>> Hi, everybody, and welcome to Tech Happy Hour. I'm Mike Hofherr, Chief Information Officer and Vice President at the Ohio State University. Today, I am joined by Stephanie Orr, Director of Learning Experience, and we are gonna be talking about creating, engaging, and flexible learning spaces. So Stephanie, welcome.


>> Thank you.
>> Thanks for being here. So the first thing everybody wants to know is what are we drinking?
>> We are drinking Fever-Tree ginger beer.
>> So why Fever-Tree ginger beer?
>> Well, I like the Fever-Tree brand. They have a variety of options in their mixers.

And the ginger beer is just right. It's not too sweet, it has just enough of a ginger zing to it. Now, I will add that I usually like it with a bit of rum, maybe a lime, but we just got ginger beer.
>> But we just have ginger beer.


>> We just have straight up ginger beer, yes. Cheers! Cheers! Thanks for bringing the ginger beer. It is good. It's not super bitey.
>> Yeah, I know, it's perfect.
>> I like it, great. So engaging in flexible learning spaces, right? Let's give our listeners an overview of what we mean when we say that.


>> So, the learning environments team is part of the learning experience group and we partner with the CRC to manage all of the-
>> What's a CRC? Can't talk acronyms.
>> Sorry, sorry, Classroom Readiness Committee. We have a few partners as part of that committee that manage all the classrooms, essentially schedule classrooms, like all 350 of them.

And so we are charged with maintenance support and refresh, and we get to determine what the faculty and student experience is in these spaces. So we are trying to create not just flexibility in being able to accommodate multiple teaching options or teaching styles, but also creating engaging creative spaces so that students wanna be there.

So that's classrooms but also hallways and adjoining informal spaces where students can collaborate or wait for their class and that sort of thing.
>> So you talked about how those sort of spaces fit into the campus informal, formal, outside, inside. What are some of the things you've been doing on campus around some of those spaces?


>> So in 2014, we started a thing called Innovative Spaces Program, and that was to explore usage, how we would use these type of creative learning spaces. And so we had three in our pool, and we decided to target faculty to use those spaces as they're supposed to be used.

So we provided a grant, and brought faculty on board, and provided workshops to them to help them understand how to best utilize the space in their course. So in 2015, we had our first round of users and students. We've had over 100 students in the spaces, over 100 workshops since then.

And we've now developed a cohort model around this program. That's one component that we use to develop the model. But now we're really expanding into all of our classrooms and having flexible be part of our model for any classes that we refresh. And with that, we mean mobile furniture and a lot of writing surfaces.

Not all of our spaces are in the innovative spaces program now, but we're moving towards just flexibility overall.
>> We always forget how pivotal a classroom is in our students' experience here, and how much that's changed. And it's changing over the years as advances in technology, advances in furniture, how the form is driving a lot of the function.

So awesome, I know the Innovative Spaces Program is very well-received, and I know we have those rooms there, utilized very, very heavily. As anything here, we don't make decisions in a vacuum. We don't talk to one person and go out and implement that. Can you talk a little bit about how your teams collaborate across campus to select and design spaces?


>> So one of the ways is through that Classroom Readiness Committee. We have partners from the registrar facilities and UCAT, our Center for Advancement of Teaching. And they're critical in helping us design spaces that meet pedagogical needs. And they have helped in not just the workshops, but in conducting focus groups with faculty.

We bring them in to hear how they like our spaces or get ideas about new designs that we're thinking of bringing on board. We also have a survey that we send out at the end of each semester where we gather feedback on not just the space but the technology in the space, too.

And that drives the decisions that we make on refreshes in the future.
>> I know when we started doing that survey, it was hundreds of pages long. And the complaints were around technology in the classroom, classrooms failing in terms of lighting or seating. And we've really turned the corner, I think, a couple years ago.

Stephanie, under your leadership, and the CRC leadership, right, to say, those aren't the kind of complaints we get anymore.
>> Right, right.
>> All of our classrooms have modern technology. We've been updating them at a pretty decent clip to have new furniture and new paint, making them modern learning environments.

So a lot of kudos to you and your team because you've really flipped that experience. And now people are asking for flexible learning spaces and engaging learning spaces cuz they wanna do more. And that wasn't the case not too many years ago, right?
>> Yeah.
>> Your team deserves a lot of credit for that.

So one of the challenges is that we have these 360 general purpose classrooms. A lot of them are what you would still consider, even though they've been updated, traditional learning spaces or traditional classrooms. So what's the biggest difference when you transform a space, from say, a traditional room to a flexible learning environment?


>> Because we're trying to create flexible learning in all of our refreshes now, it's really focused on mobile furniture and writing surfaces. So that's been our focus for more of a basic classroom. But we have coming on board this summer a lecture hall that we're converting from just a traditional lecture hall to an actual active learning space, too.

So that's been a much bigger project because we had to extend the tiers and create furniture designs that would allow us to still have mobility, but not roll off the tier and that kind of a thing. So we've done a lot of great work around the variety of spaces that we've had to convert.

And I think this McPherson 1015's gonna be one of our showcase projects for that reasons, cuz it's really gonna provide a lot of options for teaching styles.
>> I can't wait to see it. I mean, it's been a big challenge. What do you do with a lecture hall?


>> Yeah, yeah.
>> And it's gonna be exciting to actually have a space where we can have different types of pedagogy in a space that's really been traditional in its mainstay. So all really exciting, all good work. What's coming up next? What's on the horizon? What's on the future going forward?


>> So I mentioned McPherson 1015, that's a big one, and the partner lecture hall in that same building is 1000, so we're renovating that. And then Pomerene 280 is an amazing space. It's a historic ballroom, beautiful hardwood floors and woodwork that's gorgeous. So we're gonna have an 80-seat active learning space that also will double as event space in the evenings.


>> With a secret door.
>> Yes.
>> I've got to see it.
>> The story has to be really good there, too.
>> It is. So it used to be a hall. There's the fireplace at the one end. And that's where if you were a gentleman and you were calling on your lady that lived in Pomerene was living in Mac and eating in Pomerene, you could come and visit, but you had to remain so far apart.

And the secret door was for the house mother, so she could come down and check on you through the secret door.
>> See, that's the kind of information. I think that we need a plaque-
>> Something that says that, yeah.
>> Yeah, cuz I think students would find that interesting.


>> Yeah, it's great. Anyway-
>> I'm just excited that that space that was really underutilized is gonna now have so many students.
>> It's phenomenal, the whole Pomerene building is phenomenal.
>> Yeah, it's beautiful.
>> And it's one of the better historical renovations we've done on campus. So we're excited to have classrooms in there as well.

Anything else you wanna talk about?
>> Yeah, we also have Emerson 311 coming up. That was a computer lab, and we're switching that to more flexible learning, that 80-seat room. And then, as part of that renovation, we're also upgrading the hallways, and informal spaces on that floor, too.

So it's gonna be great. We actually won an IPPLG grant to do that.
>> Yeah, go do that. So that's awesome. All very exciting. Again, I think our classroom footprint is so important. Stephanie would always end with something fun. And so what we just learned is that you had a burgeoning acting career.


>> Actually I think it was a musical.
>> Musical.
>> So yeah.
>> And you were how old?
>> Seventh grade.
>> Seventh grade in a play called Teen.
>> Teen.
>> Which if any of my multiple listeners around Ohio can find us a copy of that, send it over.

But how did you come about reminiscing on this?
>> So I'm cleaning out my basement because my son's coming back from his first year of college and his sisters took his room-
>> He needs somewhere to live.
>> Yes, so as part of that, I came across all these old memorabilia that my mom had sent me and letters and all sorts of crazy stuff.

And I ran across this program from the musical, Teen.
>> That you were in?
>> And I was in it.
>> Do you remember what role you played?
>> I played Lisa somebody, I think. I still have the program but I have no idea, no recollection, could not sing you a song.


>> Well, that's disappointing. I thought we were gonna hear something good.
>> Yeah.
>> Anyway, thanks, Stephanie, for joining me today. Again, I'm Mike Hofherr, Vice President and Chief Information Officer. And thanks for having a drink and talking to me.
>> Thanks for having me.