Penn State’s Media Commons has created their first digital media facility created in partnership with a college. Located in 109 Agricultural Sciences and Industry Building and created in collaboration with the College of Agricultural Science, the facility features everything faculty, staff, and students need to create multimedia for courses.
“We had ties in Agricultural Science, and we were looking for new media commons locations due to their popularity,” said Hannah Inzko, the Media Commons consultant who spearheaded the design of the new facility. “So, it was the right time to do this.”
The facility is state-of-the-art, Inzko said, including 11 Apple computers loaded with multimedia software, two sound booths for podcasting, and a small studio with a green screen where students can shoot video.
“Also, there is a wall monitor in the corner with a couch and other furniture so students can do collaborative work,” Inzko said.
The facility’s layout is designed for collaboration among students, Inzko said. All of the furniture is on wheels, allowing for the room layout to be changed if needed. The walls of the small video studio can also be moved to alter that space.
The desk chairs, Inzko said, are not your typical staid office chair. The chairs come apart, and the stand part of the chair converts into a laptop desk that a student can use while seated on the chair part resting on the floor.
Like the other Media Commons facilities across the Penn State commonwealth system, there will be staff available to help users with their projects. Inzko said staff hours will be announced soon on the Media Commons Web site.
The Media Commons site also has some great examples of video projects created using Media Commons facilities. For example, as part of a project for a marketing course, students created a promotional video for the Department of Food Science. The video and information about how it was created and why can be found here.
In partnering with colleges, the Media Commons hopes to provide an experience that is better aligned to the college’s needs and is customized to their curriculum.
Faculty can reserve time at any Media Commons facility, including the Ag Science one.
Collaborative space at media commons
Students can collaborate on media projects in this corner, with a large monitor and comfortable couch
The next Media Commons facility created in a collaboration with a college will be one with the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Inzko said. “We try to design Media Commons based on the kind of things we think they will be working on,” she said. “In the case of Earth and Mineral Sciences, we envision them for example working on Google Earth projects, so we will definitely have projectors so students can visualize large geographic data.”
“We make sure to design Media Commons with input from faculty and students,” Inzko added.