Kaltura is a media delivery system that has been used by CATS Digital and Multimedia Services for the past two years. Last year, the team beta tested the system; this year, they’ve been implementing it at EIU. Faculty members who teach D2L-oriented courses now have a Kaltura widget available for use.
A recent trend amongst instructors is adding media to their online environment and Kaltura can help with this. For example, if a lecture is taking place, teachers can use the media delivery system to show something in class. “I’m noticing this trend because we are getting more requests to make sure these things are captioned as well for hearing-impaired students,” says Pete Grant, Director of Digital and Multimedia Services.
The process begins with filling out a project request form (eiu.edu/cats/home/media_project_request_form.php). The CATS educational media graduate assistant, along with Grant and a captioning graduate assistant, then meet with the faculty member. Next, Chad Elliott, Director of the Gregg Technology Center, will establish a new Kaltura account. This account is linked to their EIU account. The faculty members provide media to the captioning graduate assistant and, once it’s uploaded, the faculty member is shown how to upload media themselves.
If faculty members want to upload any media independently, the Digital and Multimedia teams asks that the faculty member come to them first. “A generic account will be generated, which is hard for us if we need to search for media or upload more later on,” Grant said. “But we also want to make sure their Panther account is associated with their Kaltura account.”
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| Screenshot of Kaltura in D2L |
Using the Kaltura widget within D2L seems to be the easiest way to use the system. “I don’t recommended using media for the sake of media or technology for the sake of technology,” Grant said. “What is happening is change and, if they need to incorporate media, the online environment is a great place, especially since many classes are going online.”
Most people are watching media on their phones and Kaltura does support playback on mobile devices. EIU and its faculty need to be aware of the trend; this generation of students almost exclusively uses laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. “You have to look at the trend of students. You have to adapt the technology with the generation you are working with,” said Grant.
So far, Kaltura has been flexible and open to changes. It is also getting ready to release a lecture capture tool. Currently, we are using Panapto, which is great, but Lecture Capture will be better because it will be a one-stop shop. Grant is hoping EIU can become a beta tester for the Lecture Capture tool as well.
For more information contact Pete Grant via email: pagrant@eiu.edu.
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