Space can "do" several things.
It can directly support the learning goals of the "program". In a library, it should hold books-- lots of books, and in ways that patrons can find them and staff can reshelve and catalogue them. In an early church, it can be a textbook in stone and glass, underscoring key themes in theology, cosmology and human relations.
Second, spaces almost always have "affordances" for activities not purposely designed. Obviously, good designers can take advantage of these affordances to drive the primary purpose forward. So knowing that people will have laptops in the library, libraries may make tables available with outlets etc-- and help develop online resources to further the mission of the library.
Third, there is serendipitous learning. A person who enters a space can learn something besides that which the space was designed for, or besides her original learning goal.
Four, there are just factors that make the space more pleasant in a human way, and therefore help keep affect and attention aimed at learning. Temperature, color, natural light, height of the ceilings and so on are issues.
To me, there are two main issues brought up in today's readings. One, of course, is the idea of how to think about youth development programs. Understanding their makeup and range may help us understand not only appropriate spaces for them, but stretch our ideas of spaces for informal learning in general. Second, there's also the idea of culture and space. A given space may be used very differently depending on the cultures of the group using them. By culture, I mean the rules etc. that bind the interactions and thinking of the group.
Nuree Choe You bring up some good points about space and what it can do promote learning. I like that you included learning goals as well as serendipitous learning. I think a lot of times, I tend to group learning as this one big blob and so for me to look at learning laid out in this manner allows me to see learning in different ways. But my question that I have is whether space plays as much into learning as we orginally intend? Are there unintended consequences in designing a space a certain way?
I particularly thought of how much space really has an influence on learning while going through today's readings. The reading about the fifth dimension was really interesting. If we were to solely design a space for the purpose of learning without taking culture into account, would we be able to design an optimal space for informall learning, particularly for those aimed at adolescents?