Collaborative play in a collaborative environment

Agile, malleable and multi-purpose environments within universities are becoming increasingly more important as “ learning becomes ever more a collaborative process ” (Coulson, Roberts, & Taylor, 2015, p. 11) . These forms of collaborative learning environments blur the boundaries between learning and social spaces. Lave and Wenger ’ s community of practice theorizes the fluidity between learning and socializi ng stating the “ learning is a socially constituted characteristic that involves the person and the social structure ” (Wenger - Trayner, 2013, p. 272) . Swinburne Design Factory (SDF) at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia is an example of a collaborative learning environment that acts as a community of practice. SDF is an environment that encourages and facilitates collaborative learning through the act of collaborative play. This paper argues that the SDF environment is a spatially agile and adaptable environment that invites collaborative learning within a community of practice that is situated within a university environment. Visual ethnographic data collected through photography captured the blending of learning and social activities and interactions within the SDF environment . The activities and interactions captured demonstrate that the SDF playground is in effect a facilitator for shared, collaborative learning.