Sensory Technologies, Wearable Space, and Embodied Learning

• In Event: Space, Place, and Learning: The Material Conditions of Education Equity

Abstract

Objectives
The influence of school buildings on student life and learning has been characterized in terms of a “socio-spatial assemblage” (Dovey & Fisher, 2014), while Hall (2017) has suggested that school architecture be considered the “third teacher” in the learning environment. This paper discusses the use of sensor technologies in schools and the ways in which learning is shaped by architecture. We use the concept of wearable space to capture this situation (de Freitas & Rousell, 2021). Wearable space is produced through the “interlacing of body and architectural space” in ways that change the nature of embodied learning (p. 183).

Modes of Inquiry
Our inquiry into wearable space draws on art and design principles and aims to reclaim computational techniques, repurposing software to serve social justice and spatial justice causes (Fuller & Weisman, 2021; Kurgan, 2013). We analyze a case study where a smart school was embedded with environmental sensors, and the students were individually and collectively engaged with sensor technology. The building’s energy use was managed and regulated by a customized Building Management System (BMS), which also collected data on the building’s environmental functioning. Students were able to interact with the BMS through Cinder, a virtual cat that changes its size and behavior depending on the building’s daily energy collection and consumption. The cat operates as an interactive digital mascot or avatar responding in real-time to the building’s environmental sensors (de Freitas & Rousell & Jäger, 2020).

Theoretical Framework
We combine theories of embodied learning (Sheets-Johnstone, 1999, 2019) with synesthetic architecture (Pallaasma, 2012) to trace the intersections between body and architecture. Hansen (2006) argues that “architecture must reconceive its function for the digital age … it must embrace its potential to bring space and body together in the creation of wearable space” (p.177).

Data & Insights
Because Cinder’s behaviour and appearance are affected by real-time sensor data, and by how people interact with her, she is an example of a digital life trapped in the smart school building. The school supervisors hope that Cinder will develop student interest in new kinds of relationality and responsibility for the environment. But Cinder actually induces a certain anxiety about whether students will be able to sustain the building, given limited exterior resources. She may shrink or seem lethargic if the roof’s solar panels collect too little energy, or if there is too much water being used. The cat’s behaviour signals of whether or not the building is using energy in a conservative and sustainable manner.

Scholarly Significance
This paper contributes to ongoing work in the Learning Sciences which has sought to unpack the dynamic nature of learning environments and illuminate previously hidden architectural dimensions of learning (Burke & Konings, 2016; Burke, 2014; Daniels et al, 2019b; Duff, 2010; Hall, 2017; Higgins et al, 2005). Our project adds insight into how sensor technologies are being used innovatively in school buildings, but also draws attention to the specific ways in which smart schools are using behaviorism to shape learning (Blackmore et al, 2011).

Authors

• Elizabeth De Freitas, Adelphi University

• David Rousell, RMIT University