How to revolutionize video on your campus

In 2016, the media capture and storage system we used at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Fla., had reached maturity. Cooperation between faculty and IT staff had yielded a video system that benefited students and teachers, but it was time to take the next step.

We wanted to expand the reach of our video offerings by introducing mobile delivery, as well as provide meaningful metrics to faculty and staff. The current system did not provide any margin for growth, yet we could not abandon the existing progress. FAU looked for the next generation of video delivery that would offer the new features needed, while also preserving the existing media. With these requirements in mind, we selected Mediasite as the new media capture, management, and delivery platform.

Start with a pilot

We began using Mediasite in early 2017 with a pilot program for experienced users. Our staff worked closely with Mediasite to implement a custom scheduling program that automates many of the tedious scheduling aspects associated with lecture capture. By May 2017, the College of Business, the Charles E. Schmitt College of Medicine, and the College of Engineering and Computer Science were online with Mediasite. Later that summer, the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the Jupiter Campus joined in.

Today, we use Mediasite on all of our campuses for capturing and streaming more than 100 courses every term. We were also able to breathe life into our legacy media by importing the videos in Mediasite. We converted more than 10,000 videos, making them searchable and measurable. In the past year, FAU faculty have created an additional 12,000 videos that students have collectively viewed more than 300,000 times. These videos, including the older media, are now tagged, indexed, and generating metrics for faculty and staff.

Faculty embrace video with personal capture

In addition to capturing classroom lectures, faculty use My Mediasite software to quickly create videos and communicate with students from any location, allowing them to provide more flexible and personalized learning experiences for students.

• Microlearning: My Mediasite is installed on hundreds of faculty computers and mobile devices, allowing them to create short videos from anywhere. They are flipping classes, supplementing homework assignments, and elaborating on topics based on student feedback.
• Distance learning: Mediasite Join video-conference capture allows faculty to record everything said and shown during class, delivering the same interactive video experience to students while integrating with FAU’s existing video conference system.