DMC Custom Workshop Request

If you would like to help your students develop skills in producing multimedia (such as videos, presentations and posters) or in using software to support their research, the Digital Media Commons is eager to work with you to offer targeted workshops focused on your needs.  We can be flexible about the amount of time devoted to the workshop as well as the information that is covered.  We can also offer special workshops for departments, research teams, and other groups.

Workshops Offered in the Past

• Digital Storytelling Workshops: a hands-on workshop series takes participants through the process of crafting a digital story, from writing a script to editing images to creating a video. Sessions cover elements of good digital storytelling, physical operation of DMC equipment to capture photos, audio, or video, and using editing software to pull the digital story together.
• Organizing Your Research Using Zotero: Zotero makes it easy to download articles or web pages as well as related bibliographic information, take notes, organize research collections, and automatically generate a bibliography.  If your class includes a research paper assignment, consider introducing students to this invaluable research tool.
• Tropy for Research Photo Management: Tropy is a free, open-source desktop application that lets you store, organize, and describe your research photos, including those taken in archives. It makes it easy to find your research photos so you can use them more effectively. This workshop covers the basic workflow of using Tropy, from creating a project to organizing photos and tagging/describing photos.
• Creating a Poster with PowerPoint: This workshop covers the basic principles of designing an effective poster. It also has a hands-on part to walk participants through the process of creating a poster with PowerPoint.
• Design Principles:  introduces participants to foundational design principles that strengthen visual communication and elevate the quality of academic and professional work. Participants will explore why design matters, learn strategies for creating effective layouts, develop confidence working with color and typography, and practice using contrast and text hierarchy to guide audience attention. The session concludes with an introduction to essential design tools, equipping students with practical skills they can immediately apply to presentations, publications, and digital projects.
• Editorial layout: Participants will get a short introduction to design software and learn the basics of editorial design. The workshop will guide participants through step-by-step hands-on instruction. This workshop can be customized to any project that involves multiple page layouts.
• Intro to Podcasting: This course will cover the basics of using DMC resources for podcasting. This includes explanation and demonstration of equipment available for checkout from the DMC useful for podcasting, use of the DMC Audio Studio, and basic audio editing in GarageBand.
• Intro to Tableau Public: This workshop covers the basic workflow of using Tableau including connecting to data, creating charts in worksheets, building an interactive dashboard, and sharing and publishing viz to the web.
• Visual Storytelling with TimelineJS: Transform static dates into a dynamic, visual narrative. In this workshop, you will learn to use TimelineJS, an open-source tool that enables you to build beautiful, interactive timelines using nothing more than a Google Sheet. We will cover how to integrate video and images directly into your story, and how to embed your time on a portfolio or website. 

Please contact Jane Zhao (janezhao@rice.edu), Ian Mellor-Crummey (imm2@rice.edu), or Magdalene Alva (ma210@rice.edu) if you would like the DMC to provide training for your students or department.