UNITE Classroom Capture and Media Hosting
In addition to regular class offerings, UNITE Distributed Learning offers fee-based Classroom Capture and Media Streaming/Hosting for organizations both within and outside of the University of Minnesota.

Classroom Capture

For Single Events, Short Courses or Semester-long Courses ...

UNITE offers fee-based high quality classroom capture originating from eight UNITE-enhanced "studio" classrooms/lecture halls on the East Bank of the Twin Cities campus in Mechanical Engineering, Keller Hall and Akerman Hall, with capacities ranging from 40 to 250 student seats. 

UNITE staffs the technical operations for capture, with a UNITE operator to handle the technical work for the instructor in each classroom.  These events may be streamed live and on-demand and hosted as downloadable audio and video podcasts through UNITE.  Clients may also chose to host asynchonous media - streaming on-demand or downloadable media - elsewhere.

UNITE Class Capture includes two different "views" 

One-Pane Video
For the One-Pane version, the UNITE operator switches between sources (classroom cameras, presenter laptop, overhead desk camera, etc.) to display in a single 1280x720 video frame.  This is similar to watching a television newscast, in this case the UNITE operator follows the lead of the presenter and selects the appropriate material as the presenter is speaking.

(Click on video play; expand, adjust volume, control captions with controls in the lower right)

Two-Pane Video
This is more similar to being in the classroom, where those in attendance may watch both the presenter and additional materials (from a laptop or hand-written notes on the instructor desk displayed on in-room monitors).  Both the camera and a secondary source is presented, side by side, in a 1920x540 video frame.


(Click on video play; expand, adjust volume, control captions with controls in the lower right)

UNITE-Enhanced Classrooms

UNITE Classroom Capture is available in these UNITE-enhanced classrooms (click on the links for more room information from the Office of Classroom Management):

Some streaming services may also be available in the following non-standard locations, pending availability and equipment compatibility:

Notes and Considerations for Classroom Capture:

Captioning:
UNITE does not provide live captioning services.  If that is needed, the client will need to contract a third-party vendor which provides the service.

For recordings, UNITE uses Kaltura's auto-captioning tool to generate a separate caption file for videos during the file processing.  As this is an automated tool, the captioning will not be accurate but may be manually corrected after the videos process.  UNITE does not provide this caption correction service.  

If distributing the recordings in a public way (either freely or for sale to individuals or companies) beyond the original workshop participants, the recordings will need to be accurately closed captioned.  This is required to be in compliance with Federal Law (https://accessibility.umn.edu/laws-policies/legal-obligations).

Participant Privacy:
If distributing beyond the original workshop participants (repurposing for future courses, placing on a freely accessible web site, etc.), it is best practice for the client to obtain and maintain a signed release form from all lecturers and participants (under the assumption that they might end up with their image and/or voice in the recordings).  A template for such a release form approved by the University of Minnesota's General Counsel is available on the University’s Relations website.  You can also see examples of its use by departments/programs: College of Biological Sciences release (.pdf) Medical School release (.pdf).

Media Hosting Services

UNITE also offers fee-based encoding/hosting services for video and audio streams (live and archived) and downloads for materials captured in a UNITE-enhanced classroom.  Additionally, UNITE can encode/host asynchronous media created/captured outside of a UNITE-enhanced classroom by other units. Hosting of video and audio files includes UNITE technical support for your end users.

To see streaming media hosted by UNITE, simply scroll up this page - the One- and Two-Pane UNITE Classroom Capture demonstration videos above are examples of "on-demand" streaming video archives hosted by UNITE.  UNITE can also host live steaming videos originating from a UNITE-enhanced classroom.

If you would like end users to have the ability to download the media - for example, to play later when they do not have stable internet connectivity - UNITE offers that as well.  Once fully downloaded, the files may be played back anytime, at full quality, even without an internet connection.

See the examples above as downloadable video files hosted by UNITE:

(You may have to right-click and choose "Save Link As")

UNITE can also design and host custom web pages for the event and implement a variety of log-in and security options to fit users' needs.

For more information and pricing for UNITE Classroom Capture and Media Hosting, contact UNITE Technical Operations at untechop@umn.edu .