an online book by David Gurteen
If you can design the physical space, the social space, and the information space together to enhance collaborative learning, then that whole milieu turns into a learning technology.
Credit: John Seely Brown, former chief scientist, Xerox Corporation
In this chapter, I describe the importance of the physical space in which a Café is held.
Knowledge Café: Microphones Knowledge Café: Choosing the Venue What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close You should choose the physical space in which a Knowledge Café is held with great care, taking the following aspects should be taken into consideration: Tags: conversational space (13)POST NAVIGATION Continue reading Introduction: Knowledge Café Space The physical space is important
Introduction: Knowledge Café Space Knowledge Café: Choosing the Room What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close You should choose the venue for a Knowledge Café with care. Often, you do not have a choice of venue, but if you do, the following should be considered. Continue reading Knowledge Café: Choosing the Venue The venue need not be a meeting room
Knowledge Café: Choosing the Venue Knowledge Café: Choosing the Tables What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close You should choose the room for a Knowledge Café with care. If the Café is an organizational one – can you run it off-site away from one of Continue reading Knowledge Café: Choosing the Room The more café like, the better
Conversations thrive in spaces designed for closeness. Large tables and wide distances make it hard to connect or listen deeply. Choosing the right table size creates the intimacy and ease needed for genuine dialogue. Continue reading Knowledge Café: Choosing the Tables Small round tables are best that sit 3 or 4 are best
Sometimes, when running a Knowledge Café, if the room is too small and the number of participants large, it is necessary to run the Café without tables. This is not ideal. Continue reading Knowledge Café: Cafés with No Tables Small tables are better than no tables
Knowledge Café: Cafés with No Tables Knowledge Café: No Flip Charts or Butcher Paper What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Arrange tables at random, not in neat rows Keep the tables close together, not widely spread Remove flip-charts from the room, if possible Some Continue reading Knowledge Café: Laying Out the Room Keep it informal and café like
Conversations thrive on equality and flow, not control or display. Too often, tools like flip charts and butcher paper shift attention from dialogue to documentation. Conversational Leadership invites us to remove barriers and trust that meaning emerges through genuine exchange, not through what is written down. Continue reading Knowledge Café: No Flip Charts or Butcher Paper They get in the way of the conversation – avoid them
Knowledge Café: No Flip Charts or Butcher Paper Knowledge Café: Running in a Lecture Theatre What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Refreshments are a vital ingredient of any Knowledge Café, although they are not essential. After all, the Cafe is a metaphor for a Continue reading Knowledge Café: Refreshments Refreshments are good
I would not advise running a Knowledge Café in a lecture theatre unless you have no real choice, but it can be done. The photographs show what it looks like in practice. People can turn to those around them and talk in small groups, but the arrangement runs counter to the spirit of the Café. A Knowledge Café depends on ease of movement, informality, and a sense of closeness. People need to be … Continue reading Knowledge Café: Running in a Lecture Theatre Why room layout matters
Knowledge Café: Running in a Lecture Theatre Knowledge Café: Microphones What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close I often run Knowledge Cafés at conferences. Conference settings are rarely ideal for a Café, but they are possible as can be seen below. video playerA Gurteen Knowledge Continue reading Knowledge Cafés at Conferences Not the best of environments but possible
START OF HIDDEN STUFF I just sometimes have a problem if one person in the room is a little deaf or acoustics not so good – I have found over the years that even with a small group – always best to wear a lapel mike. Carrying a hand mike in one hand plus a remote slide changer in the other is a serious impediment to moving around in a relaxed manner. END OF HIDDEN STUFF Continue reading Knowledge Café: Microphones Avoid the use of microphones if possible
