In mid-June, I had the opportunity to visit the Entrepreneurial Centre and Active Learning Facilities at Concordia University in Montreal as part of the activities planned for the EdMedia conference. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I always like seeing what other schools are doing and didn’t know much about Concordia at the time, so I decided to sign up.

The facility takes up most of an entire floor in a building at the intersection of Rue Sainte-Catherine O. and Rue Guy. The first half of the floor we visited consisted of meeting spaces, Instructional Designer offices, and a classroom. The classroom was the jewel of this area: when we walked in, it had been divided into smaller areas consisting of three tables and chairs surrounding a cart with a large monitor on top. Our guide, one of the Instructional Designers that worked there, explained that these were meant to be collaborative stations, where any device could connect wirelessly to a monitor and up to four devices’ screens could be displayed on a monitor at once. However, everything on the floor in the room (chairs, tables, monitor carts, etc.) was on wheels and could be reconfigured or stowed away depending on the needs of the class. Partition walls, which were hanging from a track in the ceiling, could also be moved about the room to split it into two rooms. Also, you could write on many of the walls and glass throughout the room with dry-erase markers.

The second half of the floor consisted of a large area filled with tables and desks – this was meant to be a collaborative space where anyone could sit and work together. Computers, monitors, and keyboards were scattered throughout the area, and at the time it was packed with students working on various projects. Off to the side were two smaller rooms: one was surrounded by whiteboards on the wall along with more whiteboards on rolling easels. The other was a makerspace consisting of tools, computers, 3D printers, and other equipment.

Without question, this was an impressive facility, but what was even more impressive were the policies guiding its use. Our guide explained that this was not just available to university students; anyone could come and use it. And while there are facilities like this at other universities, unlike other universities, they make no claim to what is invented or created there.