MediaSite, developed by Sonic Foundry, is an innovative multimedia learning technology that benefits both the instructor and the student by providing the following functionality:

• Captures and records video and audio of the instructor’s lecture
• Displays a snapshot of whatever is displayed on the instructor’s monitor (e.g., PowerPoint presentation) and allows the instructor to make annotations on the display
• The entire multimedia presentation – audio/video of the instructor and the snapshots of the presentation, including annotations – is then available for later review/playback.
• The MediaSite screen, which includes the audio and video of the instructor, the instructor’s presentation/display, and the instructor’s annotations, may be broadcast in real time.

As evidenced by the above diagram, the MediaSite display is divided into three areas. The right side of the screen is reserved for the instructor’s presentation (or whatever is displayed on the instructor’s monitor). This is the area in which the instructor may make annotations. The top left corner of the screen displays the video of the instructor, while the text area beneath it is static for the duration of the presentation.

Key Features

• Students

  As MediaSite allows for presentations to be archived, the student can view the content on-demand.  On playback, students can navigate through the presentation by allowing it to play from start to finish or “jump” from slide to slide using the index.  The archived MediaSite presentation may serve as a supplement to a student’s handwritten class notes.  Not only can the student hear the instructor explain the topic, but the student can also view the instructor’s presentation and annotations.  This also benefits those students who were unable to attend class.  These students are no longer relegated to borrowing a classmate’s notes or seeking out the instructor during non-class hours.

MediaSite can also facilitate Distance Education. The University’s implementation of the MediaSite Model allows the MediaSite screen to be broadcast (multicast) with a 5 to 20 second delay to users across the Internet.  These same users have the ability to send messages to the instructor via a text-based chat tool. Thus, a student viewing the lecture over the internet may participate by sending comments and/or questions to the instructor, who can then respond verbally.  In this manner MediaSite can assist the university in attracting nontraditional students with scheduling challenges due to work, sickness, etc., but who still demand high quality and effective coursework.

• Faculty

  By capturing and combining the audio/video of the lecture, the presentation, and the instructor’s annotations, MediaSite provides on-demand learning for those students who were unable to attend class due to sickness, athletics, etc. This, in turn, should minimize the disruptions caused by the return of absent students and thereby increase the overall speed and efficiency of the course.

Although MediaSite is meant to capture live classroom instruction, it also provides the ability to prerecord short lectures that may be utilized as teaching aids in and out of the classroom.  For example, if the instructor knows students typically struggle grasping a particular concept, then the instructor could prepare a brief MediaSite presentation to address that topic. This presentation could then be shared in class and/or made available to the students outside the classroom as a way to supplement and/or reinforce the instructor’s lecture. 

Further, as these presentations are archived, a lecture designed for one class may be reused for sections of the same class, for future courses, etc.

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MediaSite Model

While the instructor delivers the lecture and scrolls through his/her presentation, the MediaSite application converts the presentation (i.e., whatever is displayed on the instructor’s monitor) into a series of graphic images or slides/snapshots.  These images are then packaged with the audio and video of the instructor, and the instructor’s annotations.  The result is the MediaSite presentation, which may be archived for later use or broadcast over the internet.

The MediaSite model includes two workstations – one to display and one to capture the instructor’s presentation.  Anything the instructor would like to share with the class (e.g., PowerPoint presentation) should reside on the “display” workstation. This machine could be the instructor’s personal laptop, the classroom’s workstation, etc.  The video signal from this workstation is then directed to a VGA (Video Graphics Array) splitter which sends the output of this workstation to the instructor’s Hitachi LCD EM panel, a projector for viewing by the audience, and the MediaSite Capture Station.  A high end video camera is then utilized to capture the video of the instructor and a lavaliere microphone to record the audio.  These outputs, along with the output from the instructor’s workstation, are sent to the MediaSite Capture Station, which packages them into a rich multimedia presentation.

Other video inputs, in addition to the video of the instructor, may also be utilized.  For example, a picture produced via a document camera during class may be displayed in the top left corner of the screen in place of the instructor video.  Similarly, a DVD or VHS movie may also replace the instructor video.

Once the Mediasite presentation has been created, it must be uploaded to the MediaSite server.  Students may then access the archived presentation over the internet.  In order to broadcast the MediaSite presentation, the MediaSite Capture Station must be connected via the network to the MediaSite server, which serves as a media server. For best results, a high speed connection is necessary.

As evidenced in the above diagram, MediaSite presentations may be burned to CDs. This allows high quality recordings of presentations to be created and subsequently viewed by students who may not have high speed internet connections.  Further, MediaSite presentations may be utilized within Blackboard, as Blackboard has the ability to address content on a CD using the off-line content feature. As such, the MediaSite presentation may be incorporated into an instructional sequence.

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Considerations

MediaSite can be a very effective teaching aid. Please note the following:

1. As MediaSite is primarily intended to capture live presentations, MediaSite does not provide a post-production editing feature. Its niche is to cost-effectively record what happens in the classroom and capture a teacher doing what he/she does best – teach.

2. CIDDE has found that MediaSite presentations are more effective when they are delivered in 10 – 20 minute installments versus 2 – 3 hour lectures. CIDDE realizes this is contrary to the conventional teaching model.  As such, CIDDE has instructional designers who can work with faculty to break down their presentations into logical, more manageable components and then assist in considering how the presentation(s) should be deployed to students – perhaps with preparatory readings, a statement of objectives, viewing of the MediaSite presentation, and then post-viewing exercises or questions.

3. MediaSite is an “operator-assisted” event. This means an individual from CIDDE will setup the MediaSite environment, briefly instruct the faculty member in how to operate the application, and then operate the video and audio recording devices during the presentation.  A consequence of the “operator-assisted” model is that there is a cost associated with creating a MediaSite presentation.  Refer to the Cost section for details.

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