Faculty to Faculty: Mediasite
Have you ever thought how much money your department spends for keeping multiple lecturers in a large course whose job is to deliver the same lectures year after year in overcrowded lecture halls where the students cannot see, and cannot hear, and simply cannot catch up with the lecturer?
Have you been trying to teach an online course with all modern tools and software available and, yet, share with your students your own experience which they cannot receive anywhere else except from you? If you have answered “yes” for either of the questions, then you may be interested in what the AT folks offer to the Instructors called Mediasite video lectures.
Mediasite: How It Works
Perhaps, you can find software that will help you to record your presentation by capturing your computer screen, recording your voice, etc. But it is hardly possible to have your own live lectures recorded and streamed at the right time for the whole course. The UF Mediasite offers this option for the instructors. The best part is that the Instructors do not need to worry about any technological aspects and they are able to concentrate on the presentation itself.
- The instructor chooses the format of the presentation which could be a live lecture, power point, web browsing, etc, as well as any combination of various forms of presentations.
- The recording takes place in a small classroom that holds about 30 students, because a large auditorium cannot deliver a high level of quality.
- A real classroom atmosphere is preserved and the students can ask questions as they would normally do in a live lecture.
- During the presentation, the instructor can see the progress on the computer screen and it is also projected on the classroom screen for the in-class students.
- The images are captured from the computer or through the document camera if the instructor is writing on paper and this process is practically synchronized with the instructor’s speech.
Who Pays For It?
The mechanism might be different. One possible scenario is described below. Other scenarios for financing may include grants from the Provost or Governmental sources.
- An instructor submits a proposal to a department committee specifying the purpose and advantages of using Mediasite video lectures.
- For the on-campus courses, especially the large ones, this may bring a substantial savings to the department by replacing one or two lecturers with on-line lecture presentations. It could also be used as an additional tool for enhancing a lecture experience by allowing the students to watch a lecture over again and restore any missing parts.
- For an online course, it becomes an essential tool of communication with the students, face-to-face sharing of your experience, and adding a “human” factor into the virtual environment.
- When submitting the proposal to the department, it should be taken into consideration that the recording of large number of lectures does involve some expenses; however, after the recording is completed, there is a very small charge for storing and streaming the lectures to the viewers, and it can be done as many time as needed as long as the lectures stay in demand.
Does it Work Well for the Students?
From my experience of teaching both traditional and online courses, the Mediasite video lectures have proven to be a reliable tool for teaching.
- For the on-campus students, we offered both live lectures and online lecture representations giving them an option to choose one or another or both. Many students preferred the online lectures over the live ones because of the numerous advantages that the technology offers to them. Perhaps, I could mention a few of them: choosing a convenient time and location, viewing the whole lecture at once or some fragments, stopping, returning back, adjusting the volume, viewing the lecturer and the slides or only the slides.
- After the lectures were recorded for an on-campus course, it was possible to make adjustments for an on-line course by breaking up a 50-minute lecture into small 10-15 minute fragments, each covering a single objective. Working in shorter fragments, as an alternative to a whole lecture, helps the students to stay focused and get ready for homework exercises. It is worthwhile to mention that viewing a lecturer in person in virtual environment has a certain psychological impact on the students’ learning experience and helps to prevent isolation and dehumanization.
Software Requirements
The students can access online lectures from E-Learning. High speed internet connection is necessary. It is recommended that the students install Windows Media ActiveX control with Firefox to enhance their viewing experience. It is possible to proceed without installing control; however, it would result in a poorer viewing experience.
Practical Tips
- If it is possible, the Instructor should make arrangements for recording the lectures over two semesters since it is a live recording and it might be necessary to redo some of the lectures or fragments of the lectures in the second term.
- The students with Macintosh computers may experience problems with installing the ActiveX control and viewing the Mediasite video lectures. These problems relate to their computers’ settings and should be treated personally. Most students are able to fix the problem themselves, otherwise, we advise them to ask for help at the UF Computer Help Desk.
- It would be also helpful to set office hours for online courses in Elluminate vRoom specifically for answering questions about the lectures to ensure that the students stay motivated and do not fall behind.
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Tags: Instructional Design, Teaching Online
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Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009.