University Times

Pitt becomes New Media Centers member

Pitt, through its Faculty Instructional Development Lab (FIDL), has been admitted to membership in New Media Centers (NMC), a non-profit organization consisting of more than 100 institutions.

According to NMC, the organization "brings forward-thinking colleges and universities together with innovative high-tech companies to explore new ways of teaching and learning through new media." Each NMC institution must meet several criteria including: innovation; noticeable impact on teaching and learning; collaboration with other entities on campus and beyond; diversity within NMC through its location, institution size or type, student population and/or structure, and viability.

FIDL, part of the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education, is the official home of the Pitt NMC, but the designation of New Media Center is conferred upon the University as a whole, and participation in NMC programs is open to anyone at Pitt.

NMC says new media include new technologies such as DVDs, haptics, streaming video, wireless transmission and Internet 2, as well as such new uses for existing technologies as digital libraries, interactive storytelling and distance learning. A New Media Center is a designated place where new media are incorporated into teaching and learning.

For more information about NMC, visit its web site at: www.newmediacenters.org/ The Pitt NMC web site is: www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb/FIDL/nmc.htm