Search DU CTLAT Blog

Monday, September 12, 2011

Campus Technology: Lecture Capture Takes to the Cloud


Columbus State Community College has formed an alliance with Kaltura and TechSmith to create a turnkey lecture
capture solution that can be deployed via the cloud.



By Jennifer Skelly09/07/11


Using TechSmith’s Camtasia Relay system and Kaltura’s open source video platform, Columbus State Community College (OH) has developed a process to move captured Relay content directly from on-campus classrooms to the Kaltura cloud. The goal is to ensure high-quality streaming video for all CSCC students, regardless of where they are.


The school's focus is hardly surprising. CSCC is a widely dispersed institution, with two campuses and nine off-campus centers serving more than 30,000 students. Of that number, nearly a quarter are enrolled in distance-learning programs. Add in another 22,000 students in CSCC's Community Education and Workforce Development program--many of whom participate in training from their workplace--and you begin to see why the high-quality delivery of online instruction is so critical.


To learn more about CSCC's cloud-based lecture capture program, Campus Technology spoke with Jason LaMar and Joel Nelson, multimedia web developers with the college's Instructional Technologies and Distance Learning division and project coordinators for the CSCC/TechSmith/Kaltura alliance.


Campus Technology: How did the project--and the alliance--get started?


Joel Nelson: CSCC was part of the initial beta for Camtasia Relay, so we've been working with TechSmith from the beginning.


We have a lot of instructors at CSCC who want to record their lecture in class and deliver it to the business learning courses or as supplemental material in the traditional courses. Relay was an ideal product, but it only recorded and produced the lecture capture. Our faculty needed delivery methods as well, and they wanted a solution they could grow into. We began to do research, we looked into a few different solutions, but we quickly settled on Kaltura.


Kaltura had a willingness to configure a solution specific to what we wanted to do: tie into Relay and use it with Blackboard. Pretty much all of our courses offer supplemental material using Blackboard.


LaMar: We were interested in finding a better outlet for storage and delivery of content--and that interested Kaltura. I think both companies immediately saw how the marriage of their products could benefit all of their clients.


CT: How does Kaltura help CSCC make the transition from a locally based solution to the cloud?


Nelson: The lure of Kaltura is the cloud element. You could use the product right out of the box to put your media onto iTunesU or YouTube. But in education there's always a need to find a solution over which you have some sort of ownership. Even if you're planning on making it freely available, you still want that ownership. From YouTube, you can deliver to everybody, but you don't have ownership; with iTunesU, you have ownership, but you can't deliver to everybody.


Now the piece is inside your LMS--that's another step Kaltura has taken. It's integrated so you can deploy right into the heart of a course, so instructors feel that ownership as well.


CT: What kind of cloud system does Kaltura offer?


Nelson: The back end of Kaltura is Akamai. When you put your content on Kaltura, the video can be delivered quickly because it's coming from the server closest to you or the one with the least traffic. It automatically chooses the best option.


Kaltura also has the capability to do adaptive bit-rate streaming. It can instantly change the quality of the stream depending on your network connection. If there's a bottleneck, you're going to continue to get the stream but at a lower quality. And they have the capability to deliver to a mobile device as well. It's able to detect whether you're watching on an iPad or an Android, and deliver the best quality or type of video for that device, so you don't have to do that on the front end.


LaMar: The other advantage of the cloud over a locally based solution is the server system. Previously, we had a single server on campus, which was great but it was also a single point of failure. No matter how big the university, you can't beat the internet. Storage, availability, and redundancy aren't on our mind now, because we're relying on the internet.


It really makes sense to move from a local solution to a cloud solution for something like this. It provides the best experience for everybody, no matter where they are.


CT: Does the system support real-time delivery of content?


Nelson: There's an add-on to Kaltura for live-streaming, and they already do some of that through their hosted services.


LaMar: At CSCC, though, our focus is on-demand asynchronous streaming. You record it, vet it, and then upload it (either through the web or your LMS). Then, whenever somebody wants it, the content is available for use. The Relay-Kaltura mesh provides this.


CT: Have you piloted this new project yet?


Nelson: So far we've just been testing it. This fall is the large-scale pilot, when we expect to get it across to more faculty members. It'll be our widespread testing phase. Working with both companies, we've gotten it to a point where a few things need to be ironed out. We're still doing that, and we've also upgraded to a new version of Blackboard at the same time.


LaMar: We have a lot of lectures available in the Relay system, and this summer we created content for Kaltura. We've deployed both pieces independently of each other, but this fall will give us the chance to make the link end-to-end for the faculty. Now it's just about merging everything together. That's the focus for the fall.


CT: What are your goals for this project?


Nelson: A system we can grow into is the important piece of it. We're hoping to stay ahead of the game so that a year or two down the line, we're in a position to do more with video and media because we're not still trying to figure out how best to deliver it. We've already taken care of that. The goal, too, is to add video objects to learning content as easily as adding any other document. That's really the thing. If you can't have the student and instructor in the same room at the same time, the next best experience would be one using media and video. The remote student gets to hear the instructor's voice and see how and what they're presenting.


LaMar: Another reason we wanted to make this happen is so other institutions could benefit from it. We hope they can tap into this TechSmith/Kaltura partnership. We consider ourselves evangelists in terms of integrating multimedia with online learning--a critical piece to humanize what may otherwise be a cold medium on the web. At the end of the day, it's about helping students learn.
Share/Bookmark

Mediasite by Sonic Foundry On-Demand Webinar: 9 Questions You Must Ask Before You Start Lecture Capture


Share/Bookmark

The American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences Journal: The AABSS Journal, 2011, Volume 15


EFFECT OF DISTANCE LEARNING ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ “IT” SELF-EFFICACY AND ANXIETY LEVELS

~ Harry L. Legum & Brian K. Schmitt & Rolande Murray & Beverly J. O’Bryant/Mary Owens-Southall & Abby Byrnes & Rhonda F. Jeter

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Distance Learning on undergraduate students’ instructional technology self-efficacy levels, instructional technology anxiety levels and their statistical anxiety levels. A Pre/Posttest/Quasi Experimental research design was used to collect data from 10 face-to- face (control group) and 11 hybrid undergraduate students (experimental group) in two statistics courses in a mid-Atlantic Historical Black University (HBCU). Modes of measurement consisted of the CSU- IT Self-Efficacy Scale, CSU-IT Anxiety Scale and the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale . Quantitative data were coded numerically, and analyzed using non-parametric Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with five randomly selected undergraduate participants (experimental group) to determine their perspectives on the merit of implementing Distance Learning. Results revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in undergraduate students' instructional technology self-efficacy levels, and although approaching significance, there was not a statistically significant difference in undergraduate students' statistical anxiety levels subsequent to the Distance Learning intervention program between the experimental and control groups. In addition, there was not a statistically significant difference in undergraduate students' instructional technology anxiety levels between the experimental and control groups at posttest. Recommendations for future research and implications for educators and students are provided.


Key Words: Pupil, Internet, Lecture Capture, Course Management, Teaching
Share/Bookmark

FeedBlitz "Learning Online Info": Three Valuable Web Tools for Improved Online Learning

As the web continues to evolve and mature, the tools that expand humanity’s options for learning and knowledge grow exponentially. If you think back just 15 short years, answering a quick question about the world required cracking open a dusty old encyclopedia. There was a 50/50 chance that the information it contained was still correct, and you could never rely on encyclopedias to learn about new or breaking information.


Today, to learn something new, we simply Google it or check with others on Twitter, Facebook, Quora, etc. Rarely, when we need a quick answer, do we pull a book off the shelf. These online tools and communities are becoming so efficient at distributing fresh, quality information, that society has completely changed its go-to sources for knowledge.


What I’d like to share today are three online tools that are real game-changers in terms of learning and enhancing your knowledge. These websites span areas such as English grammar, foreign languages, and computer literacy. Whether you use them independently, or as an enhancement to existing online learning you may already be taking, diving into each of these tools can be very valuable for gaining insight and experience into specific topics.


Grammar Improvement
The first tool that is a regular go-to for me is Grammarly. Grammarly is a spelling, grammar, and plagiarism tool all rolled up into a single interface. In terms of usability, it couldn’t be simpler. Simply paste text into the window and click ‘start’. What you get back is the standard spelling and grammar issues, but also rich information on your writing style, tips for improvement, and very advanced reporting on your work. With online learning, this is a great tool to be your final ‘proof reader’ before submitting a document.


Language Learning
Have you heard of LiveMocha? Imagine a social network like Facebook, except instead of connecting with friends, you are connecting with people who want to communicate in other languages.


For example, lets say you speak English but are learning Spanish. The rate at which you learn the new language would skyrocket if you were continually communicating with someone who spoke Spanish fluently. Now, there is very likely someone out there who speaks Spanish fluently, and is trying to learn English. Doesn’t it make all the sense in the world for you both to work on your language learning together?


This is the basic premise behind LiveMocha. In addition to connecting people who want to help each other improve their learning of a second language, there are also training modules, games, and other tools that help you learn faster than just a textbook and translation dictionary.


Online Training Courses
There’s nothing like a good video training course when you are trying to learn something technical. While lectures and labs help, sometimes you just really need to see someone else do it (and have a rewind button handy!). More and more people are using Lynda.com to learn and become proficient with a wide-range of technical skills. From Excel and Photoshop to PHP coding and database development, if you are trying to learn something technical, there is a very good chance that Lynda.com has a course that will help you along your way.


These tools are just three that we feel breathe new life into the options for learning a skill. The days of encyclopedias, textbooks, and lectures being the only way to learn are long gone. These great social and rich-media technologies are empowering students to learn in new and innovative ways that didn’t exist just a few short years ago!


Brian Patterson is a web and IT consultant, passionate about new and innovative technologies. From working with federal agencies on large enterprise applications, to small businesses with small websites, his experience has run the gamut in the IT world. Brian is a partner at MangoCo, an web consulting agency.


Related posts:
1. Language Trainers
2. Lingu@net Europa: Online Language Learning
3. Twitter for Online Students
4. Review: 123TeachMe – Learning Spanish Online
5. Article: Pedagogical Affordances of Syndication, Aggregation and Mash-Up of Content on the Web
6. Top Web 2.0 Tools for Learning for the New School Year


Share/Bookmark

The Pulse: Rod Murray's E-Learning Tech Podcast


Newest Installment:Lou Pugliese of Moodlerooms
The September edition of The Pulse features a conversation with Lou Pugliese, chairman and CEO of Moodlerooms Inc., which provides hosting and support for Moodle, the open source course management system.



Biography:
Rodney B. Murray, executive director of academic technology at the University of the Sciences, is charged with advancing all aspects of educational technology on campus. His goal is to provide the teaching and learning platforms and services that will move USciences forward in classroom learning, hybrid and distance education. He earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Temple University School of Medicine. Prior to joining USciences, Rod created the Office of Academic Computing and taught pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University, where he helped bring about significant advancements in the areas of instructional technology, e-learning application development, and Jefferson’s Internet presence. At USciences, he promotes the latest e-learning technologies, including Web 2.0 applications, social media, blogs, wiki's, e-portfolios and podcasts. He has become a recognized expert in this area, producing his own podcast on educational technology since 2006.





Share/Bookmark

eSchool News: Five characteristics of an effective 21st-century educator


Readers say key skills include foresight, lifelong learning, and the ability to evaluate new technologies
By Meris Stansbury, Online Editor

Share/Bookmark

EDUCAUSE 2011 Conference Early-Bird Discounts End September 20th!


EDUCAUSE 2011 is the best thinking in higher education IT.



Be part of this important community gathering. At EDUCAUSE 2011 you will:

◦Network. Engage with peers who share similar interests and challenges.
◦Focus. Sort the program by topical themes and domains, speakers, and relevant interest areas to find exactly what you need.
◦Discover. Engage in affinity group sessions, special topic discussion sessions, and lightning rounds.
◦Inspire. Be inspired by forward-thinking speakers who challenge you to look to the future.


The EDUCAUSE 2011 program is now available. Whether your focus is on administration, teaching and learning, information technology infrastructure, information systems, cybersecurity, policy, library systems or information technology leadership, there's something at the annual conference for you.



Regardless of whether you attend in person or online, both dynamic venues will give you practical takeaways, help you develop beneficial relationships, and advance your professional knowledge and skills.
Share/Bookmark

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Vote to Declare Financial Exigency Fails at Southern U.

September 6, 2011
After numerous delays, the Board of Supervisors at Southern University declined to declare financial exigency for the Baton Rouge campus on Tuesday. Nine votes were needed to pass the measure, but it got only six, with six board members voting against it. Declaring financial exigency would have allowed the university to impose layoffs and furloughs on tenured professors, potentially saving $1.7-million to help meet a $10-million budget shortfall. But it also could have damaged the university’s reputation and debt rating.


Now the university will have to find those savings in other ways. Its chancellor, James Llorens, told The Chronicle that some faculty members had volunteered for furloughs, which could add up to about $1-million. The difference, he said, might be made up in layoffs among staff members. The university planned to submit a budget, outlining the cutbacks, to the state’s Board of Regents Tuesday night.
Share/Bookmark

The September 2011 issue for University Business is now available!


Share/Bookmark

University Business: Enrollment Increasing At 4-Year Colleges And Community Colleges

Increasing enrollments at some area colleges are forcing schools to make more room for on-campus housing.


The University of South Alabama, which just opened a new 330-room dorm, is already looking at expanding housing on campus, due to another record enrollment this year.


"One of the most important trends we’re seeing is unprecedented interest in on campus living," said USA spokesman Keith Ayers.


USA has 15,009 students enrolled this semester.


In the last five years, the number of students interested in living on campus has gone from 1,600 to 3,070 students, according to Ayers.


Press-Register
Share/Bookmark

Social Media Examiner: 34 Google+ Resources for Your Business: Advice from the Pros



By Cindy King
Published September 12, 2011


Have you wondered “How can Google+ help my business?” If so, then this guide is for you.


Google+ is rapidly becoming a mainstream social media platform. We covered how to get started with Google+. But what can it do for your business?


Below are the resources you need to ramp up your Google+ social media marketing. But first, a few navigation tips…MORE
Share/Bookmark

Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc: Want to improve your college teaching skills or your competitive edge in the academic job market?


Consider enrolling in one of our practical, theory-based graduate courses in pedagogy for higher education.


Preparation for the college classroom involves more than a solid base of knowledge in a discipline; it requires a systematic inquiry into the pedagogies and processes that facilitate learning. The Colleges of Worcester Consortium’s Certificate in College Teaching program is grounded in the latest educational research on best practices in college teaching, and is designed to enhance the teaching and learning experiences for faculty and students at our member institutions. The primary focus of the Certificate is to prepare graduate students, adjunct and full-time faculty who aspire to, or who are currently engaged in, a career in academia. Courses carry Worcester State University graduate credit and may be taken individually or toward completion of the six-credit Certificate. A complete course schedule, full course descriptions, and sample syllabi are available on our website .


FALL 2011 COURSE OFFERINGS:
(All courses carry Worcester State University graduate credit.)


CT 901 - Seminar in College Teaching http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/schedule-courses

(ONLINE) 2 graduate credits; no prerequisites; September 14 - November 1

The Seminar in College Teaching, the first course in the Certificate sequence, is designed to acquaint participants with basic principles and theories of education and instructional practices associated with effective college teaching. These concepts apply across numerous disciplines as the emphasis is on pedagogy, not course content. Learn the basics of college teaching: designing and developing courses, choosing and using a variety of teaching methods, and assessing student work. The foundational course Seminar in College Teaching is a prerequisite for some Certificate courses.


Read what Seminar participants have said about this course! http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/seminar-testimonials 


CT 914 – Learner-Centered Assessment http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/schedule-courses


(HYBRID http://www.worcester.edu/COT/default.aspx ) 1 graduate credit; CT 901 helpful but not required; September 27 - November 15; Worcester State University and online asynchronous in between class meetings


Students will develop learner-centered intended learning outcomes, devise appropriate classroom assessment techniques, incorporate course assignments/activities that address intended learning outcomes and construct grading rubrics designed to focus on and promote student learning. Prerequisite: CT 901 Seminar in College Teaching suggested but not required.


CT 918 – Developing and Teaching an Online Course http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/schedule-courses


(ONLINE) 1 graduate credit; CT 901 helpful but not required, September 12 - October 28


This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of online course design and pedagogical practices, and is appropriate for any faculty member interested in teaching a course completely online or who wishes to significantly augment a traditional face-to-face course with online interaction.


CT 933 – Teaching Foreign Languages: Methodology in Practice http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/schedule-courses


(FACE to FACE); 1 graduate credit; no prerequisites; September 12 - November 18; Holy Cross


This course is designed to familiarize participants with theoretical and practical considerations associated with teaching foreign languages. Participants will explore methodology trends from the early 20th century to current communicative approaches including a broad range of alternative methodologies. This course explores ways in which different approaches and methods can be utilized in the foreign language lesson to achieve a rich learning environment for students.


REGISTRATION: Application procedures http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/application-process are described on our website http://www.cowc.org/college-student-resources/certificate-college-teaching/application-process. Follow the appropriate link under "Course Registration" or "Certificate Application Process." When using the online pre-enrollment form (for beginning the registration process) you will have to pay by credit card. Have your card in hand.


TUITION: Tuition for Certificate courses is $299/credit for participants from Colleges of Worcester Consortium member institutions and $479/credit for external participants. In addition, there is a $75/semester pre-enrollment fee. (Because Worcester State University is the CCT program's credentialing host, WSU current students, faculty and staff pay $262/credit.) You must pay for courses at the time of registration, but you may qualify for tuition reimbursement. Consult with your adviser, faculty development center, or HR Department for details about applying for tuition reimbursement before you register for any courses.


Founded in 1968, the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. is an alliance of 13 public and private colleges in Central Massachusetts that works cooperatively both to further the missions of the member institutions individually and to advance higher education regionally.


For more information about the Certificate in College Teaching program, please visit our website http://www.cowc.org/CCT or contact Susan Wyckoff mailto:swyckoff@cowc.org to discuss how this program might meet your needs.




Susan C. Wyckoff mailto:swyckoff@cowc.org, PhD
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc.
484 Main Street - Suite 500, Worcester MA 01608
508.754.6829 http://www.cowc.org
Share/Bookmark

Academic Impressions Webcast : Student Engagement and Web 2.0 in Blended Learning


September 23, 2011 12pm-1:30pm CDT Online

OVERVIEW
More institutions are using Web 2.0 tools to instruct students. Because this method of delivering of curriculum is so new, there's a lack of research about how these tools are impacting learning and engagement. Can these tools be used to design and support learning activities that increase the level of student engagement and therefore lead to increased student success, retention, and satisfaction?

Join us online as we discuss the essentials of using Web 2.0 tools to engage your students in blended courses.


WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This event is perfect for faculty, faculty developers, and instructional designers who want to learn how to develop effective and efficient strategies for utilizing Web 2.0 technologies to foster student engagement and success in blended learning.
Share/Bookmark