After years of huddling around a single laptop for group study, fighting for outlets and sitting on the floor, visitors to Middleton Library now have a solution — collaborative learning spaces designed for groups to work together comfortably.Most of the 15 new enclosed areas have opened, while the rest are set to open by the end of the week. Librarians hope the  stations will tame congestion and enhance student learning.”Up until now, Middleton has only had four group study rooms, and we have observed many times that students will pull together groups of chairs to try and work on things together,” said Nancy Colyar, assistant dean of libraries. “We are hoping this will alleviate [the congestion] a little.”The collaborative learning areas are equipped with 42-inch monitors, tables and chairs to accommodate five to six students. Each station will run BeamYourScreen, a software that allows students to connect wirelessly to the monitor in order to collaborate on projects, group study and presentations, said Greg Brignac, manager of Information Technology Services.Seven public spaces will be located on the first floor, and the third and fourth floors will house four study rooms each, all available by reservation, Colyar said.A Lab Technology and Software Support Desk, located in the information area of the first floor, has also been built to assist students with software.The project also features two presentation practice rooms, located on the third and fourth floors.”We haven’t seen anything like this at LSU,” Colyar said. “You can stand at a podium, display a PowerPoint, read notes and have yourself recorded so that you can watch the recording and see how well you did.”This high-tech presentation critique is great for any major, Colyar said, and rooms are available to all students by reservation.The newly constructed spaces were funded by student tech fees, totaling a budget of about $400,000, Colyar said. The budget provided all learning spaces, presentation rooms, study tables and furniture with money to spare.The idea for the project dates back to December 2008, under the administration of former Student Government president Colorado Robertson. After touring several southern universities, Robertson saw a need for an improved group study infrastructure.Since the approval of funding, LSU Libraries and ITS have teamed up to make the rooms a reality.”This will allow students to use the technology available in a more collaborative environment,” Robertson said. “It allows a peer-to-peer exchange of ideas.”Outlets and personal technology hookups will be added as the University evolves, Robertson said.Katie Fruge and Camille Deshotel, kinesiology seniors, were among the first to utilize the new spaces.”We used this area last year, and we would all have to share one small laptop screen,” Fruge said. “[The learning spaces] will be very handy.”
 
 
 
____Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]