1819 unveils its newest innovation: The Learning Lab

With a new year comes the 1819 Innovation Hub’s newest innovation: the 1819 Learning Lab.

Located in the 1819 Hub, and serving the broader Cincinnati Innovation District, the 1819 Learning Lab is a think tank for the art and science of learning.

“Great thinkers tend to have a secret weapon: great thought partners. And that’s the vision for the 1819 Learning Lab — to be a savvy thought partner for those we serve and support, helping them build a culture of learning along the way,” Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer Ryan Hays said.

Led by RJ Sargent, executive director of learning services, and Rebecca Revalee, program manager of the Learning Lab, the 1819 Learning Lab works with individuals and organizations to deliver three advantages:

• Enable you to learn and unlearn different mental models
• Empower you to build a culture of learning and collaboration
• Excite your curiosity to unlock bigger, better, faster innovation

For organizations of all shapes and sizes, learning how to learn — and doing so in smarter, faster and better ways — is a competitive edge like no other, Sargent said.

“Since learning how to learn is the business of higher education, there’s no better place to be doing this work than on a next-minded campus like the University of Cincinnati,” he said.

To think differently, you must work differently. And that’s why the space in the 1819 Learning Lab looks less like a classroom and more like a studio. Here it’s less about teaching and more about learning.

Exploring together. Experimenting together. Evolving together.  

“There are no one-way streets in the Learning Lab. All of us are learning from each other all the time, and in every direction,” Revalee said.

Providing unique and immersive learning experiences in the Center for the Silicon Heartland is the calling card of the 1819 Learning Lab.

The Learning Lab works closely with two state-of-the-art programs housed within 1819, the UC Groundfloor Makerspace and the UC Esports Innovation Lab, to offer clients hands-on, customized learning.