Multimedia magic: moving beyond text

Multimedia technology has transformed the way students communicate, learn, and socialize. No longer solely consumers of multimedia, students are multimedia producers, editors, presenters, reviewers, tutors, and mashup creators. Faculty expectations regarding class assignments have also risen, including improved presentation skills, greater collaborative efforts, and more diverse representations of learning. In this paper, we describe how, in response to these needs, the University of Delaware opened the Student Multimedia Design Center (SMDC) in February 2007. The SMDC is the first centrally located UD facility that provides students with access to multimedia one-stop service. With over 70 workstations and a wide variety of software and equipment, students have all the tools they need to create multimedia in one location.