The Triangle

Issue date: 12/4/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Francesca Martelli

The Steelcase Media:Scape display in the Hagerty Library atrium, a high-tech table of laptop hookups and large flat-screen monitors, provides students with a month-long opportunity to use technology to work effectively on group projects and is a test for future library equipment.

Students entering the library in the last few weeks may have noticed the lime green and steel table and seats with large flat panel displays, a layout that is dropped in among the faux wooden computer desks on the library's first floor. This new addition begs students to question what this is exactly, and how it can benefit them.

According to Gail Holmes, assistant director of interiors, this new addition to the library is actually a test drive to see if students will use the new style of study desks. Holmes works at the University's Interior Design Group, the office that furbishes the interiors of Drexel buildings.

"It's called the Media:Scape table and we're looking to see how students will use the new furnishings," Holmes said. "We didn't want [to tuck it away in] a corner for the test drive, so we chose the library atrium so that students will see it."

Designed by Steelcase Inc., an office furniture manufacturer, the Media:Scape system is centered around a "media puck" in the center of a table with two large screens at the head of the table. Space for six students around the table allows for collaboration on projects and study sessions. Each student can plug a laptop into the media pucks embedded in the table, a feature that will allow them to display information on either of the two flat panel screens so that other students can view notes or presentations.

Holmes explained that decisions regarding additional Media:Scape systems and their locations will be influenced by the feedback provided by students. Social media is being implemented in the Interior Design Group's test drive, as students are encouraged to Tweet, text, and E-mail their feelings about the new installation and if it should be expanded.

"If the students tell us that they want these tables in study rooms in the library, they'll go there. If they want them in classrooms, we'll look into that. We get all of the feedback from the students and it will all go into our decision making process," Holmes added.

So far it seems that students are responding well to the curvy lines and space-age colors the new table brings. On a recent weekday afternoon, several students were gathered around the Media:Scape station working on their laptops.

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