University of Cincinnati
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Founded in 1870, the University of Cincinnati (UC) currently enrolls more than 33,000 students and is a nationally ranked center for research and learning. In January 1999, UC embarked on its Streaming Media Project with three goals in mind: (1) to make a significant contribution to the university-wide plan to reinvent the traditional classroom, (2) to reach students where they live and work at times conducive to their individual learning styles, and (3) to deliver a system requiring no more effort from students or faculty than a traditional classroom-based course. Through its strategic deployment of Microsoft Windows Media®,
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UC has successfully cast a new light on what it means to be a center for research, teaching, and learning. The university also has extended its reach and influence into the community by making special events widely available through both live and on-demand streaming media content delivery.
The University of Cincinnati (UC) is a renowned center for research and learning, and is ranked 47th in the nation for research funding. UC is also one of only 88 institutions classified as a Research I University by the Carnegie Commission. Founded in 1870, UC is a part of the Ohio state university system and boasts an enrollment of more than 33,000 students. Rated one of the nation’s “Best Colleges for the Real World” by U.S. News and World Report (January, 2001), UC recognizes that the university rolls are no longer primarily composed of students who can devote numerous uninterrupted years to their undergraduate and graduate higher education goals. Today’s student body, faced with increasing demands on its time, has been forced to move away from traditional learning styles. To reach students where they live and when they are best able to learn, UC has sought to redefine the classroom and, in doing so, to position itself as a leader in the changing world of higher education.
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The University of Cincinnati’s Office of Information Technologies established the Streaming Media Project to produce and deliver high-quality streaming courses and events, and to do so with a system that would require no more effort from students and faculty than would the traditional classroom. After a comprehensive evaluation of RealNetworks, QuickTime, and Windows Media, Microsoft Windows Media was chosen as the technology for creation and delivery of UC’s streaming content. Three important factors influenced UC’s decision to go with Microsoft: low-cost licensing, the impressive set of codecs available for quality real-time encoding, and the integrated player and browser that provide an instantly understood user interface. By deploying Windows Media and making modest investments in additional hardware, the University of Cincinnati’s Streaming Media Project has, in just three years, created an infrastructure enabling the capture and distribution of not only more than 400 hours of instructional material, but also of many special campus events, including guest lectures and seminars; commencement ceremonies; campus forums and panel discussions; UC basketball’s annual Midnight Madness event; and the live audio feed of BearCast, the university’s Internet-only, student-operated radio station.
Streaming course content typically is produced using a mobile production and encoding cart equipped with two remote-controlled video cameras, several wired and wireless microphones, and a digital still camera. Faculty and students experience little change from the traditional classroom, and benefit from access to streaming content available almost immediately following the live instruction. The course content is encoded for both on- and off-campus users at multiple bit rates ranging from 56 kilobits per second (Kbps) to 768 Kbps. For any course or event, the Project easily can accommodate the bandwidth requirements of all audiences by using the multiple bit rate encoding and bit rate optimization features of Windows Media. Content is then distributed on the main Web site, www.stremedia.uc.edu, or from a department-specific Web site. Approximately 85 percent of UC’s streaming content is intended to be accessed on-demand, so it is delivered using unicast. For live campus events, a multicast stream reaches on-campus users, and off-campus viewers and listeners access unicast streams.
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Since 1999, the Streaming Media Project has produced and distributed more than 400 hours of instructional material, including six complete courses plus the first year of a “GE Learning Excellence” research program. In addition to distribution of course content in volume, the Project is also the producer of and host to many special campus and community events that help to draw the greater Cincinnati community and the university closer together. Through streaming media, UC is successfully redefining the classroom and delivering a higher-education learning environment that reaches students where and when they are best able to learn. Now, the university can do the following more easily: adapt to the changing needs and makeup of its undergraduate and graduate students; help to maximize the value of faculty theory, instruction, and research; and provide a creative and efficient tool that will help UC thrive in the changing world.
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