Frequently
Asked Questions
-
Who
should be contacted for more information or assistance in
utilizing one of these classroom capture technologies?
Questions
regarding the use of these applications and/or requests to
record presentations may be directed to Michael Arenth, Assistant
Director for Instructional Media Services at arenth@pitt.edu.
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How are
the captured/archived presentations distributed (i.e., how
can these presentations be accessed)?
Through
the use of Hitachi’s ShareWizard
Pen and MultiMediaNotePad software. Janus
allows the instructor’s slide and annotations to
be archived for later use. Captured slides/annotations
may be saved in standard formats, such as HTML or PDF,
or left in their native format. These slides/annotations
may then be made available to students for later review
over the internet or network. Smart Notebook files
can be convert to PDF or Html files.
MediaSite presentations may be accessed in a variety
of ways. First, students may participate (real time)
in classes via the internet. Next, students may use the
internet to access the archived presentations residing
on the MediaSite server. Finally,
if the instructor elected to transfer the presentation
to CDs and distribute those CDs to the class,
students would need the CD and a computer with Windows
Media Player to view the presentation.
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Approximately
twenty-five (25) classrooms have Janus functionality built-in
to them and there are approximately six (6) portable Janus
resources that may be setup in almost any classroom. In addition, the University’s
School of Engineering has four (4) classrooms that utilize
40 inch plasma screens with a touch sensitive Matisse overlay
purchased from Smart Technologies. This configuration
accomplishes the same goals as Janus.
As the MediaSite Capture Stations
are portable, MediaSite presentations can be created in almost
any classroom on campus.
Any questions
regarding whether or not a specific classroom is equipped
or can be equipped with one of these technologies may
be directed to Michael Arenth, Assistant
Director for Instructional Media Services at arenth@pitt.edu.
- What
if students do not have a high speed connection to the
internet?
MediaSited allows the instructor to proactively address
the issue of high speed connectivity. Presentations
are captured at predetermined bandwidth levels. If
a user does not have a high speed connection, the
user may select a lower
bandwidth recording. The lower
bandwidth presentations contain the same information,
but the quality of the audio and video is not be as high.
Alternatively,
MediaSite presentation may be burned to a CD
or downloaded to a workstation. Placing the MediaSite
presentation on a CD allows the instructor to record at
a high quality level, while still allowing students to
play back the same high quality recording even if they
do not have access to a high speed internet connection.
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