Mini-Workshops
The Digital Studio employs many talented tutors who teach students both inside and out of the Digital Studio’s tutoring space. One way that tutors educate outside of the Studio space is through workshops. These workshops are developed by the tutors for other students and for the general public. The workshops are 10-40 minutes in length and range in topic from infographics to video editing to Photoshop use. As of April 2017, the Digital Studio has reached over 170 students through workshops.
One of the Digital Studio’s tutors, Kim Kissh, was presented with the opportunity to develop a workshop for a group of high school students that were taking part in Digifest. Digifest is an educational event for Volusia County students that was hosted by Embry-Riddle. Kim chose infographics for the topic of her workshop, which was delivered to two groups of thirty high school students. Both groups were highly receptive and were enthusiastic to use infographics in the future. Students responded especially well to the challenge portion of the workshop, in which Kim challenged students to create an infographic for their favorite superhero. Kim, who award for her creative and fun workshop, recounted her experience below:
“During Digifest 2017, (an educational event held at Embry-Riddle’s campus for Volusia County High School students to learn and compete in events related to gaming, animation and multi medi design) I had the pleasure of representing the Digital Studio by presenting a workshop on how to make an effective infographic. My audience consisted of two groups of 30 high school students who were interested and eager to learn about digital design concepts. At the beginning of each of session I surveyed the students to find out who has had previous experience with infographics. In each session, there were only a few hands that were raised. After comparing different infographics and challenging the students to create their own every participant indicated they would use infographics in the future. Overall, the event resulted in success by empowering students to communicate more effectively with their new digital skills.”
Clubs and Organizations
Students organizations and clubs can also work with tutors at the Digital Studio on a variety of projects. One project of note was made by Carly Shoemake, who created a video about her research about crisis communication and the use of social media in the airline industry. This video was made with help from the Digital Studio, and it won her a scholarship to attend the 2016 International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI). This conference was in Iceland, where Shoemake was one of four international winners and the only one representing Embry-Riddle.
“The Digital Studio helped me effectively communicate my research and led to me winning a scholarship that has not only sent me to Iceland, but also put me on a first name basis with department heads at major corporations and government entities. I didn’t know how invaluable that experience would have been for me.”
Office of Undergraduate Research
The Embry-Riddle Office of Undergraduate Research is dedicated to assisting students in their research efforts, and offers help at all phases of the research process. The Digital Studio is currently collaborating with the Office of Undergraduate Research to help students with the most important part of a research project – the poster. Poster design is vital for the effective communication of the project’s idea and value, and the Digital Studio is helping students showcase their intelligence and creativity.