Using Adobe Photoshop, SoundEdit, Adobe Premiere, VideoFusion and mPower, among other programs, students created computer games, homages to the late Jerry Garcia, and a tour of the latest trends in collectible comics. But I really enjoyed the course, and I'm proud of my project. Pedagogically, the projector and LED panel, which allows the entire class to analyze student work, from a feature lede to a multimedia project, has proven a powerful tool. Indeed, most faculty and students are thrilled by the new lab, which was made possible in part by gifts from alumni, as well as through state money. The new lab is more quiet, more comfortable, more productive.
Students have more private space than in the old rows of desks.
Not that it hasn't been an adjustment. In the graphic design class, students continue to use the industry standard, QuarkXPress, but now, instead of six students to a computer, each has his or her own during class time. It makes courses like Graphic Design and Writing for the Media much easier. Perhaps most aware of the changes are seniors who struggled with the old IBMs for most of their college careers. It made the regular journalism classes better and added great new classes like multimedia.