Effective communication throughout the planning of a learning space is a key contributor to project success. Certain guiding principles apply no matter what project type or scale. These include communicating the overall process and where you are along the roadmap / what happens next, proactive and regular communication; using different means to communicate so stakeholder have different ways to engage; understanding our audience; reiterating key messages such as benefits and rationale; and listening to and acknowledging concerns as well as communicating successes.

To move beyond these best-practices, we have also created the list of internal and external communication tools below and provide guidance as to when to use these tools along with examples of them in use, where applicable. This is by no means an exhaustive list but can serve as a good starting point and we welcome further contributions and suggestions.

 
Internal Communications
Enables interested parties to keep up with project developments; should be regularly updated. Good for documentation and engagement.

Media	Why and When to Use	Examples
Project website	Central information resource on the project, including background information and progress updated. May include links to planning documentation, references, blogs, wikis, etc	University of Arizona Classroom Technology Upgrade Project
Project blog	Resource for posting ongoing progress and soliciting community feedback and commentary	Noel Studio for Academic Creativity at Eastern Kentucky University
Project wiki	Resource for posting ongoing progress, emphasizing community contribution and building a cumulative resource / history	NC State University SCALE-Up Initiative
All staff meeting	As an invitational event, can be a way to get information to everybody.	N/A
Review workshops with students, faculty, and staff…	A mechanism to get mid-course input and to keep the project in peoples’ minds.	N/A
Email	Like in-person meetings, a “push” communication tool to ensure everybody has some level of knowledge about the status of the project.	N/A

 
External Communications
External communication with the local community, using tools such as newsletters and blogs, can help build community interest, laying the groundwork for future development initiatives. Conference presentations, website, and listserv posts can get your message out to a wide audience and help foster broader community interest in your project, spreading the word about what makes it innovative.

Media	Why and When to Use	Examples
Newsletter	Longer form communication for regular project updates, often published in conjunction with other events	N/A
Project blog	Resource for posting ongoing progress and soliciting community feedback and commentary	Texas Wesleyan University, Classroom.Next Competition
Conference presentations	Presentations and workshops at conferences to share findings or progress, generally after the project or at key milestone during	Implementing and Assessing Physics Studio at MIT
Listservs	Project updates that enable sharing with broader communities of interest	Infocommons (by University of Binghamton
Twitter	Short informational updates on project status to use in an ongoing way and announce / link to longer-form communication	Noel Studio for Academic Creativity at Eastern Kentucky University
Flickr	Project-specific photo sharing	University of Pennsylvania Weigle Information Commons
Website	Central information resource on the project, including background information and progress updated. May include links to planning documentation, references, blogs, wikis, etc	Ryerson University Student Learning Center
Facebook	Central information resource on the project used for its integrated community-engagement features such as photo sharing, commenting, and “liking”	Yale Center for Science and Social Science Information
Guidelines & references	Reference information meant to guide the project through operations and implementation, or to inform a series of projects	University of British Columbia Learning Space Design Guidelines
Articles & whitepapers	Articles and whitepapers can demonstrate where your project has a more theoretical or longer-lasting impact.	Learning Environments: Where Space, Technology, and Culture Converge