The Media Center as a Meeting Place—Learning Spaces Reconsidered

On September 28, 2022, the Center for Languages and Key Competences (Zessko) at the Neues Palais Campus of the University of Potsdam hosted the conference "The Media Center as a Meeting Place—Learning Spaces Reconsidered." Staff members from various departments of the University of Potsdam were present as well as representatives of the language and media centers of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Technische Universität Berlin, the Technische Hochschule Brandenburg, the Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg, the Technische Universität Dresden, the Leibniz Universität Hannover, and the University of Bremen.

After the welcome and introduction by Dr. David Prickett (Head, Zessko), the conference was opened by Mr. Christian Hagen (Language Center of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Department of Media and Autonomous Learning). His presentation focused on the topic "A Space for Self-Directed Learning—From an Individualized Self-Learning Center to a Collaborative Learning Space."

The following topics were then discussed and worked on collaboratively in a World Café with three working groups: spatial design of the media center/the self-learning center as an in-person and online learning space; media center/self-learning center as a venue for events and meetings; barrier-free self-learning. The conference organizers organized the working groups to include teachers, students, and other university representatives, who were thus in constant exchange.

Finally, the groups’ results were presented: the necessity of some concepts became clear, practices were shared, and new ideas were developed together. Considering a topic from all perspectives never hurts—and the regular exchange of experiences, especially with regard to the ongoing development of the self-learning centers, is an important and ongoing goal.

Contact: Samira Luna

Published on November 2, 2022