Research Teaching and Learning (RTL) is pleased to announce the arrival of two key teaching and learning infrastructure improvements for fall 2020. The first is the Kaltura audio/video management platform. The second is significant updates to classroom capture hardware. With start-up funding generously provided by the UC Berkeley Student Technology Fund, together these improvements will provide instructors and students with needed virtual and physical classroom capabilities. Review launch announcement to instructional community.
Brief Overview of Kaltura:
Kaltura is a web-based, video management platform that allows UC Berkeley instructors, students and staff to upload, edit, manage and share videos and other media. The Kaltura service and support rollout will happen in two phases. RTL procured the Kaltura video platform in February 2020 and has fast-tracked the service and implementation timeline to meet essential needs for a fall remote instruction scenario. Think of this platform as a centrally supported and protected version of YouTube for all of the instructional media files you need to share with your students or they need to share with instructors and peers. Additionally, RTL and DSP together have developed a workflow so that DSP can make the approved closed captioning accommodations when needed.
Phase 1: July 2020
Kaltura and bCourses for Remote Instruction
Instructors can use Kaltura Capture (desktop application) to record and apply light edits to audio and video. Then, in Kaltura via bCourses, they can upload, share, and manage course playlists using the Kaltura/bCourses integration all within a bCourses course site. Likewise, if instructors prefer to use other software to capture and edit their audio/video, they can use Kaltura for their video distribution. Instructors can also view analytics for valuable insight and feedback on how their students are engaging with audio/video learning content.
Workshops, training, and help guides are in development now for the July 2020 phase 1 Kaltura video platform launch. Announcements for these will be shared with Deans and Chairs as well as through various faculty channels like Teach-net and Academic Innovation Studio (AIS) listservs.
Students can upload media to share with their class peers and instructional teams by embedding Kaltura video into assignments, discussions and anywhere the Rich Content Editor appears in bCourses. (Students can also add items to the course media gallery once approved by an instructor.)
Kaltura and Course Capture for Classroom Recording
Course Capture is a classroom lecture recording service. Starting in Fall 2020, Course Capture will be leveraging Kaltura as its publishing platform and will no longer be publishing to YouTube. The benefits of using Kaltura include course-restricted access to recordings. Instructors will also have options to trim and review their recordings before making Course Capture recordings available to students. Instructors can also view analytics for valuable insight and feedback on how their students are engaging with Course Capture recordings.
Course Capture is available in a subset of the General Assignment classrooms. With the transition to Kaltura, RTL plans to upgrade the capture equipment in this existing set of capture-capable classrooms. In addition, planning is underway both to expand the number of capture-capable classrooms and to expand the capabilities within the overall inventory, such as by adding video cameras into more of the classrooms. In addition, RTL is exploring ways to extend the Kaltura platform out to colleges and departments that want to leverage the system for use in their own classroom spaces. Through pilot initiatives already underway, RTL is actively investigating models for this sort of extension.
Phase 2: Late Fall 2020
Kaltura MediaSpace
Kaltura MediaSpace is a web portal and user interface that allows users to record, upload, manage, and share videos outside of bCourses. Kaltura Mediaspace and Kaltura in bCourses share the same My Media repository, enabling video to be easily shared between the two environments. MediaSpace will be a better fit for staff and non-instructional use scenarios (e.g., promo video for public program website).
Workshops, training, and help guides will be in development this summer and early fall for phase 2 launch in late fall 2020.
Expansion of Course Capture
As additional funding becomes available, RTL aspires to increase the reach of the Course Capture service by increasing the inventory of eligible general assignment classrooms.