Spring 2013 Report
Media Commons recently wrapped up a very productive Spring 2013 semester – both for our clients and community, in terms of their own projects and events but also for consultants who spent much time this term refining existing resources and developing new programming in order to offer even more support in the future.
MC consultants supported faculty in 12 academic colleges while collaborating on 85 projects across Pennsylvania. Again, Liberal Arts courses like RCL 138H and ENGL 202 saw the largest involvement with Media Commons services, representing 31 projects. As first reported in the Fall, both Ag Sci and EMS faculty continue to show strong interest in multimedia in the classroom (7 projects each) due to their direct support by dedicated consultants. In order to further reach out to faculty across all disciplines, Media Commons offered 9 special events during the Spring, including two Teaching for Engagement events with Learning Design consultants, a Brown Bag lunch for Ecosystem Science and Management faculty at University Park and an experimental Dinner & A Movie screening of PressPausePlay. Consultants are confident that these tailored events will bring new clients to Media Commons in the Fall 2013 semester.
The Spring 2013 semester saw a number of notable projects pass through Media Commons. From Ag Sci came ERM 499A, a Mobile Media Pilot project in which students who traveled to Costa Rica over Spring Break were asked to record their own first hand experiences with eco-resource management so that they could share them upon their return. In RCL 138H, students were given the option to complete their final projects using a combination of MC resources, including the One Button Studio, traditional video production or podcasting. Finally, students at Wilkes-Barre took part in a collaborative video project in MKTG 330, creating a single class video from five separate group projects in order to synthesize interview data about consumer attitudes towards retail spaces.
The Media Commons website was completely redesigned during the last month of the Spring semester and relaunched immediately after Finals Week. As the site serves as a clearinghouse for Media Commons offerings, support resources, community news and more, its overhaul has far-reaching implications for all clients and contacts in the Commonwealth. By reducing visual clutter and streamlining the layout of content, consultants hope to offer visitors a higher level of service and a more efficient experience.
As Media Commons begins opening the first Commonwealth campus One Button Studios this Summer, it’s encouraging to see that the existing OBS in Knowledge Commons has seen dramatic year over year growth. 2,116 videos were produced in the space (a 112% increase over Spring 2012) resulting from 343 appointments (representing 117% change). The new One Button Studio installations at Mont Alto, Harrisburg and Altoona will very likely offer the same kind of opportunities for rapid growth at each campus as new faculty are attracted to the automated facility.
Learn even more about our Spring 2013 semester successes and challenges by downloading the report below: