The Value of Archiving Class Materials


Dennis Woytek
Assistant Professor
Duquesne University
600 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15282-1702


ABSTRACT
       
      Duquesne University's Department of Journalism and Multimedia Arts implemented Mediasite Live, which captures the output of classroom presentations in real time and streams it live to the Web. The captured presentation is also archived immediately. All students can view live lectures and participate in class activities or view specific parts of the class at a later date. The system maintains an archived record of the entire class that students can review on their own based on their needs, preferences, and learning styles. This paper discusses the use of a video conferencing system and its implications to sustain teaching and learning strategies within a technical and computer intensive curriculum. 

Introduction
      
      This paper discusses the use of a video conferencing system and its implications to sustain teaching and learning strategies within a technical and computer intensive curriculum. It reviews the technical configuration of the system and provides a discussion of how instructors might use it to assess and improve their teaching.  
      
Background

      Duquesne University’s multimedia program (renamed the Journalism and Multimedia Arts department, JMA, in 2005) originated in 1995 as a Master of Science degree.  In the fall of 2003, the department began using Sonic Foundry’s MediaSite Live to broadcast the video feed of the instructor and any ancillary materials used over the Internet. Available live or in archived fashion, students can see the instructor lecturing, any graphical support materials shown to the class by the instructor at a resolution scaled to the type on Internet connection, and even output from VCRs and DVDs. Students can view the materials on or off campus. Virtually all the course content is accessible and searchable, over the Web, by students whenever they desire regardless of geographic locality. Students who miss class due to illness can review the lecture. In addition, the systems affords off-campus or distant students the opportunity to participate synchronously and asynchronously in on-campus classes. 
      
      The system captures (in real time) the output of any or all of the presentation devices (e.g., computer, audio/video system, etc.). It synchronizes content with the audio and video and archives it, and, if desired, streams it synchronously over the Web. The system archives each presentation and makes it available for on-demand playback to end-users' PCs or MACs. This unique hardware/software tool allows instructors to quickly assemble a presentation complete with slides, video, audio, and documents, and output it for immediate broadcast over the department’s network and stream to the Internet. 

MediaSite Configuration

      The Mediasite live presentation window is the main window that students view, it contains areas for video and also all instructor content (such as PowerPoint slides, Microsoft Access screens, video tape feeds.). Any software application that the instructor uses is recorded and presented in this view. Students can control the sequence of the archived version of all classroom presentations by clicking on any captured graphic and immediately see the lecture that pertained to that graphic.
      
Mediasite Live is a client-server application. It requires a capture/encode workstation, a server to broadcast the session, and a browser to view a presentation.

The Capture Station
   The capture station captures what is displayed on the presenter’s monitor. The presenter merely presses the button corresponding to the desired source. At present, those sources include a ceiling mounted camera, a VCR, and a DVD player. By selecting the desired A/V device, the instructor can send output from VCRs, DVDs or the room’s camera to the capture station, and subsequently to the remote student. Of course, this is in addition to the feed from the presenter’s computer monitor and this display occupies three-quarters of the presentation.
The Server 
   The server can be any machine capable of serving video using Microsoft’s Streaming Media Server, which has been customized by Sonic Foundry. The server is also responsible for managing the archived material. Media content is partitioned for efficient manageability: Archived Video to one server, and graphics (thumbnails or full-screen JPEG images) to a second server. The viewer selects a class to watch, and the corresponding video is served from server one, which runs Streaming Media Server, and related graphics are inserted from a second server. 
Managing the Classes
      To prevent the presenters from having to understand the intricacies of broadcasting and archiving lecture, templates have been created in advance for every course and class session. The instructor merely picks his or her class from a menu, and presses Go. This takes the concentration from the presenter as a technician and lets him/her concentrate on teaching.

Support for teaching and learning
      
      Many courses taught in the JMA (Journalism and Multimedia Arts) program are software intensive.  It is common for students to be assigned multiple developmental projects over the course of the semester that require them to use a variety of computing and software tools.  While the teaching strategies of individual instructors vary, it is not uncommon that a typical lesson encompasses methods that include a presentation and discussion of underlying theoretical concepts of a topic; a demonstration of how those concepts apply to real-world cases and scenarios, which often involves computing applications; guided practice; and coaching and feedback. For example, an instructor introduces color theory by presenting precepts of the theory and discussing them with students.  Using a digital imaging software application, he presents a case or scenario to demonstrate how these concepts apply to imaging techniques. He guides students through an exercise that employs those techniques and he monitors their progress.  Finally, students receive an individual or group activity to be completed without direct guidance and he coaches them throughout it. 
      
      The MediaSite live system is foundational to this process. Frequently the demonstrations and the software applications used are complex involving multiple tasks, processes, and procedures. Correspondingly, students have varying skills, prior knowledge, and interests.  A class may include individuals with minimal computing skills as well as working professionals who possess high levels of computing proficiency.  It is challenging for an instructor to accommodate such differences during the class period. To circumvent these challenges and cognizant of engendering learner-center approaches, instructors in the JMA department employ the MediaSite live system in a number of ways.  First, instructors encourage student to review the online class materials. Students can access the content on their own and review it at their own pace and in a sequence that suits their needs and interests.
      
      For example, a student, while attending class, may have fallen behind mid-way through a guided practice activity on programming interactive structures.  After class, the student locates the section of the activity in the archived class presentation, clicks on the corresponding screen and then watches and listens to the demonstration. He can observe where the instructor placed the computer mouse, the functions selected in the application, and the programming code written. In this way, the student completes the activity at his own pace and reviews the materials as needed to reconstruct the tasks performed by the instructor.  The instructors feel that allowing students to control the sequence of the instruction, to decide the content to be studied, and to review content when and as often as needed are essential to learning.  
      
      The majority of students accessing the archived lectures are those who attend face-to-face classes. These students use the archive materials to supplement the information presented in class. As one instructor points out, 

“I think it is a great benefit for those students who are absent from class and need to review the instruction
 
It is a great resource for those students who are a little slower in grasping the concepts. Instead of slowing the whole class down, I can tell them to review the class online again at their own pace.”
 
      From a learning perspective, this is important. Reflection on instructional content facilitates learning. Frequently during class periods there is insufficient time for student reflection.  By providing students in-class instruction and then giving them opportunity to review complete lectures outside of class may provide them greater opportunity to synthesize and reflect on the presented information. Often students take notes, which can enhance their learning.  However, excessive note taking or trying to represent complex computing procedures in written notes may interface with knowledge acquisition. The MediaSite system allows students to focus on class activities without note taking.  Those who benefit from note taking can do so as they study the materials outside of class.
      
      Many students enrolled in classes are working adults who have family and work responsibilities. Extensive travel, for example, often prohibits them from maintaining progress in a course. Because the MediaSite live is available, students can access the lectures while traveling and can keep up with the course.  In addition, students from other geographic locations may enroll in courses and participate. The JMA department offers several on-campus course sections in which students from other states participate.  The department assists distant students by reserving several licenses of the software that can be “keyed’ and used by the student only while enrolled in the course. They then access the system at the designated class times and participate by following the demonstrations and presentations.  They can also interact with the instructor. 
      
Summary

      Mediasite Live appears to hold potential for meeting the teaching and learning needs of both on and off campus students. Moreover, providing students with this resource and encouraging them to use it is in unison, to a degree, with learner-centered teaching and learning. It affords a resource that is accessible and controlled by the learner.
      
      Instructors who are teaching distance courses can do so without significantly altering their teaching style or materials. The archived lectures provide instructors a record of teaching that can be reviewed to identify strengths and weaknesses.  Finally, from a teaching and learning perspective, the archive materials add another learning resource that, if used properly, can enhance student learning. Students can review lecture topics when and for how long they need them.
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