Ohio University was recently selected to join the New Media Consortium, a collection of universities, museums and corporations brought together to use and share new media and technologies.
The NMC is a not-for-profit consortium dedicated to the development of new applications of technology to support learning and creative expression through Internet networking, according to the consortium's Web site.
The consortium's membership includes approximately 200 institutions, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other consortium members include Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
OU joined the consortium April 17 when its application for membership was approved. Joining the consortium will give OU the opportunity to share research, information and technology with other institutions, said D. Lee Beard, computer learning lab manager for University College.
Beard said that membership to the group will also give OU students and faculty the chance to collaborate with other universities to develop new technology and innovations.
We now have the opportunity to network with other institutions that want to do the same things we are doing
Beard said. This is an opportunity to take what we've learned and share it with other people so we can make (what we've learned) better.
The consortium will also improve networking technology within OU, allowing students to better share information with each other, Beard said.
Membership to the consortium will cost OU approximately $2,000 a year, which Beard said will pay for itself in membership benefits. As a consortium member, OU was granted four free registrations to NMC's summer conference, which Beard said would cost approximately $900.
The consortium was founded in 1993 by a group of hardware manufacturers, software developers and publishers who wanted to create a community of technology innovators embedded in colleges and universities, according to the NMC's Web site.
-Jessica Forrester 17
Archives
Jessica Forrester
