The curriculum is delivered entirely online through Penn State World Campus and integrates courses in art and design, information sciences and technology, communications, and general education options. When embedded in problem-based, purpose-driven inquiry the curriculum is dynamic and responsive to individual needs, interests and aspirations. This approach is well suited and expertly supported in the resource rich online environment. Students take a series of prescribed courses in digital multimedia design, supporting courses in related areas, and additional courses drawn from online tracks in visual arts and design, information sciences and technologies, and communications. The content is sequenced in order to be informing and transforming as students move through the degree.
School of Visual Arts, College of Arts and Architecture
msc227@psu.edu
Michael Collins joined the Penn State School of Visual Arts in 2012 where he teaches 3D animation, digital design, and digital fabrication. His research interests in open-source technology and sustainable design unite around online education, where he works to identify and solve contemporary issues facing online teaching and learning. Long-term project collaborations include the ELMS Learning Network project and the OERSchema project. Collins has previously worked on projects for the NFL, BMW Guggenheim Lab in NYC, and as freelance product designer. He has attended, presented at, and helped organize a variety of international design, technology, and education conferences and has been a long-time SIGGRAPH volunteer.
College of Communications
why1@psu.edu
Will Yurman is a senior lecturer in the College of Communications at Penn State where he teaches multimedia storytelling and photojournalism. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife Hilary Appelman their two children, two cats and a dog. Before coming to Penn State he worked in journalism for more than 20 years as a still photographer and multimedia producer. Will was a staff photographer at the (Rochester N.Y.)Democrat and Chronicle.He also spent three years based in Jerusalem covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. His still photography and multimedia work have been recognized in the Best of Photography, and Picture of the Year International contests and exhibited at The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. His obsessive-compulsive nature has allowed him to extend his photo a day project to more than twelve years. Not to jinx it, but he has taken a photo every day since December 31, 2003.
College of Information Sciences & Technology
gto1@psu.edu
Dr. Greg O’Toole, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University where he focuses on effective creative expression using open source technologies and critical approaches to media studies. Greg has been working on the web since 1994, effectively building sustainable web ecosystems for a globally diverse range of users and clients.
Dr. O’Toole studied at Bradley University (B.S.); The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Post-Bacc.); University of Denver (M.A.); and the European Graduate School in Saas-fee, Switzerland for his doctoral research, and defended his doctoral dissertation on extracting meaning from mediated messages with Professor Dr. Hubertus von Amelunxen, Ph.D. in Berlin, Germany which was published the same year.
As an author, lecturer, designer, developer and consultant, Dr. O’Toole has worked with many great organizations around the world such as McGill University in Quebec, Canada; Ochanomizu University in Tokyo, Japan; Yale University Press; Kotka Photographic Center in Kotka, Finland; Rhonda Schaller Gallery in New York City; Chicago Public Library; University of California at Berkeley; Drupalcon in Dublin, Ireland; University of Chicago; Frontline on PBS; Cellbytes in Australia; Temple University; Philadelphia Cultural Alliance; Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil; Instituto de Educação Superior in Brazil; Harvard University; National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Endowment for the Arts; Montana Arts Council; Los Angeles Center for Digital Art; University of Applied Sciences Hof, Bavaria, Germany; The British Journal of Educational Technology; Acquia; IEEE Computer Society; Springer Briefs in Computer Science; Enterprise Learning Solutions/NIIT in India; and The National Library of Poetry.
The web projects he’s helped build over the years are currently in use by 10 million+ web users globally each month.