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Community

Media Commons, Maker Commons and IMEX Lab have the distinct privilege of being able to work with faculty and students on a wide variety of creative projects and initiatives, all across the Commonwealth. The community of teachers and learners inspires our team – and we hope you, as well.

Notable Class Projects

AED 101S: Creating Tactile Sound Stories

Course Number: AED 101S (Introduction to Art Education)
Instructor: Ann Holt
Number of Students: 21
Service Area: Maker Commons
Technology: Conductive Touch, GarageBand, Wiring

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EARTH 412: Urban Sustainability Documentaries

Course Number: Earth 412
Instructor: Tom Bartnik
Number of Students: 11
Service Area: Media Commons
Technology: Mobile Media Production

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ENGL 050: Creating Physical Artifacts from Writing

Course Number: ENGL 050
Instructor: Joe Bueter
Number of Students: 24
Service Area: Maker Commons, Media Commons
Technology: Adobe Express, Button Maker, Cricut Maker, Dye Sublimation, Sticker Printing

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FOR 201N: Reporting Global Change

Course Number: FOR 201N
Instructor: Autumn Sabo
Number of Students: 18
Service Area: Media Commons
Technology: Audition, GarageBand, Mobile Mics

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CRIMJ: Exploring Justice through Podcasts

Course Number: CRIMJ 100, 220 and 465
Instructor: Shauntey James
Number of Students: 75
Service Area: Media Commons
Technology: Audition, GarageBand, Mobile Mics

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WMNST 106: The Fabric of the Cohort

Course Number: WMNST 106
Instructor: Maggie Condit-Summerson
Number of Students: 40
Service Area: Maker Commons
Technology: Dye Sublimation, Heat Press, Sewing Machine

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IST 110: Paws & Prints on the Road

Course Number: IST 110
Instructor: Ashu Kumar
Number of Students: 24
Service Area: Maker Commons
Technology: Dye Sublimation, Generative AI, Heat Press

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ART 100: What First Years Should Know

Course Number: ART 100
Instructor: Ann Holt
Number of Students: 20
Service Area: IMEX Lab
Technology: 360º Video, YouTube VR, VR Headset

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LDT 110 (FA23): Designing Rapid Prototypes

Course Number: Learning Design and Technology (LDT 110)
Instructor: Heather Zimmerman, Nicole Cingolani
Number of Students: 280
Service Area: Maker Commons
Technology: 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, Arduino, littleBits, MakeyMakey

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ENGL 202C: Creating Hands-on Instructions

Course Number: ENGL 202C
Instructor: Ray Watkins
Number of Students: 16
Service Area: Media Commons
Technology: Adobe InDesign

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COMM 372: Creating an Animated Pitch

Course Number: COMM 372
Instructor: Bill Zimmerman
Number of Students: 40
Service Area: Media Commons
Technology: Adobe Express, Generative AI

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ENGL 202: Capturing Campus Spaces

Course Number: ENGL 202
Instructor: Holly Ryan
Number of Students: 18
Service Area: IMEX Lab
Technology: 360º Images, ThingLink

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See All Class Projects:  Media Commons | IMEX Lab | Maker Commons

Semester Reports

Spring 2025 Semester Report

Spring 2025 saw 9,410 students, faculty, and staff use the Media Commons, Maker Commons, and Immersive Experiences Lab initiatives across the Commonwealth. Much of this use was focused in 253 classes in nearly every discipline offered at Penn State. To facilitate these interactions outside of University Park, traveling consultants provided 29 in-person sessions and 35 remote sessions for instruction, consultations and support.

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Fall 2024 Semester Report

Fall 2024 saw 14,417 students, faculty, and staff use the Media Commons, Maker Commons, and Immersive Experiences Lab initiatives across the Commonwealth. Much of this use was focused in 360 classes in nearly every discipline offered at Penn State. To facilitate these interactions outside of University Park, traveling consultants provided 34 in-person sessions and 41 remote sessions for instruction, consultations and support.

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Spring 2024 Semester Report

Spring 2024 saw 8,759 students, faculty, and staff use the Media Commons, Maker Commons, and Immersive Experiences Lab initiatives across the Commonwealth. Much of this use was focused in 277 classes in nearly every discipline offered at Penn State. To facilitate these interactions outside of University Park, traveling consultants provided 29 in-person sessions and 31 remote sessions for instruction, consultations and support.

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Fall 2023 Semester Report

Fall 2023 saw 10,546 students, faculty, and staff use the Media Commons, Maker Commons, and Immersive Experiences Lab initiatives across the Commonwealth. Much of this use was focused in 299 classes in nearly every discipline offered at Penn State. To facilitate these interactions outside of University Park, traveling consultants provided 27 in-person sessions and 93 remote sessions for instruction, consultations and support.

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Events + Activities

Makers-in-Residence at Garden Grow-How

At the Student Farm’s Garden Grow-How event in the HUB, Maker-in-Residence student workers 3D printed hundreds of germination plates for the top of Mason jars and gave them and stickers out to attendees. The student makers also attended the ENTI minor’s CommunENTI...
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Upcycled Fashion

Maker Commons hosted an Upcycled Fashion Design Challenge as part of Penn State Startup Week. Student teams created upcycled t-shirt brands that made sustainability statements. Teams used sewing machines, Cricut Makers, and heat presses to cut and apply custom designs...
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Digital Fluency Week

Greater Allegheny received the honor of being named an Apple Distinguished School for their efforts in creating a culture of digital fluency that began with the campus-wide 1:1 iPad initiative. As part of this recognition, campus leadership held an inaugural Digital...
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PoetryFest

Maker Commons participated in PoetryFest at Three Dots in downtown State College. Participants made bookmarks with vinyl cut from our Cricut machine and infusible ink poems printed with dye sublimation.
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MAKEiT AI (2024)

The fourth ever MAKEiT event was held on March 22 at the Business Building on University Park's campus. This event was planned for over nine months and featured support from across Creative Learning Initiatives. More than 86 faculty, students and staff from 16...
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PA Green Tutorials

Our One Button Studios at University Park were requested for use in filming 11 “PA Green” tutorials for the College of Education, OPP and the state government’s Department of Energy and Sustainability. One of our staff is assisting with consultations for this project...
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Making Resources for Berks + Brandywine

Media Commons has begun rolling out Cricut Maker printers to Penn State Berks and Penn State Brandywine. At Berks, the Cricut is available in the campus Maker Space, which is supported by an intern.

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Undergraduate Advisor Training in VirtualSpeech

The Lambert Undergraduate Advising Center at Penn State Harrisburg worked with the campus Center for Teaching Excellence to offer VirtualSpeech training as professional development to its staff on September 17.

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See All Events + Activities

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Media Commons

Media Commons partners with faculty from every campus and any discipline to enrich the teaching and learning experience through multimedia technology and storytelling.

Students build new skills in important mediums like video, audio, presentations, infographics, websites and more through tailored assignments supported by Media Commons workshops and 1-on-1 consultations with professional staff.

Educator Resources Find a Location Browse Tutorials

IMEX Lab

The Immersive Experiences (IMEX) Lab offers both a space designed specifically for creation and viewing of emergent new forms of content as well as a staff of experts to help guide exploration of the technologies in and out of the classroom.

Educator Resources Explore Experiences

Maker Commons

The Maker Commons is home to many cutting-edge technological resources. From our 3D printing farm to the Invention Studio, we are here to serve students, faculty, and staff in transforming education.

Educator Resources Request Print Credits Discover Technologies

Click the + to learn more about our services.

Media Commons

Media Commons partners with faculty from every campus and any discipline to enrich the teaching and learning experience through multimedia technology and storytelling.

Students build new skills in important mediums like video, audio, presentations, infographics, websites and more through tailored assignments supported by Media Commons workshops and 1-on-1 consultations with professional staff.

Educator Resources | Find a Location | Browse Tutorials

IMEX Lab

The Immersive Experiences (IMEX) Lab offers both a space designed specifically for creation and viewing of emergent new forms of content as well as a staff of experts to help guide exploration of the technologies in and out of the classroom.

Educator Resources | Explore Experiences

Maker Commons

The Maker Commons is home to many cutting-edge technological resources. From our 3D printing farm to the Invention Studio, we are here to serve students, faculty, and staff in transforming education.

Educator Resources | Request Print Credits | Discover Technologies

Click the + to learn more about our services.