Virtual Excitement
Classes Expand at Discovery World

Chantell Singleton wanted a challenge. She ended up getting that and more as a student intern working at the new Discovery World at the lakefront. MATC is a partner in the visionary educational and entertainment hub. A graphic design/commercial art major, Singleton last summer joined a select group of advanced students and recent graduates in creating a prototype virtual reality pod.

The pod will envelop visitors in a digitally created, interactive, surround-sound, surround-sight exhibit about weather. Users will be able to change the weather virtually and learn about the underlying science. On the drawing board are plans for a pod that will take you on a virtual tour of Milwaukee. In an acknowledgement of Milwaukee's growing diversity, language recognition software will allow the pods to pick up on visitors' native tongue and talk to them in it.

"We're trying to figure out things that haven't been invented yet," Singleton said. "It definitely challenges the way you think about things and implement ideas. We're using techniques we're just inventing now. The work seems like graduate-level. It's very different from anything I've ever done before - a great experience. We work with the latest technology. If you're interested in exhibits and display designs, studying here would help immensely. And working on something this cutting-edge will really look good on the resume."

Singleton and her group were the first wave of MATC students to work at Discovery World. The second wave arrived last fall when two advanced MATC courses were offered at the site. Now, for spring 2007, six courses are being offered.

They include Animation Studio, Advanced Visual Design, Marketing Management, Digital Video and Still Photo, Audio Production and Multimedia Collaborative Lab. About 20 degree and diploma programs will eventually use the labs and facilities for special projects ranging from 3D animation to video production. 

MATC President Darnell E. Cole (right) tours the new digital arts lab with Discovery World co-chairman and benefactor Michael Cudahy.

To be taught in the future at Discovery World is a new associate degree in Computer Simulation and Gaming. Officials from the museum and MATC meanwhile are working together on another expansion of offerings for the fall 2007 semester. A shuttle van was scheduled to enter service between Discovery World and the Downtown Milwaukee Campus in February.

The core concept behind the MATC/Discovery World partnership is called Human Interactive Virtual Education - "HIVE." An idea, not a place, it describes a new kind of teaching and learning that makes highly creative use of today's most sophisticated interactive media. The pods being worked on by Singleton's team are just one component. HIVE also incorporates digital theaters, digital arts learning labs and digital studios for video and sound.

For the students working on HIVE development, it's been quite a ride. They are creating exhibits that will dazzle visitors and double as training facilities for MATC while they are gaining priceless practical experience by interacting with professional creatives. They earn college credits while working in a production environment patterned after the job world, and they are the first beneficiaries of a new instructional model developed in conjunction with Discovery World.
 

Milwaukee Public Television shoots a recent HD video about MATC at Discovery World. This view looks down through the museum's three-story-tall, motion-articulated double helix. 

"So often in the classroom, the teacher lectures, students listen and take notes, study textbooks, and are tested in the form of quizzes, papers and final exams," said MATC President Darnell E. Cole. "The Discovery World experience will be more like real life. Students will take on projects far more challenging and meatier than a typical internship assignment. Instructors will act more as project managers than lecturers. Student success will be measured in terms of project outcomes. We are going to redefine what it means to provide students with real-world experience."

"All hands-on - that's what we're all about, and that's what we think MATC is about too," said Michael Cudahy, Discovery World co-chairman and benefactor. Added Paul Krajniak, executive director: "Student participation is enriching everyone involved in the Discovery World project. MATC students will have high visibility here and will make a highly positive impression on visitors. Visitors will carry that positive impression out into the community, as an added benefit to the college."

Completed recently was an advanced, high-definition studio for Milwaukee Public Television where television production students will experience onsite training by doing real projects. Channels 10 and 36 already have shot several shows there. Fall orientation day for MATC faculty included a live remote broadcast from the deck of the Discovery World Pilot House. Cudahy speaks passionately about programming that literally will range the world, covering subjects such as nature, science, economics, weather, the Great Lakes and oceans.

"I am thrilled for our students and faculty about the opening of MATC classes at the new Discovery World," Cole said. "It will offer a whole new way of teaching and learning, while showcasing our command of technology. We are making a statement to the world that MATC stands for innovation. The college extends its thanks to the entire Discovery World team, and especially to Michael Cudahy."

To learn more about MATC at Discovery World, please contact Karen Zwissler, interim dean, Business and Information Technology, 414-297-6179.

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