UCL and iTunes U 2010

Jeremy SpellerDirector of Learning & Media Services

UCL and iTunes UAn institutional study

What we’re going to cover

First toes in the podcasting oceanHow we came to be on iTunes UThe private site and VLE integrationWhere we are nowFuture developments

The World of UCL

Founded 1826The original University of London

First to offer education regardlessof race, religion or gender4th in 2010 QS World University Rankings

22,000 students / 8,000 staff

The World of UCL

Now this looks interesting...

Background

Globalisation policyStrong academic leadFunding for pilot projectApple Podcast Producer

On-demand recordingWorkflowAutomated distributionCost effective

Pilot project

Identify championsDevelop workflows to meet academic needsEquip selected lecture theatresMake portable equipment availableProvide “best-efforts” supportSurvey staff and student opinion18 months starting January 2008

LectureCast

Piloting since September 2009150 captured events200 hours of materialOver 12,000 individual views20 theatres into service from September 2010

Chemistry56%

Biochemistry32%

Laws3%

Medicine4%

Economics3%

Special Events3%

The iTunes U bombshell!

Approach from Apple late 2007Briefing February 2008Launch June 2008

Why we did it

For the glory!direction from above: good and bad!coherent with UCL’s globalisation policy

To further innovations in teaching & learningstrong academic leadership

Gathering the team

Legal

Copyrightand IPR

MediaPR

SystemsProject

Management

Gathering the teamLegal

Signoffthere should be senior agreement to the service you hope to provide

Contract agreementno payment but you must be happy with the agreement between your institution and Apple

Gathering the team

Copyrightand IPR

Content checkingdo you have rights to the media?can you get rights?do you have a workable copyright model (we used Creative Commons)?

Content releasecontributors must agree to release their media subject to the rights above

Gathering the team

Audio Visuallecture capture

Design & Photographyquality design will sell your iTunes U site

Multimediamedia creation and encoding

Web ServicesRSS feeds and management of the iTunes U site

Media

Gathering the team

PR

Corporate messagepush the qualities of your institution

Corporate identityuse to your advantage

Tone and voicedo you have a key way of describing what you do?

Pressclose collaboration with Apple PR and strong sell from your own press office

Gathering the team

Infrastructurebackend storagedelivery of RSS feeds

Systems

Gathering the team

Could be collectiveI did the technical and media side - a group of four managed overallbetter if you can dedicate someone for the project

Must be done!key to engagement and GTD

Steeple resourceshttp://is.gd/f3TAe (PM kit and interviews)

ProjectManagement

Gathering the team

Legal

Copyrightand IPR

MediaPR

SystemsProject

Management

The most important things

ContentContentContent

Spreadsheet of ideal and realistic content to launchTechnical and legal pragmatismWorkflow of responsibilitiesKeeping some back

Clear structure and layout

Clear structure and layout

Attention to graphics

Attention to graphics

Attention to graphics

Attention to graphics

Attention to graphics

A way in

Internal Sites

Why would you want to have one?How might you use one in practice?

Why would you want an internal site?

Great additional learning channel for studentsGreat for integration with other curriculum tools - VLEA way of trailing / previewing contentA way to alleviate fears about IPR and being “in public”Less fuss - design - images - rights

iTunes U private & Moodle

Academic requirementStreamed video on-demand within MoodleMoodle link to course page on iTunes U

So how do you go about it?Working with the “classic” system - not PSM

Maclearning Webcasts for iTunes U - http://is.gd/f3TYd

Keep within your resources - but bear in mind opportunities for automation

Real life

All Clinical Medicine finalists are provided with revision materials via Moodle

Recorded lecturesSlide decksTutorial sessions

All online - what about offline?

Provide everything as downloads via the internal site

Revision course page

Key facts: March 2009

1 month362 MBBS finalists2,164 downloads

Moving on

Results repeated in 2010High satisfaction rates

StaffStudents

Faculty delighted and request full capture of all clinical lectures - all to be made available via the internal siteAcross all subjects captured material to be made available via the internal site during 2010/11

UCL content workflow

m4a / m4b m4v

h.264

EncodingIntro / Outro

Streaming server

Moodle

Browser

Capture content

Echo360

Echo via browser

iTunes storage

Feed generation

iTunes UPrivate

Capture content

Echo360

Echo via browser

Receive content

Create content

Podcast Producer

Approvals

Final Cut Server

iTunes storage

Feed generation

iTunes UPublic

Three steps to heaven?

Review and assess

technical requirements

Keep a check on reality

Target areas that will

benefit your students and their learning

Lecture Capture

Pilot installationPilot testingPodcast Producer integrationService developmentService roll-out

Online Media Services

Podcast Producer developmentWeb-submission interfaceFlash server integrationMetadata standardsMetadata database developmentPodcast LibraryRSS/ATOM feed aggregation

iTunes U

Site designContent administrationPodcast Producer integrationAutomationRSS / Web ServicesPodcast LibraryMetadata standards

Teaching & Learning Support Sub-Committee

Online Media Programme Board

Where we are

Where we are

Started with c150 items of contentNow c1,500 itemsAbout 10-30k downloads per monthAbout 300,000 since we started

Now and next

Just completed redevelopment of public siteFurther development of private siteOnline Media Application

The Online Media Application

Ingests and uploads user files to:Streaming serverMoodleiTunes U

Collects metadataAllows users and admins to view status of uploadsEmails users admin actions to keep them informed

Q and A

Images copyright © UCL PhotographyiTunes is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries

contact: j.speller@ucl.ac.uk