Students work at the Digital Learning and Media Center on the fifth floor of the library. (Photo by Andy Daddio)
The numbers tell only part of the success story of the new Digital Learning and Media Center (DLMC) at Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology.
The reaction from students who worked on projects last semester helps round out what the center has meant for learning at Colgate since its opening in September 2012.
“What a fantastic resource this center is. I’m sure that each student in our class has emerged from this project with new skills and a desire to locate more opportunities to make use of digital media,” said Jennifer McDowall, a graduate student in Professor Sheila Clonan’s EDUC 507 Special Education course last semester.
The center is named for the Colgate parents who made it possible — Anita Grover MD ’74 and Tom Hargrove P’14. Since its opening it has quickly become an active addition to the library’s fifth floor.
Information Technology Services personnel and 10 student media consultants staffed the DLMC for 72 hours each week last fall, providing students with numerous opportunities for getting help and for utilizing the center’s 16 Mac workstations.
More than 250 students working on 186 different projects used the center during the semester, according to ITS instructional technologist Sarah Kunze.
The projects included podcasts, concept mapping, Wikipedia authoring, academic posters, video narratives, Google maps, and collaborative annotations.
Kunze led numerous training workshops for students and faculty, and also worked closely with librarian Debbie Krahmer on projects involving the Collaboration for Enhanced Learning initiative.
“The center has provided us with this technology-focused space that has led to interesting collaborations among students and faculty from across campus,” said Kunze.
The center can be used as a collaborative studio, formal classroom, computer lab, showcase for student work, or meeting space. It also functions as a hub for media equipment use and lending.
“Everyone in the DLMC was extremely helpful, from Sarah [Kunze] to the student workers,” said Jhazmine Lynch ’13, who worked on a project for SOAN 375 Media and Politics taught by Professor Alicia Simmons. “Whenever my partner and I had a problem, it was taken care of in a timely fashion.”