Geographies of collaboration in hybrid learning spaces in the postdigital era: towards sustainable futures for higher education learning

This conceptual paper discusses hybrid, collaborative learning spaces in the postdigital era, in which digital technologies are seen as interwoven into the full complexity of higher education (HE) spaces and practices. While the COVID-19 pandemic heightened the significance of digital technology in HE, it also exposed the fragility of the social interactions inherent in students’ learning. This situation might have stemmed from a narrow thinking of the ‘digital’ and the challenges of enabling equitable, convivial learning spaces to evolve in this context. As universities increasingly move towards hybridity in their educational offerings, particularly within the sustainable university mission, there is a need to critically examine and balance these spaces with a deeper understanding of the ‘social’. Through the theoretical framing of the ‘geographies of collaboration’, this paper offers a definition of ‘hybrid’ that extends beyond purely technical or pedagogical arrangements, as a fluid experience of space, where the boundaries between the online and the physical are blurred, aligning with a broader interest in rethinking space in new and mobile ways. Given the prominence of hybridity, it becomes critical to better understand how to work towards high-quality hybrid, collaborative HE spaces, aiming for more equal practices and sustainable futures for HE.

本概念性论文探讨了后数字时代下的混合式协作学习空间，在此语境中数字技术已深度嵌入高等教育（higher education，HE）空间与实践的完整复杂体系中。尽管新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）凸显了数字技术在高等教育中的重要地位，但同时也暴露了学生学习过程中固有社会互动的脆弱性。此种困境或源于对“数字”的狭隘认知，以及在此背景下构建公平融洽的学习空间所面临的诸多挑战。随着高校在教育供给中日益偏向混合式模式，尤其是在契合可持续大学使命的语境下，学界亟需在对“社会性”形成更深刻认知的前提下，对这类空间开展批判性审视并做好平衡协调。本文依托“协作地理学”（geographies of collaboration）的理论框架，对“混合式”给出了超越单纯技术或教学安排的定义：将其视作一种流动的空间体验，在此体验中线上与线下的边界趋于模糊，契合了学界以新颖、动态的方式重新审视空间的广泛研究旨趣。鉴于混合式模式的普及态势，如何打造高质量的混合式协作高等教育空间，以实现更公平的教育实践与高等教育的可持续未来，已成为亟需攻克的核心议题。