Technology scouting
Instructional Services collaborates with colleagues and departments across campus and at other institutions to investigate new and emerging technologies and tools that have the potential to improve or broaden the application of technology to teaching and learning. These activities result in us being on the cutting edge by learning how to best exploit existing tools and by learning what is becoming possible with newer technologies. Below are the areas we are currently investigating.
Internet2 Fall Member Meeting Highlights
The 2007 Internet2 Fall Member Meeting took place on October 8-11.
"The conference included a wide variety of sessions including presentations on the new high-performance nationwide Internet2 network, advances in middleware technology, new optical networking technologies, network research, grid computing, as well as advanced applications in telemedicine, arts and humanities, K-12 educational programs, distance-learning, among many others."
Highlights of the meeting are documented here.
Podcasting: Technology Investigation
Podcasting is a mode of media delivery, rapidly gaining in popularity, where a viewer is able to subscribe to a feed describing various audio and video files. When new files become available, they are automatically “pushed” out to the viewer. This method of delivery is especially attractive for content providers (like academic institutions) which have a steady stream of new material while also having a large user base - users which no longer have to be informed of new material, but instead receive that material automatically. Read more about this activity...
Second Life and the 3D Web in Education
Instructional Services is currently exploring the online virtual community called Second Life. See more here.
High Definition Video
Instructional Services conducted a small-scale exploration that resulted in helping us make better decisions when making upgrades to our video acquisition, editing, and delivery infrastructure. Preservation and archiving issues related to the shift to HD were also explored. A white paper is now available.
Hancher Auditorium High Definition (HD) video exploration
Instructional Services Digital Media Solutiuons work group is providing multimedia assistance for "SPOT The Hancher Family Arts Adventure" project. The project sponsors artist residences and performances in four Iowa small towns. The project is helping to showcase the new HD video technology we are exploring. The project is an ideal candidate for HD video because of its longevity. We expect that by the end of the project HD video will become much more common.
Staff travels with the performers around Iowa shooting many hours of HD video. The video was then edited and distributed to several sources, including the web (click here to see HD video clips). We are able to learn much about the HD format and the workflows we need to follow with this project.
Explore the Use of Tools to Create Animations for Teaching and Research
Instructional Services has recently begun an exploration in animation tools and processes for the purpose of teaching and research. A further explanation and an example of one animation process is available here.
Other efforts underway
Check back later this spring for reports on investigations involving podcasting (preliminary results available here), streaming video to handheld devices, and Flash video.
