Abstract

Digital and innovation competencies are nowadays highly required for students and faculty members in higher education institutions. We therefore need environments that incubate innovative learning scenarios to develop these competencies. We conducted a design-based research with the dual objective to develop learning labs in four universities and to document the design and implementation process and the addressed challenges. In this paper, we describe the concept of learning lab and the process of its setting up based on the experiments and observations conducted in the four learning labs in Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Switzerland. A learning lab is defined as a physical, digital and human space for observation, experimentation and evaluation, to rethink and enrich learning and teaching attitudes and practices at the university. A learning lab is an incubator of pedagogical innovation and digital learning structured on three dimensions: spaces, activities and communities. We also identify the main challenges for the design and implementation of a learning lab. These challenges consist of the institutionnalisation of the learning lab and building, growing and nurturing a learning community.

Highlights

  • During the last few years, we have observed a huge need in educational systems to empower learners with competencies that are more and more needed in the labour market and for citizenship such as innovation, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking and digital literacy

  • Based on this literature review and from our perspective, we consider that a learning lab should enable a process aiming at both improving teaching and learning practices based on the use of digital technology in higher education and promoting a culture of innovation

  • What are the core elements of a learning lab dedicated to pedagogical innovation and how these elements interact ? We address this question by building a model of a learning lab based on the empirical work carried out by the LETS Learning Lab Network

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Summary

Introduction

During the last few years, we have observed a huge need in educational systems to empower learners with competencies that are more and more needed in the labour market and for citizenship such as innovation, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking and digital literacy This leads academic institutions to work on teaching and learning approaches, to facilitate the development of such competencies and to promote pedagogical innovation and digital learning. We need support structures for educational innovation experimentation in universities This support can be a physical and/or a digital environment to incubate pedagogical innovations and to facilitate the design and deployment of innovative and digital learning scenarios. In the second section we present the concept of a learning lab as an environment dedicated to foster digitalisation and innovation. The last section is dedicated to a conclusion and future research perspectives

Context
Pedagogical innovation in higher education
Research questions and objectives
A design‐based research methodology
Narrative design
Data collected
The learning lab model
The learning lab objectives
A 3‐dimensional model
The evaluation module
Implementation of the learning labs
Activities and actions
Community
Discussion and lessons learned
Conclusion and future work
Design Thinking

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