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Mediasite's Real Time Recording and Automated Publishing Removes Technical Challenges of Delivering High-Quality Web-Based Rich Media Learning Experience
Sonic Foundry® Inc. (Nasdaq: SOFO - News), a leading rich media solutions
company, today announced the addition of five customers to the growing number
of higher education institutions who use its Mediasite(TM) rich media system
to power their online distance education initiatives. The new customers are:
the University of Colorado College of Engineering and Applied Science, Florida
State, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Northwestern University
and the University of Houston. By delivering unmatched ease of use, versatility
and reliability, Mediasite has become the preferred technology for higher education
institutions seeking to use the power of rich media to drive Web-based distance
education and improve in-class learning.
Mediasite is a complete rich media recording and publishing system that automates
the capture, management and delivery of multimedia presentations. With Mediasite,
every aspect of a presentation is recorded transparently in real-time, can be
accessed immediately and is ready for distribution instantly.
As a fully integrated system, Mediasite eliminates the adoption barriers to
online teaching and learning by transparently recording instructors in the natural
classroom environment without interfering in their teaching style or content.
For students learning remotely it provides an exceptional online representation
of the classroom experience, complete with audio, video and synchronized instructional
materials, as well as polling and Q&A. Rich media course content is available
live or on-demand with the benefits of anytime/anywhere convenience. A synchronized
slide index lets users quickly navigate to and replay any portion of a lecture
for improved understanding of complex concepts.
Northwestern University
Northwestern University's School of Communication installed Mediasite in Fall
2004 to support the first, and so far only, distance learning program available
at the prestigious Illinois university. The two-year master's in Communications
Systems Strategy and Management program features a real-time blended learning
environment that brings together in-class students with their distance education
classmates learning from as far away as California and Tokyo. The students and
professors communicate live via a state-of-the-art video conferencing system.
Mediasite digitally records the audio and video of professors and students,
and automatically synchronizes those outputs with any instructional content
presented or projected in the classroom. This combined product is then streamed
live and archived for student review.
As an executive program designed for working professionals, the classes meet
for one full day each week on alternating Fridays and Saturdays. Mediasite allows
the university to transparently create a rich media archive of each class that
students can review anytime via the Web. Advanced navigation capabilities let
students quickly locate the exact information they need, and many students use
the Mediasite recordings to supplement or replace hours of detailed note taking.
"Mediasite consistently creates the type of high-quality experience Northwestern
requires and expects, without any extra work on the part of faculty or students,"
said Dennis Glenn, assistant dean of distributed education, Northwestern University's
School of Communication. "We have one Mediasite unit now and are getting
a second one shortly as we expand our distance learning initiative."
University of Houston
The University of Houston selected Mediasite to help further its transition
to a Web-based rich media streaming delivery. Mediasite has enabled the university
to broaden access to its undergraduate and graduate programs, while being more
responsive to student expectations for the conveniences of online learning.
Meanwhile, professors appreciate the fact that they no longer need go to broadcast
studios to teach online courses. They simply teach their traditional classes,
and Mediasite transparently captures and streams that classroom experience to
students learning remotely, whether live or on-demand.
"Rich media streaming carries with it so many benefits and is so much
easier and more economical than traditional broadcasting and video tapes that
there's no excuse not to use it," said Sara Baber, director of academic
technologies at the University of Houston. "We prefer to use Mediasite
to further our digital streaming initiatives because it is a complete and automated
system that provides us everything we need from a technical and educational
standpoint. Every once in awhile you come across something that makes you say
'Why didn't I think of that?' and for us, it's those little Mediasite boxes."
Growth in Online Learning
In its 2004 report, Online Distance Education Market Update: A Nascent Market
Begins to Mature, research firm Eduventures predicts that the number of fully
online distance education programs will grow by at least 20 percent for the
next three years and that tuition revenues from these programs currently represents
more than $5 billion annually. Further, although the early years of online learning
were dominated by for-profit entities, Eduventures believes that traditional
institutions will overtake the lead based on brand strength and awareness.
"As higher education institutions grapple with the technical challenges
and costs of trying to deliver a quality experience for online learners, they
should consider starting with their strength -- an accomplished faculty comfortable
standing at the front of a classroom," said James Dias, vice president
of marketing and sales for Sonic Foundry. "Using Mediasite to transparently
record and stream courses eliminates the technical, economic and psychological
barriers to distance learning, while maximizing AV and IT infrastructure investments
already made to create dynamic learning environments."
About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.
Founded in 1991, Sonic Foundry (Nasdaq: SOFO - News) is a provider of rich
media communications technology for the enterprise. The company's high-performance
rich media presentation systems are trusted by Fortune 500 companies, education
institutions and government agencies for a variety of critical communication
needs. Sonic Foundry is based in Madison, Wis. For more information about Sonic
Foundry, visit the company's Web site at www.sonicfoundry.com.
Certain statements contained in this news release regarding matters that are
not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Because such forward-looking
statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially
from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited
to, uncertainties pertaining to continued market acceptance for Sonic Foundry's
products, its ability to succeed in capturing significant revenues from media
services and/or systems, the effect of new competitors in its market, integration
of acquired business and other risk factors identified from time to time in
its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: Sonic Foundry Inc.
