CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

VOD for teaching at Princeton

Digitized Film/Video Service

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

History

• Purchased VOD server (Alex Informatique) in 1998, service available in 1999, $430K NJ Grant.– Wintel Architecture, proprietary file system.– MPEG1/2 encoding (1.5 to 5 mbit/second).– Only accessible in specially equipped clusters

(policy and bandwidth restriction).– 10 courses, 50 films first year (Fall, 2000).

• Moved to RealMedia on Dell in 2003 (4/2/03).– RealMedia encoding at 1.5 mbit/second (MPEG/1).– Available in all classrooms, all clusters, not dorm

rooms.

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Why offer VOD for teaching?• Film and Video are dominant communications

medium of 20th century, yet:• Barely used in teaching:

– Expensive (35 mm)– Cumbersome, inconvenient (scheduled showings)

• No ability to do a “close viewing” of material.– Imagine teaching Shakespeare course where only

exposure to a play is from a staging: no “text” to work with, quote, etc.

• Digitizing allows for “close reading” of the “text”.• Students “see” things they couldn’t see before.

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Current System

• Helix Universal Internet Server, Version 9.0.5, Max Client Connections 100

• Dell PowerEdge 6650– 4 Pentium Xeon 2.0 GHz processors – 2 GB RAM– 1 TB storage (holds 500-1000 films)

• Films are about 0.5-2.0 gig depending on length (1 Gig/hour)

– Windows 2000 Advanced Server

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Process

• Faculty member identifies film or tv or video needed.

• Library purchases material (if not already owned), or faculty donates.

• Material digitized at LRC.• Link added to Bb web site.• Link removed at end of semester

(made inactive).

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Growth in Usage

VoD usage Fall 2003 through Spring 2005

semester # of total # of titles # of new DVD VHS Laserdisccourses requested new titles

fall 2003 61 245 245 94 135 8spring 2004 80 339 207 92 109 6fall 2004 100 365 225 113 107 5spring 2005 120 543 274 155 115 8

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Success Factors

• VERY, VERY, VERY easy to use.• Integrate with CMS (put links in yourself).• Bookmarks!• Get faculty to understand concept of

digitized film (music, images, anything):– Not tied to time/place.– Multiple simultaneous viewing, from different

points.– Makes possible a CLOSE READING of film!

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Samples

• Whole films used in broad spectrum of disciplines: history, english, psychology, etc.– Blade Runner– Henry V (1:29:47)

• Parts of films, TV shows, used in topically focussed courses– Need “virtual clip” (bookmark) support.– Introduction to the Study of Gender

(WOM201_S2005)

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Staying out of Trouble

• Rules– Only students enrolled in class.– Only during semester.– Only in clusters or classrooms.

• Not in dormrooms.• Not at home.

– Streamed (not downloadable).• Is this Fair Use?

– YES (well, “nice” use anyway).

CSG Penn State, May 11, 2005

Future

• Policy– Negotiated license rights (maybe with

CDigix or Ruckus).– Viewable in dorm rooms.– Viewable between semesters (for

“academic” use, e.g., writing thesis, research).

• Technology– MPEG/4??? (The Holy Grail of video

encoding)– Clip-maker