Presentation delivered at Symposium on learning spaces. University of Iceland. May, 2022.

1. Learning spaces and the future of
learning
Tryggvi Thayer
MVS – HÍ
May, 2022

2. A subtle but significant
change over the last decade
The increasingly fuzzy line separating
the physical and the digital
• Communicate with anyone at any time
• Virtual reality
• Media manipulation (fake news – echo
chambers)
• Augmented reality (physical and digital
merge)

3. Two concept
pairs to frame
this talk
• Striated and smooth space
(Deleuze & Guattari, 1987)
• Physical and functional reality
(my own jam)

4. Striated and smooth space
Striated space: controlled, structured, regulated
• Movement is limited
• Perception is limited
• Action is limited
Smooth space: open, tranparent, traversible
• Movement is free
• Perception is unhindered
• Action is unlimited

5. Technology in striated spaces
Modern ICTs have a significant smoothing effect on our spaces

6. Physical and functional
realities in learning spaces
We are placed in physical realities:
• Demarcated by walls and other obstructions
• Everything has its place and purpose
• Actions are purposefully constricted
We construct functional realities:
• Defined by the environment/community with
which we are interacting at any given moment
• Subjective, boundaryless bubbles that exist within
our physical reality
• Are enhanced by smooth space (more affordances)

7. What does all
this mean for
learning spaces?
Multiple smooth spaces coexist within a learning space:
• Unhindered access to vast amount of resources
• Unperceived individuals have a presence within the learning space
• Any individual within the learning space is potentially interacting with
an unperceived functional reality
• Perceived environments are individualised
• Striated spaces are transcended

8. Designing learning spaces
for the future
Learning spaces designed to accommodate
smooth space:
• Ubiquitous technology
• Access to resources and intelligences is
unhindered (and promoted)
• Facilitate functional realities that are
conducive to learning (it’s all about the
affordances, see Thayer, 2016)
• Striations are made to be transcended
• Maintaining connectivity within smooth
learning spaces is the central challenge
(Deleuze & Guattari’s “rhizome” concept)
Image: Marc Ngui https://happysleepy.com/

9. References
Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia (Massumi, B.,
Trans.) Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Thayer, T. (2016, August 24). Addendum on affordances and educational technology. Education4site.
http://www.education4site.org/blog/2016/addendum-on-affordances-and-educational-
technology/.