Sitting in my apartment and drafting this brief reflection I am reminded of the issues of using a single space for both living and academic learning activities. The word dormitory, according to the OED, carries the meaning of A sleeping-chamber; spec. a room containing a number of beds, or a gallery or building divided into cells or chambers each having a bed or beds in it, for the inmates of a monastery, school, or other institution, coming from a latin root meaning to sleep. Not a place to work.
At Bryn Mawr College, the sister school of my own undergraduate Alma Mater Haverford College, there was, presumably still is, a dorm room that was rumored to have been designed to be purposefully uncomfortable for students to live in so that they would spend little time in their actual rooms and more time at the library etc. studying.
Granted, my apartment is not a dorm room, having all the facilities I need for living such as a kitchen, bathroom, etc., but at the same time it is really only part of a living environment which includes the whole campus. There are facilities all around me that are designed as learning environements. And yet, here I am, working on an assignment for a class from this place that should, perhaps, be more separated from my academic learning existence.
Firstly, why? Partly because I have always liked working from a space that I own. I like to control the environment: the layout of the furniture, the piles of books, the level and type of music, whether a television is working, etc. I feel comfortable in this space and because of my ownership of it, I can tailor it to my specific needs (more or less). Should I so choose (i've been meaning to for ages) I can put a white board up on the wall. I can, and do, stock my kitchen with the sorts of foods I study best with.
The problem with this is, of course, that because I exercise a great deal of control over the environment, it is not always tailored for learning. It also serves multiple purposes. It's easily usable to watch television. While there is a lovely bookshelf, I must confess that VERY few of the books currently occupying it are directly related to a course, and while many others may be tangentially related, they are divided among many many different topics and not organized in any particular fashion.
Honestly, a book that I am looking for is as likely to be in a pile on the floor somewhere as it is to be on a shelf.
One of the main drawbacks of my room as a learning space is the restriction of connection to colleagues and others. While I have tools like this wiki and other internet based tools, as well as a phone, I can't have a good face to face conversation without going elsewhere -- my space is rarely in the shape I'm comfortable entertaining in. It does, as I have said, have easy access to other campus resources, but ultimately the dual purpose of the space leaves gaps.
Perhaps what I really want is a more uncomfortable room, requiring me to leave.