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Teaching & Learning: Digital Studio

To all faculty, staff, and students of Calvin College:
Come to the Teaching & Learning Digital Studio for assistance with all things digital. We can assist you with projects related to document, photo, and slide scanning; Web design; KnightVision / Blackboard-related endeavors; graphic design; Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint; test scanning; digital audio; digital video; and more. We are here to assist you in our high-end computer lab -- a lab stocked with excellent, industry-leading, powerful software and hardware. Alternatively, if you have larger projects that you are looking for someone to complete for you, please complete this project proposal to see if you qualify for the Digital Studio doing the work for you!

Digital Studio Tutorials is a site full of text and video tutorials written and produced by the Digital Studio Staff. The link above will bring you to a menu where you can find specific help on many of the top Digital Studio services. Most of the tutorials are intended for Digital Studio walk-ins, and thus mostly apply to in-Studio work, but some may be helpful to you outside the Studio as well. All tutorials are printer friendly.

Digital Studio Sites

Digital Studio Sites is a blog with a large collection links from the Digital Studio Staff that covers a wide range of academic topics and more. The staff scours the Web for the best, most interesting, and useful Web sites for the classroom (and maybe beyond) on the Internet and continually updates the list of links. Professors can quickly find sites related to their field of study by keyword, search, or by subscribing via RSS feed.

Subscribe to Digital Studio Sites via RSS feed. Whether you are using Google Reader or another feed aggregator, RSS is a quick and easy way to have content stream directly to you. By subscribing to the Digital Studio Sites RSS feed, faculty, staff, and students will receive great resources weekly from all over the Internet to use in their academic field of study or department. (Note that you can also subscribe by e-mail, if you prefer, from the site.)

Location:

HL121 -- First floor of the Hekman Library

Hours:

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday

Teaching & Learning Team:

Rob Bobeldyk
Assistant Director of Academic Technology

Dan Christian
Multimedia Specialist
Digital Studio Team Leader
Krista Spahr
Teaching & Learning Specialist
Contact us:

Via e-mail: DigitalStudio@calvin.edu
Via phone: (616)526-5885
Visit us at HL121: 8:00am 5:00pm, Monday - Friday

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Services: The staff in the Digital Studio can teach you how to:
  • Digital Audio
    • Record and edit voiceovers
    • Add songs/effects/other types of audio to a presentation
    • Create songs (assist w/ software)
    • Convert to different file formats
    • Assist with the creation of podcasts
    • Burn CD's or move items into KnightVision or to a LAN/Flash drive
  • Graphic Design/Working with Digital Images
    • Edit and create images using Digital Studio software
    • Convert files
    • Download pictures
    • Burn CD's/DVD's and/or saving the file(s) to KnightVision or to a LAN/Flash drive
  • KnightVision (KV)
    • Work with items within:
      • The Courses tab (the Bb Learning System)
      • The Community tab (the Bb Community System)
      • The Content tab (the Bb Content System)
    • Take advantage of other powerful KnightVision-based technologies such as:
      • Blogs
      • Podcasts
      • Wikis
      • ePortfolios
  • Scanning
    • Scan slides
    • Scan photos
    • Scan documents
    • Burn CD's or move items into KnightVision or to a LAN/Flash drive
  • Test scanning
    • Scan tests using the bubble sheets
      • Generate stats/reports
      • Return results
  • Web design/production
    • Address items relating to:
      • Site design
      • Technical issues
      • CSS
      • JavaScript

 

Note re: digital video-realted items:

  • For copyright-related items contact Randy Nieuswma at (616) 526-6076
  • Randy Nieuswma and Calvin's A/V Department can help you with editing video, converting video files, and creating DVD's with various (copyright-cleared) video clips on them.
  • The Digital Studio can assist with some video-related items -- such as burning DVD's and/or helping you save your file(s) to KnightVision -- but A/V is your first stop for working with video.

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Hardware: The Digital Studio has:
  • Macs
  • PCs
  • CD/DVD burners
  • TV monitor
  • DVD/VHS deck
  • Scanners -- slide and flat bed
  • A ceiling-mounted projector
  • Various cables and other peripherals

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Software: The Digital Studio has:
  • Adobe CS3 Web Collection (Mac and PC)
  • Adobe CS3 Design Collection (Mac and PC)
  • Adobe CS3 Master Collection (Mac)
  • Final Cut Studio (Mac)
    • Final Cut Pro
    • Motion
    • SoundTrack Pro
    • Compressor
    • Color
    • DVD Studio Pro
  • Pinnacle Studio (PC) - entry-level digital video editing
  • iLife Suite of tools (Mac)
    • iMovie - entry-level digital video editing for the Mac
    • iPhoto - for organizing photos, image editing
    • iDVD - for creating Hollywood-style discs using Apple-designed animated themes
    • iWeb - used to create Websites
    • Garageband - for creating your own songs, editing audio, creating sound effects, recording voiceovers
  • OmniPage Pro (PC) - OCR software
  • Adobe Captivate (PC)
    • Screen recording software; good for creating software demonstrations, simulations, etc.
  • Snapz Pro X (Mac)
    • Screen recording software; good for creating software demonstrations, simulations, etc.
  • Quicktime/Real Player/Windows Media Player (PC and Mac)
  • Microsoft Visio (PC)
  • ...and other software packages

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Student
Staff Members:
The Teaching and Learning Digital Studio employs several student consultants to assist faculty and staff with the various services that the Studio provides. Our current Digital Studio Student Staff Members include:

Steven Chevalia

Major:
English

Year:
Sophomore

Interests:
Steven has been writing and reading his whole life. Steven has been a part of several writing workshops, published a couple of times, and is always looking for a something new to write about. He is also extremely into computers and worked at his high school for three years, volunteering more than three hundred hours in all. Steven knows quite a bit about Macs and Windows but needs to keep learning about Linux.

Strengths within the DS:
Steven tackles projects that deal with programs he is just learning. Steven is learning a lot about Adobe Flash, Illustrator, and Photoshop and has a foundation of knowledge in iLife for Macintosh.

Important trend(s) I see:
Steven sees that technology is changing too fast for any one person to catch up with and realizes that the future lies within collaborative efforts for both large and small projects alike.

 

Caleb Kuntz

Major:
Media Studies program.

Year:
Junior

Interests:
Caleb loves the Internet, and is a bit of a compulsive researcher, and as such, knows a fair amount about a bizzare spread of topics from Steganography to Sousveillance. He is also extremely into music of all genres, and can often be found listening to Celtic or Electronic music. Caleb knows a lot about Windows, some about Linux, and not enough about Macs.

Strengths within the DS:
In the Digital Studio, he is always trying to learn more programs, but some of his specialties include Websites (HTML and CSS), Adobe Fireworks, and Blogging software.

Important trend(s) I see:
Caleb thinks that the future of multimedia and technology will bring more focus on the Web browser and the Internet as home for powerful multimedia editing applications, as well as the growth of free and open source software, with such programs becoming equivalents or even surpassing the expensive professional programs covering the same areas.

Finally, Caleb hopes that if you ever need help with multimedia projects, that you'll come and let us in the Digital Studio help you!

 

Daniel Laninga

Major:
Media Production and International Devlopment

Year:
Senior

Interests:
Daniel enjoys both watching and creating movies. As a  Media Production major, Daniel has worked on both narrative and documentary films, both of which have turned out well. He is hoping to one day become a documentary filmmaker that will help people across the world. Daniel feels that the current combination of media production and international development is an important one, as we around the globe become increasingly dependent on one another.

Strengths within the DS:
To name a few...Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, iMovie, and Garageband.

Important trend(s) I see:
I believe that media is one of the strongest influences in our society. As problems like HIV/AIDS and global poverty spiral out of control, the media will have to step up and begin promoting solutions to these problems, educating people on the tragedies affecting the world. Only then will people hopefully come together and decrease these things around us that must be stopped.

 

Yohan Na

Yohan Na

Major:
Studio Art

Year:
Junior

Interests:
Graphic Design, Observing interesting objects and unique designs, Listening to good music, Making/recording music, Socializing

Strengths within the DS:
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, iMovie, Garageband

I can design very attractive and effective layouts for posters, flyers, book/magazine/journalism, and Websites. I have received numerous awards and scholarships for my work and for my achievements, including winning a public design contest.

Important trend(s) I see:
In our new generation of this 21st century, we can vividly see the rapid growth in technology. Through the progression of technology, our society is changing and adapting to a much more visual culture. This is extremely evident when we look at our own lifestyle, where we see advertisements and some kind of information carrying images all around ourselves. There are definitely both pros and cons to this shift in our advancement in technology and visual culture; I think that it is important for people to become more aware of the ethical issues that’s been overseen, and try to address them to find resolutions to those issues.

 

Jessica Overbeeke

(Picture forthcoming)

Major:
Nursing

Year:
Sophomore

Interests:
Jessica loves photography, art, and sewing. Alothough she does not have a lot of time or make much time for being creative she enjoys it when she can. Nature photography is her favorite. She loves being outside and capturing the beauty of God's creation. It is one way to share God's amazing works with others. She would like to be able to share her photography and learn how to use a variety of programs to display and manipulate her photos. Jessica also enjoys helping others and hopes to be a registered nurse. She would like to help find different sources where technolgy can help make learning science concepts easier to understand and enjoyable.

Strengths within the DS:
Jessica is a new member of the Digital Studio and is currently focusing on learning Photoshop, InDesign, and Dreamweaver.

Important trend(s) I see:
Technology has evolved how society functions and it will continue to do so. I believe that technology will further impact education. In addition, it can benefit the many industries in a positive way, particularly the health industry. Nursing students, like myself can benefit from videos, interactive software, and other programs which help with understanding and organizing concepts that can be applied in the real life situations. In the future, students will be more equipped with tools of technology that broaden their scope of learning and understanding. Technology can be used for good or bad. I see that it can be used for good by advancing our ability to learn now and in the future.


 

William Overbeeke

Major:
Interdisciplinary in Art and Information Systems (Digital Art)

Minor:
Writing

Year:
Junior

Interests:
William loves to draw. His favorite media are graphite and Prismacolor colored pencils, and his favorite subject to draw is humans, especially the face. Not only does William like traditional art, but artwork created on the computer. He is very interested in graphic design and animation, especially the animation work done by Pixar Animation Studios. William loves to read. His favorite books, to name a few, are J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and Rowling's Harry Potter series. William also loves to write poetry and stories. He wants to publish a novel sometime in his life and is currently working on his first.

Strengths within the DS:
Graphic design, writing, animation, Web design; Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Dreamweaver; Apple iLife

Important trend(s) I see:
The Internet will continue to evolve. People will be using it for things we cannot yet imagine. Interactivity and accessibility will increase, and the user experience will change. Who knows what the Web browser will morph into. Things that are simply ideas now will soon be implemented. We will only be able to look back in retrospect, as always, and see how the Internet has exponentially changed. Not only will the Internet change, but popular software will also change. Perhaps Adobe's line of products - applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator - will move toward further integration, and, instead of using a whole suite of tools for digital image manipulation, Web development, and video editing, a master application that unites all kinds of creative software into one will be debuted.


 

Niko Solihin

Major:
Computer Science

Year:
Senior

Interests:
Learning something new, design, guitar

Strengths within the DS:
Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP / MySQL, Flash, ActionScript, Dreamweaver

Important trend(s) I see:
Technology will continue to evolve. Right now, I can see more computer manufacturers already evolving to meet the needs of its end users. For example, the computer requirements for video editing and playing video games are different. Also, as our personal spaces online are increasing, so is the threat of computing-related/high-tech crimes. In the future, I can see new security-related technologies invented to prevent these crimes. Personal Internet browsing and video conferencing phone calls will most likely be a common thing to do while you are waiting for the bus or in a coffee shop.

 

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