A new approach to professional learning for academics teaching in next generation learning spaces

The promise of Next Generation Learning Spaces appears to remain unfulfilled. This chapter explores why and how the design of professional learning for academics teaching in such spaces can and should be transformed. It takes a fresh look at why old professional development is failing and proposes a new way to engage academics in their own professional learning. Rather than continuing with traditional professional development that is most often, ad hoc, formal and centrally driven, comprising mandated professional development workshops and a website that may only be visited once, the chapter explores the move from \u27old\u27 professional development to \u27new\u27 professional learning. It draws on the fields of organisational theory, cognitive theory and behavioural economics. New professional learning is characterised by a \u27pull\u27 rather than a \u27push\u27 philosophy. Academic staff themselves drive their own learning, choosing what, when and how they want to learn to become better teachers. Multiple and various learning opportunities embedded in day to day work are just-in-time, self-directed, performance-driven and evaluated within an organisational system. In this way the institutional setting influences behaviour by \u27nudging\u27 habits and setting defaults resulting in academics making the \u27right\u27 decisions and doing the \u27right\u27 thing. By addressing the compelling issue of how to enhance academic staff teaching capability, this chapter can help university leaders to think beyond the professional development approaches of yesterday. Aligning with this new direction will result in enhanced learning and teaching in the future