Learning experiences in a giant interactive environment: insights from The Cube

Abstract

In November 2012, Queensland University of Technology in Australia launched a giant interactive learning environment known as The Cube. This article reports a phenomenographic investigation into visitors’ different experiences of learning in The Cube. At present very little is known about people’s learning experience in spaces featuring large interactive screens. We observed many visitors to The Cube and interviewed 26 people. Our analysis identified critical variation across the visitors’ experience of learning in The Cube. The findings are discussed as the learning strategy (in terms of absorption, exploration, isolation and collaboration) and the content learned (in terms of technology, skills and topics). Other findings presented here are dimensions of the learning strategy and the content learned, with differing perspectives on each dimension. These outcomes provide early insights into the potential of giant interactive environments to enhance learning approaches and guide the design of innovative learning spaces in higher education.

Keywords:

• Informal learning
• immersive learning
• giant interactive screens
• learning spaces
• university community outreach
• phenomenography
• digital learning environments

Acknowledgement

This work was supported financially by the Queensland University of Technology’s Learning and Teaching Unit, and the Division of Technology, Information and Learning Support. We thank our collaborators Associate Professor Michael Docherty and Ms Lubi Thomas, of Queensland University of Technology, for their insights from their Cube application developer and curator perspectives, respectively.