California universities forced to cancel class due to fire use webcasting to maintain course flow
MADISON, Wis., Nov. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sonic Foundry(R), Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFO) , a leader in automated rich media communications technology, today reports that when California wildfires forced California State University (CSU) Fullerton Department of Nursing and California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) to cancel classes, both schools turned to their Mediasite(R) webcasting platform to continue delivering instruction by capturing and streaming lectures online.
CSU Fullerton Department of Nursing’s RN to BSN distance program is one in which nurses can obtain a Bachelor’s degree while attending at a site near work or home. The program is attended by working nurses who are looking for convenience, quality, and collaboration. Many of those students live in areas that were threatened by fires, and were unable to attend class.
“Although some of the classrooms were closed, we held classes where we could, and recorded them with Mediasite and made the content available to the students who weren’t able to meet. We didn’t want them to have to make a choice between leaving their homes and families — potentially having to evacuate — and coming to class,” said Marsha Orr, Distance Education Faculty Liason at CSU Fullerton Department of Nursing. “Because we are able to swiftly and easily capture the class and post it immediately to the web, it meant that the students didn’t lose any content. It meant not rescheduling; it meant not trying to double up on information.”
On a day-to-day basis, CSUSM uses Mediasite to enhance both traditional and fully online courses, allowing professors to use in-class time to concentrate on higher-quality student interaction. When the firestorm broke out, the university had to close its campus for an entire week. Faculty used Mediasite to give students remote access to their lectures.
“Mediasite was the first solution we turned to when we had to decide how to make up for those lost hours,” said Linda Scott, Director of Academic Technology at CSUSM. “One professor was able to release a previously-recorded Mediasite presentation for his students and another professor recorded the lecture he would have given the week of the fires, allowing his students to access it online. There are countless examples of this, and students were grateful we were able to offer webcasting as an option.”
“These stories illustrate that Mediasite is a powerful resource for our higher education customers, not only for day-to-day instruction, but also as a critical solution in responding to these trying and difficult circumstances,” said Darrin Coulson, chief operating officer of Sonic Foundry. “It’s when we hear stories like these that we can see the true power and convenience of Mediasite.”
Since its introduction in 2003, Sonic Foundry’s Mediasite has set the standard as a transformational communication medium for delivering critical information and sharing knowledge. Trusted by education and health institutions, corporations and government, the patented Mediasite webcasting and content management system quickly and cost-effectively automates the capture, management, delivery and search of rich media presentations that combine audio, video and accompanying graphics for live or on-demand viewing.
About Sonic Foundry(R), Inc.
Founded in 1991, Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ:SOFO) is a technology leader in the emerging rich media communications marketplace, providing enterprise solutions and services that link an information driven world. Sonic Foundry is named on Ziff Davis Media’s Baseline Magazine’s list of the top ten fastest-growing software companies with sales under $150 million and named one of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 companies. Voted Best Webcasting Platform and Best Webcasting Appliance in the Streaming Media Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards, the company’s solutions are trusted by education institutions, Fortune 500 companies and government agencies for a variety of critical communication needs. Sonic Foundry is changing the way organizations communicate via the Web and how people around the globe receive vital information needed for work, professional advancement, safety and education. Sonic Foundry is based in Madison, WI. For more information about Sonic Foundry, visit the company’s Website at http://www.sonicfoundry.com/.
Certain statements contained in this news release regarding matters that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Because such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, uncertainties pertaining to continued market acceptance for Sonic Foundry’s products, its ability to succeed in capturing significant revenues from media services and/or systems, the effect of new competitors in its market, integration of acquired business and other risk factors identified from time to time in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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