Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
U Wyoming Students Vote To Implement Sonic Foundry's Mediasite for Lecture Capture
7/24/2008
An overwhelming student vote for Mediasite will put the Webcasting platform from Sonic Foundry into University of Wyoming lecture halls this fall. Mediasite is a presentation capture tool that records and synchronizes audio, video, and slides and then allows the presenter to provide it online for on-demand viewing or in podcast form. The tool also enables the presenter to make the presentation available online as it happens."The decision to purchase Mediasite was student-driven and student-funded. When the committee viewed the technology and discovered its benefits, the majority of students voted to install Mediasite," said Maggie Deming, director of IT services and chair of the Central Student Technology Committee (CSTC). The CSTC is comprised of student and faculty representatives from each of the university's eight colleges and strives to support a wide variety of state-of-the-art technologies.
Marcus Curley, a recent graduate, was one of the 16 students on the CSTC that selected Mediasite. "I was on committees, taking 16 hours of classes and working 20 hours a week. I had a busy student life. To have the ability to go back and watch classes would be the perfect way to ease the stress of school a bit. It's a huge benefit to be able to review on your own time," said Curley. "Mediasite can also help you transition into higher education. Early in college you're trying to figure out how to take these classes and be efficient as a student. Taking notes takes a lot of time and you miss some things. With Mediasite you can just watch, listen, and absorb the information as it comes and not have to worry whether you're going to remember this later."
Initial deployment at the University includes three Mediasite classrooms in the main lecture building, as well as one portable unit. Faculty scheduled to teach in that building will have the chance to demo the lecture capture technology this fall. By spring of 2009, faculty will be able to request the technology, dubbed WyoCast On Demand, as part of their classroom environment.
"We feel that classroom capture will be a game changer for the university. Mediasite is the most innovative technology the [CSTC] voted on for this coming year. It will let students be more engaged in the class instead of having their heads down in their notebooks," said Deming. "Mediasite will be a learning resource for students. If someone has a problem getting through a certain formula--if their notes don't make sense to them--they can review and reinforce the learning that happens instead of being lost in a class."
According to the company, Mediasite is in use in 600 colleges and universities, including California State University San Marcos, Central Michigan University, and Northwestern University School of Communication.
Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business. Send your higher education technology news to her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Tiffin U's New Online College to Use Pearson's eCollege for Course Management
Beginning this fall, students in Tiffin University's newest online program, Ivy Bridge College, will use eCollege, a course management system from Pearson, for all of their online courses. The 2,350-student Tiffin U is located in Tiffin, OH and offers both on-campus and online classes. Since 2005, those online courses have been managed through Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution.
- California Community Colleges Adopt SunGard Banner Software
California's Rio Hondo College and Sierra College have selected software from the Banner Unified Digital Campus and other solutions from SunGard Higher Education to help address their growing enrollments and to help improve student retention and services.
- Luidia Releases eBeam Interact 2.1 for Interactive Whiteboards
Luidia has released a new version its eBeam software for use with classroom-based interactive projection environments. eBeam Interact 2.1 offers both new and upgraded features, including enhanced screen recording and a comprehensive online image gallery, as well as the company's Scrapbook Image Writer feature.
- McGill U Library Scanning Rare Books with Kirtas
McGill University Library in Montreal will be using a Kirtas Technologies APT BookScan 2400RA to digitize its collections. The company says that the 2400RA is capable of acquiring page images at the rate of 2,400 pages per hour. The library will be working with Ristech, a Canadian reseller, to implement the digitization solution.
- Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore
Ball State University in Muncie, IN has gone public regarding its deployment of a Web site content management system from Sitecore. Ball State chose Sitecore's software to revamp its 220-plus sites, integrating common new media applications and garnering a next-generation user experience that has won several awards from education and new media marketing organizations. Now, Ball State maintains uniformity across all university Web sites and said it has enhanced its recruiting efforts through the site's new look and interface.
- Bio-Key Launches Emergency Alert Platforms for Schools
Bio-Key International has announced the release of two new emergency alert and management solutions for the education market. MobileSRO is designed specifically for the K-12 environment, while MobileCampus caters to higher education and other campus-based organizations.
