Tag Archives: media commons

Community Really Does Care at Behrend

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Penn State Behrend professor Anne Campbell wanted to find a way to get her students more engaged with the community this Spring as well as boost their public speaking skills for CAS 100H.  So she signed up for the Mobile Media Pilot and received 12 iPod touch devices that her students used to create interviews with both campus and local service organizations, charities and the like.  These interviews were then shown in class as a compliment to persuasive speeches meant to raise awareness about each community group profiled.

And, the results were even better than she’d hoped.  Anne shared her excitement with me by email:

“I think that going into the community and filming the interview made the students more passionate about their organization.  Not only were the speeches more persuasive than previous semesters without the device, but the class collected $200 for the organization of the most persuasive speakers …”

Campbell and her students divided the $200 raised between the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life ($150) and the Therapeutic Riding Equestrian Center ($50), extending the awareness raised by the project through charitable donations.

“I really like[d] it because [the iPod’s] super portable and user-friendly. I wasn’t distracted with the technology and the mobility is good for the type of interview we’re looking to achieve.” – Camille M

Anne plans to continue assigning these video interviews and has already begun mapping out a project for the Fall 2013 semester with me.  I can’t wait to see what her students come up with next.  You can see more student videos and learn more about the project by visiting her Mobile Media Pilot profile page.

New MC Location at Altoona

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With the help of Penn State Altoona’s CIO, Joanne Peca and Library Director, Bonnie Imler – as well as the wonderful Instructional Technology staff, Media Commons has become a part of the new Information Commons.

Located on the lower level of the Library, the Information Commons is a collaborative workspace for students to study, research and more.  With reconfigurable furniture, its own information desk and an open floorplan, the Information Commons is a popular destination for those looking to do serious work.

In the Fall semester, I met with Joanne and Bonnie to discuss the Knowledge Commons project at UP and the successes Media Commons has had at other campuses with Library partnerships.  All were in agreement that separating the studio and editing spaces was the best bet for increasing usage of both as well as ensuring ready access to the editing computers (which had previously been behind a locked door and are now available when the Library is open to anyone who stops by).   A former microforms room was identified as a great candidate space and the changeover happened before the start of Spring semester.

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I have to say, I’m extremely pleased with the results and excited to see how the Media Commons can continue to grow at Altoona’s Ivyside location – and beyond!

Watch This: “Still Alive” with Found Footage

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At the Media Commons, we are big fans of good examples of using Public Domain and other free/legal media sources to produce outstanding reworked masterpieces. We are also big fans of nerdy things like Portal’s GLaDOS so this excellent “Still Alive” music video made from The Brain That Wouldn’t Die is absolutely up my alley.

(io9)