Journalism lab stocked with iMacs
by Helen Clarke
Journalism students were delighted at the start of fall semester when they discovered that the old PCs in the department computer lab had been replaced by brand new iMacs.
“They were working with 6-year-old PCs in the old lab,” said Robert Rust, microcomputer support specialist for UW-River Falls. “They were definitely in need of replacement.”
Journalism professor Sandy Ellis agrees.
“Our lab was pretty tired,” she said.
Information Technology Service (ITS) staff at UW-River Falls generally attempts to replace lab computers every five years, Rust said, but it all depends on how much money is available.
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Before and after photos by Niki L. Paton |
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The new computers are 17-inch iMac G5s with two Gigahertz, one Gigabyte of RAM, 160-Gigabyte hard drives, and DVD burners. They are equipped with basic Microsoft Office software as well as Final Cut Studio, the same program used by professional filmmakers for DVD making, audio and video editing, and creating graphics.
“We went with the iMac rather than a tower system for the price,” Rust said. “While towers offer a little better performance, they are also $600 or $700 more per machine.”
Ellis said broadcast journalism faculty identified software needed for their classes and found Production Suite, a package offered by Apple that includes all of the best video production software available to professionals.
“Graphics and video have traditionally been Apple’s stronghold,” said Rust.
The change has been a good one, Ellis said, as her audio producton classes learned on the single computer equipped with digital audio editing software.
“We could only teach one person at a time,” she said. “It’s much more efficient to have everyone at their own desk.”
The journalism lab also remains open for student use from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
While the new computers have been a blessing to broadcast journalism students, the old equipment hasn’t been left behind.
All of the broadcast students learn how to use analog equipment first so they know the basics of recording first.
“You don’t just abandon the old stuff,” Ellis said. “After learning analog, they will be able to transition from video to digital very easily.”
But in order to adequately prepare broadcast journalism students for the real world, Ellis said new computers and software were essential.
“Digital audio editing is standard now,” she said. “There has definitely been a technological leap in recent years.”
The software offered in Production Suite allows students to adjust their work to make it “louder, quieter, blended, bold, or plain and is overall more complex,” Ellis said.
“I’m expecting them to pick it up a lot faster,” she said. “Today’s students have always been exposed to the digital world – they don’t realize how well-off they are.”
The new computers have also allowed journalism students to utilize more desk space because the entire hard drive is located in the frame surrounding the monitor screen.
“It’s much more pleasant and a better place to teach in,” Ellis said, adding that it’s easier to comment on students’ work because the screens are more visible.
Students have noticed changes in their classroom experiences as well.
“The computers are a lot faster and more up-to-date,” said Lindsey Slattery, a journalism major who has several classes in the lab. “The new set up also seems more aesthetically pleasing, making it easier to get work done.”
Slattery said in-class discussions have played a larger role in her classes since the computers were placed facing the surrounding walls of the lab rather than in rows, and tables were grouped in the center of the room.
With the new computers also came a new projector, which many teachers use to display power point presentations, websites and other items from their computer screen.
“The new projector is much better than the old one,” Ellis said. “I used to have to pull all the shades down in the room just to see the screen.”
Overall, students, faculty and IT services staff are happy that the journalism lab has finally been updated.
“We really needed this change,” Ellis said. “It’s just more pleasant to work in there now.