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Media Technology Has Mass Appeal
By Elaine Lau, Class of 2005
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To the average computer user, these skills may sound overly technical and difficult to acquire. Non-multimedia majors may think these skills are exclusively for interactive designers or people in the multimedia field. However, sophomore sacred music major Samantha Williams, who is a student worker and teacher's assistant at the Multimedia Institute (MMI), asserts that this is not so.
"I realized how much this is needed in every major," said Williams. "You've got to communicate, regardless of what major you're in." Furthermore, Williams said if she wanted to have a Web site built or a DVD project made, "as opposed to outsourcing and spending tons of money... I have the tools and ability to do it myself."
Kyle Broderick, a multimedia specialist who teaches at the Institute, echoes Williams. Anyone, he says, no matter what field they're in or want to enter, can benefit from this knowledge.
"Pretty much anyone has a story to tell, whether they're selling [advertising] themselves or selling a product or [they have] some sort of message they want to get across," said Broderick. "As long as you have something you want to get out to a large group of people, this really works."
A division of ORU's MMI, the MTSi was the brainchild of Dr. Even Culp and resulted from the efforts of Don Eland, associate professor and senior producer of the MMI. Eland's vision was "to make a way to teach anybody using online course technology combined with a three-week residency." Besides Eland and Broderick, Rebekah Wizikowski also teaches at the Institute.
Now in its second year, the MTSi concluded another successful session this summer with 12 students.
The MTSi is a nine-credit-hour course designed for students who are not multimedia majors. The summer institute is open to all students as well as to the public. The only prerequisites are working knowledge of Windows and Macintosh operating systems, and computer access. If students use a word processor, they are ready to enroll in the MTSi.
The MTSi consists of three sessions: online tutorials to learn the basic usage of various software programs; a three-week, hands-on residency program on campus, during which each student has access to a personal state-of-the-art desktop workstation equipped with the Macromedia (Flash, Director) and Adobe (Photoshop, After Effects) suites of software as well as Apple products (Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro) and related tools; and a final online session to wrap up the course.
Field trips to multimedia production companies in the Tulsa area, like New Media Worx and Winner Communications, give students the opportunity to see multimedia production done in the "real world." Students also get to hear from guest speakers who are influential in the media field. This summer, Rick Shaw, a Hollywood producer who just obtained $107 million in funding for three films, came to speak to students about a Christian perspective for mass media.
At the conclusion of the course, students end up with two projects: a Flash Web site and a multimedia disc for a client.
"This year's MTSi students enjoyed a quality experience," said Culp. "They engaged the learning through hands-on projects. Next year, we hope to offer a similar experience to a broader range of students by including more students from different disciplines and more students from other universities."
