Technology in Interpretation

Results: Design and Oversee Computer Lab   

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   Layout of the Computer Lab

   Renovation of Basement Storage Areas

   Installation of Computer Technology Equipment

   Current Use of the Lab

   Recommendations for Interpretation Computer Lab

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Layout of the Interpretation Computer Lab

            The construction of the Interpretation Computer Lab was well underway when the researcher started his graduate program.  A former storage area in the basement of the Schmeeckle Reserve Visitor Center was being renovated into a modern computer lab.  Figure 11 shows the layout of the basement storage areas before 1999.  The original proposed layout of the computer lab is reproduced in Figure 12.

 

            According to the original proposal, the northern-most storage area would be divided into three separate rooms.  The small west room located at the end of the stairs would remain a storage area.  The middle space would become a meeting room appropriate for smaller groups of people.  Meetings could then be scheduled in the large classroom upstairs and the smaller meeting room downstairs.  The east room would become the interpretive computer lab, complete with computers, scanners, and a large format printer and laminator. 
            In the early stages of this project, it became apparent that the space proposed for the computer lab was inadequate.  The bulky large-format printer and laminator consumed nearly all of the space in the original computer lab.  Regardless of the arrangement, only two or three computers would fit in the east room, drastically limiting the teaching opportunities.  Ron Zimmerman, director of Schmeeckle Reserve, and the researcher determined that both the middle and east rooms would need to be dedicated as computer lab space.  The second meeting room proposal was dropped, and the final layout for the renovated storage areas can be seen in Figure 13.

          Since the wall between the east and middle rooms had already been constructed, the computer lab would be divided into two separate spaces.  The primary teaching area would be in the middle room, where a number of student computer stations would be installed.  The east room, on the other hand, would house equipment devoted to the actual fabrication of interpretive products, including the large-format printer, the laminator, and a computer station for high-resolution scanning and publication layout.  The west room would serve both as a finished storage area and as a resource library for the interpretation students.

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Renovation of Basement Storage Areas

            Between May of 2000 and January of 2002, the basement storage areas were under constant renovation.  Through the help of University students and staff, walls were built, electric outlets and network jacks were installed, lighting was put in, a ceiling was hung, carpet was laid, and doors were installed.  To make the downstairs lab accessible to people with physical disabilities, a gently sloping road was shaped and paved to the basement workshop door.  A hallway was constructed that separated visitors from the workshop and painting areas, and connected the workshop door to the computer lab.  In addition, an accessible restroom was constructed in part of the south storage area near the computer lab, which can be seen in Figure 13. 

            During December and January of 2001-2002, student employees at Schmeeckle Reserve transformed old oak cabinets and drawers from the College of Science into usable, high-quality computer stations.  Heavy-duty tabletops were cut and refinished with white countertop lamination.  The furniture and tabletops were custom designed to create four computer stations on the south side of the middle room, and three stations on the north side.  A corner desk was purchased for the layout station in the east room.  Two wooden folding tables were also cut to a proper size and placed in the east room to aid in the lamination process.

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Installation of Computer Technology Equipment

 

When the computer stations were completed, the actual computers were installed in the downstairs lab.  Each computer was networked to the University system through a network box in the east room, which allowed access to the Internet, e-mail, and other campus software.  Because the Schmeeckle Reserve Visitor Center is on a wireless network system (a tower on the roof sends and receives signals from the library on campus), computers in the lab needed to be specially configured to work on the network.  Some equipment, such as the two flatbed scanners, the slide scanner, and a sound recording device, were hooked up to individual computers.  Other equipment needed to be installed to all computers, including the color laser printer, color inkjet printer, large-format printer, and digital camera card reader. 

            Software for the technology training modules was also installed on every computer.  Some programs, like the Microsoft products, were already installed on the computers by the University Information Technology office.  Other more unique programs, however, needed to be installed directly, including QuarkXpress, Adobe Potoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat, Paint Shop Pro, sound editing and conversion programs, and graphic viewing programs.  The “start menu” and “desktop” of each computer were standardized so a student would have an identical computing experience regardless of which computer he or she chooses. 

            When the desktop publishing module was taught the second semester of the 2001-02 school year, five high-speed desktop computers were available for student use, although one of those computers was located in the east room and thus inaccessible for group teaching.  Two slower touch-screen computers, which had been previously purchased for an exhibit in the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, were also available for student use.  In March of 2002, two more high-speed computers and another color laser printer were acquired for the lab. 

            The current equipment that has been installed in the Interpretation Computer Lab is listed in Figure 14.

Figure 14:  Current Equipment in the Interpretation Computer Lab

  • 6 high-speed (over 500 Mhz processor) computers
    • 4 have large 21” monitors
    • All have 250 Mb Zip drives
    • All have DVD/CD-Rom drives
    • 3 have CD-burners
  • 2 lower-speed (less than 500 Mhz processor) computers
  • 1 portable 250 Mb Zip disk drive
  • 1 digital projector
  • 1 cordless mouse
  • 2 flatbed scanners (1 older and slow model)
  • 1 slide scanner
  • 2 color laser printers (1 up to 8.5” x 11”, 1 up to 11” x 17”)
  • 1 color inkjet printer (up to 11” x 17”)
  • 1 large-format inkjet printer (up to 36” x any length) and network computer
  • 1 large-format laminator (up to 36” x any length)
  • 2 digital cameras
  • 1 digital camera reader
  • 1 network box (with multiple connections)

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Current Use of the Lab

Sign-in sheets were located outside the entrance of the middle computer lab, requesting the student’s name, purpose for using the lab, and time spent in the lab.  On April 7, 2002, after the desktop publishing training module had been completed, this data was collected and analyzed to reveal current use patterns.  Students did not sign the sheets during the training module sessions, but the instructor kept an attendance sheet for further use information.

Overall, 22 different students used the lab between the end of January and the beginning of April.  A total of all the time values on the sign-in sheets indicates that 115 hours were logged in the lab outside of class.  Without incorporating any class time, each student spent an average of 5.23 hours in the computer lab.  Fourteen out of the 22 students also participated in the desktop publishing training module that was taught in the computer lab.  Each of these students spent an extra hour-and-a-half in the lab each week for 5 weeks.  For these students, the average time spent in the lab was an additional 7.5 hours, making the total about 12.73 hours per person.  Through class and non-class use, nearly 220 student hours were spent in the interpretation computer lab. 

         Figure 15 illustrates the various reasons that students were using the lab.  The majority of students used the lab to complete assignments for the Signs, Trails, and Waysides course.  The second largest category was the completion of assignments for the desktop publishing training module.  As would be suspected, students are primarily using the lab to complete assignments for their interpretation courses.  However, very few students are using the lab to work on other projects.  During those periods when no assignment was due in the interpretive courses, the computer lab remained virtually empty. 

 

 

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Introduction
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For More Information, contact:

Jim Buchholz
Schmeeckle Reserve
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
(715) 346-4992
jbuchhol@uwsp.edu

 

 All pictures and text are copyrighted by Jim Buchholz, 2002.  No part of this website may be duplicated without written permission of the author.