The reason for introducing this practice was that the previous version of this course worked poorly, and only 33% of students passed. The course had to be redesigned because the other lecturer I had previously taught with retired. By using active learning spaces, I wanted to ensure that students gained experience during the semester by learning from each other instead of cramming before the exam. These experiences should help them achieve the learning objectives. I also wanted to be closer to them instead of being “the sage on the stage”. A lecturer should not be a distant dot.

The usage of digital learning technology in this course aligns well with several principles for digitally supported learning:

Variation: 

The available technology in the room and the way we used it clearly introduced variation in the teaching.

Collaboration: 

We shared material in ways that are normally impossible, due to the technology available in these rooms. 

Co-determination: 

Students and lecturers interacted more closely due to the teaching format, which helped create a more active learning community involving both students and lecturers.

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Variation: Students are motivated and learn in different ways, making variation beneficial for all students by providing multiple approaches to learning, teaching and education. Digital tools can expand opportunities for education and support variation as a principle across several practice levels.
Collaboration and Openness: Digital technologies make possible new forms of collaboration that extend beyond the individual course or project work and facilitate involvement of external stakeholders, larger groups of participants, cross‑cutting cooperation or entirely new forms of collaboration.
Co-determination and Empowerment: Digital technologies can support empowerment and increase students’ participation beyond project work. They can enable larger and more active learning communities involving both students and lecturers within individual education programmes and across them.
Inclusion: Digital technologies can help support inclusion by focusing on accessibility, diversity and flexibility. The principle aims to make educational and teaching activities accessible to all students and ensure that each student feels able to participate based on their individual conditions.

One session was held per week for two teams simultaneously. A week prior, students received a preparation sheet specifying what to read, which video to watch and a few small tasks. Each session began with an explanation of the learning objectives. Afterwards, the small homework tasks were discussed, and finally, short programming exercises were carried out. Extra exercises were always available for those who finished early. 

Students sat in these rooms in groups at tables, each with its own screen that they could connect their computer to. This allowed them to view screenshots from three different tables simultaneously, enabling them to draw inspiration from each other even though they were programming individually.

Since teaching was conducted for two teams at the same time (in identical, nearby rooms), 2–3 teaching assistants (older students) participated. During the session, all lecturers circulated among the students and provided help. I also monitored the master screen, which displayed what was happening on all screens, to identify which tables I should perhaps approach. If someone produced a good solution, they were asked if we could show it during the plenary summary. In the summary, that table’s screen was displayed on all screens. 

When there were three teaching assistants and students were divided into two rooms, it worked extremely well. The room makes all the difference in this context. Dividing students into two classes brings you closer to them because you interact in a different way. Some students said they appreciated this and were unaccustomed to being so close to a lecturer. It was also beneficial for students to see each other’s solutions. The technology made this easier. In addition, the teaching was more activating for students.

The biggest challenge was a large group of students who were difficult to engage or get to participate at all, almost regardless of what I did. Nevertheless, the pass rate increased from 33% to 65%.

• The classroom is crucial in this context. If you want to conduct sessions with 2 teams simultaneously, there must be three teaching assistants present. Two functioned poorly.
• It is beneficial to divide a large class into two.
• Use the rooms to get closer to students and use teaching assistants to help with classroom management. Do not conduct monologue teaching in these rooms.
• I have been very mindful that technology should not dictate what we do. Learning should drive the process. Technology has simply made learning easier. 
• If technology failed when sharing with the entire class, the projector was used instead. Students were comfortable with this solution.