New Collaborative Space in LITS Opens

By Victoria Kerman '08

Walking beyond the Info Commons into Dwight Hall last year, one would have passed through a somewhat dismal corridor sandwiched between four long, sterile, computer labs. A sojourn through that same space today shocks the unprepared eye with light, color, and inviting space. Welcome to the MEWS, an acronym for Mediated Educational Work Space, pronounced like "news" with an "m" or, alternatively, "muse." LITS staff hopes that the MEWS will inspire students' creativity as the mythological Greek muses supported the arts of ancient Greece.

Formerly, the rooms occupying this area supported the needs of distinct groups. For more than ten years, it was divided into a faculty space, a special projects lab, a video production lab, and office space. Recently, campus needs have been evolving so that a collaborative space made more sense for the MHC community, according to Aime DeGrenier, manager of Community Technical Support. This summer those needs were addressed in a renaissance that took place on the main floor of Dwight.

"We wanted it to be a collaborative, flexible, teaching area," DeGrenier said. "Mount Holyoke students are on the move!"

The new room is open, airy, and convenient. All furniture, including comfy armchairs with attached tables and a funky orange privacy screen, is fully mobile. The space has been carefully sectioned into work stations and two "collaborative rooms" partitioned off for teaching and group projects. Each is equipped with a huge monitor for viewing course material or developing presentations. There is also a 16-seat multimedia teaching space with two 52-inch plasma displays. The extra screens enable every student to see what their instructor is doing, in spite of structural poles that challenged the designers.

The MEWS also represents Mount Holyoke's commitment to forward-thinking use of new technology. To accommodate as many users as possible, LITS staff chose to purchase several new dual-boot Intel Macs. These machines can be used as Macs or PCs according to preference. To support multimedia projects, digital video cameras, still cameras, tripods, and other equipment are available to check out through Media Resources. Everything has been done to make students and professors comfortable in the newest addition to the LITS complex. "We hope this is a place where people are learning and teaching each other," DeGrenier said.

Related Links:

The MEWS

Library, Information, and Technology Services