normally be filmed, was abandoned due to ethical concerns about getting ‘free and informed consent’ from students) We did ask tutors to open up their sessions to others, either as participants or observers – Tutors who observed sessions in other disciplines were overwhelmingly positive about the experience.
A brief guide to using the the original user interface panels in the space is available here. This control system was later replaced by one that was more robust (details of that to be posted here)
A simple floor plan with dimensions is available for download here
One early plan of the layout of display devices, plasma screens and projectors, is availablehere .
Accessibility Issues
The Creativity Zone is at the back of the Pevensey II / III building of the University of Sussex, on the ground floor and is wheelchair accessible. There are appropriate toilet facilities on the same corridor. However the best way to access the building for wheelchair users was via a lift at the front of the Pevensey II building, on the lower ground floor, under the “bridge” cafe. At the start of the project this was not explicitly ‘branded’ as a passenger list – but as a goods lift, which did raise equity issues, later university signage corrected this.
The Creativity zone is a complex, technology rich, reconfigurable, environment, because of that there were some configurations which were not ideal for some people with disabilities, particularly sight or hearing, or with conditions such as epilepsy which may be triggered by light. We always tried to make sure the space was equally accessible to all the users in a session, which relied on being told about accessibility issues in advance and making appropriate adjustments to the configuration for that session.
