The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), located at the San Jose State University College of Business, was established by Congress as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. MTI focuses on surface transportation policy issues as they relate to three primary areas: research, education, and information transfer.


Situation

While research into transportation policy, regulation, and management is MTIs primary responsibility, the institute also considers the education of transportation professionals as a key mandate. In 1996 San Jose State University and MTI committed to training the next generation of leaders in the transportation industry, and currently offer two programs: a Master of Science in Transportation Management and a Certificate in Transportation Management. These programs are offered both from traditional classrooms at the university and through live, interactive teleconferencing at 15 California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) district offices.

MTIs programs target industry professionals, which means the student body has time and location constraintsoften traveling on business throughout California and missing scheduled class times. To reach potential students and get its new education program off the ground, MTI found a creative way to deliver its programs outside of a traditional university classroom. Deployed at Caltrans offices, a network of remotely located teleconference sites is currently providing live courses to the majority of MTI students. Though integral to reaching students at their home locations, the teleconferencing solution cant solve the time constraint problems of many transportation professionals. This ongoing program limitation prompted MTI to explore additional methods of education delivery that would expand its offerings and influence.

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Solution

As transportation issues increase in communities throughout California and the entire world, MTI is seeking to expand the reach of its research and education programs. With the help of Microsoft Certified Partner FrontLine Network Consulting , MTI believes it has found the means to attract greater numbers of students through a streaming media course delivery system. In the spring of 2002, MTI began offering courses to a limited number of students using a streaming network based on Microsoft® Windows Media® Technologies.

The pilot program uses two dedicated servers, a Windows Media encoder and a Microsoft Windows® 2000-based Web server, to stream Windows Media and Microsoft Producer content. MTI encodes the video and audio feed from live teleconference classes and simultaneously delivers a streaming version of the programs to students who are unable to reach a Caltrans location. The feeds are then archived, and Producer is used to combine the audio and video with Microsoft PowerPoint® slides to create indexed, rich-media presentations that students can access on-demand through MTIs Web site. According to MTI Education Director Peter J. Haas, Ph.D., "We selected the Windows Media streaming solution over RealNetworks and Pinnacle because it provided us with greater flexibility, lower deployments costs, and higher quality of audio and video at low bit rates."

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Benefits

The new rich-media courseware is currently available to more than 70 students, and has been received very favorably by both instructors and learners. MTI plans to expand the program to include 100 students over the next two years. Haas says, "Streaming rich-media courses will make our program much more marketable. We visualize entire classes conducted this way in the future." MTI believes that enhanced accessibility should also result in financial rewards for the company. Although Haas has not estimated a precise return on investment, he does believe that a significant gain will result from the low cost of the Windows Media deployment coupled with a growth in student numbers.

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© 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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