With interactive multimedia technology use on the rise, a class in the SIUC’s Workforce Education and Development program is working to educate SIUC students about the equipment’s importance.

Students in Workforce Education and Development 501 are sponsoring their third annual Multimedia Showcase in Pulliam Hall today. SIUC faculty, staff and students can view and use the technologies at six stations in Pulliam Hall rooms 201, 204 and 206 from 2 to 5 p.m.

[Interactive multimedia is] the wave of the future if students take these kinds of courses, Lori Bronder, a graduate student in workforce education and development from DeSoto, said. This showcase will be able to show everyone that interactive technology is used and will be used on a bigger scale in the future.

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Bronder is one of six students putting on the program.

Steve Etcheson, a graduate student from Canton who is in charge of the project, said it is important for people to learn about various multimedia because businesses and households will rely on them immensely in the near future.

We’re at the door of the information age, Etcheson said. Things we can’t even imagine are going to happen. For someone who is going to go out there and be a professional, they need to know the equipment.

Multimedia training is one of the six stations that will show attendees what the six students in WED 501 have been doing throughout the semester. The station will display for attendees how the class learned scanning, altering colors, saving on a disc and printing photos and still images using image scanning.

Desktop video conferencing will be one technology featured at a station. Video conferencing is where camera angles capture two different locations and display both images on a dual-screen television. This technology often is used by major corporations for meetings when professionals are in two different locations.

The station will have video conferencing between rooms 204 and 206 where students are able to see what is going on in the opposite room.

Internet video phones is another of the technological toys that students will be able to view. A video phone allows someone to talk to another individual through his or her computer and see the person on a computer screen while the two are speaking. A camera is used to capture the person, and the image is transmitted over the telephone lines.

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One station will feature a digital still camera that can take a picture, transmit it to a computer screen and then copy it to a disc. The class also will showcase a digital video camera, which is similar to a still camera but it transmits the image to the Internet where it can be viewed live.

Dr. Fred Reneau, professor in workforce education and development, said this presentation has something to offer everyone.

Anyone that has an interest in training materials can gain knowledge by going to this presentation, Reneau said. Everyone can gain insight on what can be done. This kind of information can be used at any setting:at the university level, the junior college level and at home.

Etcheson said this is a great opportunity for students to be introduced to the technology of the future.

Here is a way, he said, to take a look at some technology that some people have just heard of and have never seen or dealt with.

FACTOID:The third annual Multimedia Showcase will be in Pulliam Hall rooms 201, 204 and 206 from 2 to 5 p.m. today.