University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm Selects Mediasite for Online Learning During COVID-19 Outbreak

German university quickly rolls out personal video capture software to all faculty to create online lectures, facilitate flipped instruction

MADISON, Wis., April 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm in Germany has closed its doors due to the COVID-19 outbreak but faculty are currently busy creating screencasts of lectures with the personal capture software My Mediasite for students to watch online starting April 20. The international business school has recently selected Mediasite for lecture capture and video management and is quickly rolling the software out to all instructors campus-wide so they can create lecture videos from home for students to watch anytime, anywhere.

The school planned for a gradual rollout of My Mediasite throughout this semester but outbreak concerns prompted a more immediate approach. All instructors have access to My Mediasite, allowing them to create supplemental video lectures from their own devices and share with students in their Moodle learning management system. My Mediasite replaces a screen recorder and video editor the school previously used.

When students and faculty begin returning to campus after global concerns of COVID-19 have subsided, the university will also start using Mediasite RL Mini plug-and-play capture appliances in select classrooms. They will be connected to in-room control systems, microphones and cameras. The Mini, fully automated and schedulable, can be installed anywhere. Instructors simply plug in their laptop and start teaching.

"We chose Mediasite because we needed a central solution to create and manage all of our academic videos, which are widely used on campus, and the ability for faculty to create lecture content from their homes during this uncertain time is extremely useful,” said Jan Fiedler, Center for Digitalisation/ Digital Teaching and Learning, University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm. "Prior to Mediasite, faculty created lecture videos with a variety of technologies and published them across many channels. Transitioning to Mediasite allows us to create and host everything in one place, and we can also upload our hundreds of hours of legacy e-learning content into Mediasite.”

Fiedler continued: "We expect My Mediasite to rapidly accelerate the use of flipped instruction on campus, and the Mediasite RL Mini proved to be very cost effective for us. It fit our needs of capturing two video feeds – one of the camera and one of the instructors presentation slides – perfectly.”

All the content is hosted on an on-premises Mediasite server and available to faculty and students directly in Moodle. The legacy content, as well as the new videos faculty will create in Mediasite, will be tagged and categorized, and viewers can easily search across entire libraries of content that are easily accessible to students and will supplement future courses.

"Security of our videos is of the utmost importance, especially with GDPR regulations. Mediasite allows us to host our deployment in-house, and its advanced security settings ensure only authorized viewers have access to the content,” Fiedler said. "Mediasite’s interactivity features are also interesting, allowing us to do in-video quizzes and polls to gauge students’ understanding of topics in real time.”

"It is nice to see that the University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm already has an impressive academic video initiative with many faculty members creating e-learning content, and that it has acted swiftly during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure classes have minimal disruptions. They are a model for what can happen when an entire campus collaborates together to create a solid continuity plan,” said Michael Norregaard, CEO, Sonic Foundry, the maker of Mediasite. "The university’s selection of Mediasite will streamline all the valuable videos instructors are creating – both from their homes and in classrooms – and establish a central home for the content where students can easily reference it during study time. We are honored to partner with the university and be a part of its digital learning strategy as the new semester kicks off.”

Learn how Mediasite’s professional services can help at www.mediasite.com/coronavirus and in this webinar, Optimize Your Coronavirus Plan with Mediasite.

Trusted by more than 1,700 colleges and universities, the patented Mediasite webcasting and video content management system quickly and cost-effectively automates the capture, management, delivery and search of live and on-demand videos for campus events, lecture capture and flipped learning.

About University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm
The Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Neu-Ulm, HNU) is an international business school with a focus on innovation, sustainable entrepreneurship and digital transformation. We educate our graduates to shape the future, equipping them with international experience, fostering problem-solving skills and enabling them to act responsibly. Intensive collaboration with businesses in our dynamic economic region, combined with the expertise of our professors, ensure a high standard of applied research, practice-relevant teaching and innovative transfer.

About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.
Sonic Foundry (OTC: SOFO) is the global leader for video capture, management and streaming solutions. Trusted by more than 5,200 educational institutions, corporations, health organizations and government entities in over 65 countries, its Mediasite Video Platform quickly and cost-effectively automates the capture, management, delivery and search of live and on-demand streaming videos. Learn more at www.mediasite.com and @mediasite.

© 2020 Sonic Foundry, Inc. Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. or their respective owners.

Media Relations:
Nicole Wise, Director of Communications
920.226.0269
nicolew@sonicfoundry.com