The Durham Techno-Café

The Techno-Café is an innovative approach to practical and lab work in Computing. It provides improved support for the various and distinct activities required in the subject, through a mixture of cutting-edge technology and custom-built work areas. The Techno-Café is used for a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the University. The main use is for the Software Engineering module's group projects in Level two of the Computing degrees.

A different way of working

The Techno-Café improves significantly over the traditional design of IT labs. With rows of desks and limited space, the old design is barely suitable for individual coding work, let alone the more interactive work (such as design reviews or extreme programming) that is a feature of modern Software Engineering practice. The Techno-Café provides a relaxing environment designed for creativity and communication, and will allow students to work together in a comfortable setting supported by flexible and time-saving technologies.

Active Learning in Computing

The changes in the learning environment will go hand-in-hand with changes in teaching style. The Department leads England's only Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in Computer Science and Software Engineering, called Active Learning in Computing (ALiC). This centre seeks to facilitate a shift towards far higher levels of active student engagement, where knowledge is obtained by sharing, problem-solving and creating, rather than by passive listening. Providing novel facilities and encouraging new ways of working will be a central focus.