Tag Archives: Meetings

ACI – The Academic Cyberinfrastructure Inventory

Last Spring we gathered information on all of the services that make up our academic cyberinfrastructure, services and innovations for teaching, learning, research and creativity. This resulted in a long list of services in various stages of adoption. Since collecting this information we have merged it with the ITS Services Catalog, creating one huge list. This long list became unwieldy as spreadsheets, so we have put it into an application form that allows users to filter the list.

The application is available here – http://act.middcreate.net/aci/

or you can reach it via GO-link – go/aci

Now, we need your help before we share the inventory with the world. Some of the information has changed since the inventory was gathered, and there may be some items that we missed. Also, the application may not filter the information in a way that is useful to you.

So please visit and browse the ACI and contact Joe if:

  • Any of the information you see is incorrect and needs updating.
  • Anything needs to be added to the inventory.
  • You have a use-case for the inventory.

Thank you, in advance, for helping us make this a useful service for Middlebury.

Notes for Extended Team Meeting: Panopto Training

Presenter: Rebecca Lessem, Director of Training

Training & support resources under training tab of homepage

    • Webinars (basic and advanced) plus Friday Q+A with Rebecca at noon eastern time

Overview of how recordings move through the Panopto system

  • All videos are “deeply searchable” via automatic speech recognition + OCR software
    • Special plugin to powerpoint makes slide text searchable, too!
    • Title, keywords, metadata
    • Searchability is only English language-based? (Petar)
      • Yes
      • For other languages, uploading captions is recommended for searchability.
  • Recording
    • You can record from any device (downloadable app)
    • Remote recorder functionality – start and stop times can be pre-set (not available for Macs, PC only)
    • You can also record outside of Panopto and upload to the platform
      • Will be processed and searchable the same as other videos
    • Quality of OCR? (Shel)
      • it depends – usually works well for printed text and/or stuff that’s on-screen for a while; handwriting is obviously trickier
    • Creators can add PDFs to their recordings as well as slides
  • Viewing Panopto content
    • Interactive web viewer
    • Accessible via any browser
    • Android and iOS apps
    • Display is automatically optimized for the device you are viewing from
    • Mp4, mp3, tablet, android, and iOS viewing formats are available for every recording made or uploaded to Panopto
    • Admins have brand customization options
    • Are there multiple quality versions for adaptive streaming, or just one encoding per device type? (Zach)
      • Panopto should adjust automatically as long as you are accessing via the web viewer; mobile apps have just one encoding each, but creators can specify

Roles in Panopto and their permissions (creator, viewer, administrator)

Folders

  • Course folder – shared with instructor and students
  • My folder – personal to every user
  • Assignment folder – allow for student recording
    • Everyone who is a viewer in the course would be able to record via this folder without technically being a creator
    • Can students easily download any videos they make for portfolio reasons? (Zach)
      • Yes – multiple output options can be selected and processed into a single mp4
  • Shared with me
    • Any content you’ve been added to
  • Bookmarked
  • Browse
  • Each folder has its own permissions which can be adjusted
    • Share – Google-esque options (specific people, organization wide, groups, public on the web, etc.)
      • Groups are not auto-synced from AD (too many); course groups synced on demand from the Hub, others must be (re-)created manually.
    • When you share a folder, you can assign read only, edit, or publish permissions
      • If enabled, “publisher” would have to give approval for content to become visible to viewers
  • Our folders are set up by Program -> Year -> Semester -> Course (Joe)
    • We could structure our Panopto folders to reflect this
  • Parent folder settings can be set to to apply to subfolders, or not
  • Is there a master file? (Petar)
    • Each file is a master file
      • A copy of a file would be it’s own master file and would have to be deleted/adjusted separately from the original

Panopto from the viewer perspective

  • Can adjust video speed
    • Fastforward
    • Slow motion
  • Can annotate videos
  • Can take notes
    • Private by default, can be adjusted
    • Notes can be taken in a group channel so everyone in the group can see/search each other’s notes
    • Saved as metadata so student can see/search later
    • Creator can delete notes
  • Can participate in discussion
    • Like a group chat, more public than notes
    • Saved as metadata so student can see/search later
    • Creator can delete discussions (if content is problematic or creator uses same video from semester to semester)
    • Cannot be exported, we can submit feature request

Canvas Integration

  • We don’t have it, but maybe we want it
  • When enabled, Panopto shows up as a tab in the course menu
    • Embedded, searchable Panopto iframe within Canvas
  • Instructor can make new recordings, adjust video settings, edit videos, share videos within Canvas via the integration
  • Panopto button will show up in Canvas rich text editor
    • Content can be directly embedded into discussions, assignments, etc
    • Recordings will live in Panopto
  • Permissions for Panopto files would carry over from semester to semester without having to copy the video. This can currently be done using the Course Hub.

Statistics

  • Counts live stream watching? (Petar)
    • Yes

Can a live webcast be embedded? (Mack)

  • When you prepare the link in advance, you can embed it, but it won’t show anything until the session begins.
    • Does it embed the live webcast or just the recording? Didn’t seem to work when we tested. (Mack)
      • Rebecca will follow up

ACTT Meetings ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Web Conferencing Service

Tuesday, November 8, from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Zoom room https://middpilot.zoom.us/j/846802386

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about the Web Conferencing Service project.

  • Share what has been done, so far.
    • The results of the round-robin, what services were removed from consideration as a result
    • Current use of services under consideration.
  • Discuss what still needs to be done.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Panopto Pilot

Tuesday, November 1, from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Zoom room https://middpilot.zoom.us/j/846802386

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about the video streaming service and the Panopto Pilot.

  • Review the training that occurred on 10/25
  • Share what has been done, so far.
  • Discuss what still needs to be done.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

ACTT Extended Team Meeting Agenda for October 25, 2016

The new ACT Team process includes Extended Team meetings. These closed meetings allow the Team to work with expert staff and focus on evaluating solutions that inform recommendations.

Agenda

We will be participating in a vendor led training on Panopto, the video management service we are piloting this fall. Proposed topics include:

  • Overview of how recordings move through the Panopto system
  • Logging in to Panopto from Blackboard/Canvas or directly
  • How Panopto appears in Blackboard/Canvas
  • How folders work in Panopto (hierarchy, subfolders, sharing)
  • Roles in Panopto and their permissions (creator, viewer, administrator)
  • Managing the Panopto Video Library: sharing, moving, copying videos and folders
  • Viewership analytics

Notes for Adobe Connect Replacement, LTI Governance

Housekeeping

  • Google Apps for Edu allows for up to 15 participants on hangouts (as opposed to 10).
  • Storage project is now underway (Zach)
    • Goal: reduce dependency on local storage infrastructure and improve access across devices and locations.
    • Email migration was first step, second step will be migration of home directories on Midd/MIIS files to the cloud.
    • Strong sense that we will be recommending One Drive as default best option, but Google Drive will continue to be supported.
  • Checking in on how Hangouts is working for our team communication/meetings
    • Have presenters join individually via Hangouts so that they aren’t just presenting “to the room”?
    • Would be helpful to provide docs/resources referenced in the meeting via the Hangout chat (Jamie)
    • Lower thirds have been super helpful
    • Core team has been meeting exclusively via Hangouts (everyone joins separately), would be great if we could practice this for extended team meetings, as well

Adobe Connect Replacement

    • Features for Web Conferencing Platform (adobe connect replacement)
    • Mack and Petar presented  to us on the status of this project in July
    • 80 host licenses on our current Adobe Connect contract – we’ve hit capacity and purchase 10 or more licenses a year
    • Adobe got rid of edu discount, so next fiscal year we’ll be using an alternative
      • 4 alternative platforms are being considered:
      • Related to another IT driven project – phone system replacement at the College
        • Most of the systems being considered have a UC (unified communications) component.
        • Webex and Vidyo are being considered as alternatives to AC as part of the phone replacement project
      • Zoom and Blue Jeans are two additional web conferencing platforms being considered (independent of phone replacement)

 

  • If there is a clear front runner after rigorous testing of different options, we will proceed with a pilot (Mack)

 

    • Zoom Webex and Blue Jeans meet our needs as a replacement for Adobe Connect, according to the criteria we set in above form
    • Options that have been ruled out for various administrative/functionality-related reasons
      • Skype for business
      • Gotomeeting
    • How AC is currently being used
      • School of Hebrew hybrid program
      • Language School pre-immersion (Russian + Korean)
      • Administrative working groups at College
      • MIIS: probably 20 active users per semester
        • IEM program relies heavily on web conferencing each semester
          • Symposium, synchronous practicum course throughout the semester, guest speakers
        • Recruiting: virtual recruiting series each semester
        • Annual Nonproliferation teacher training – virtual workshops

 

  • For now, how do we test these different tools?

 

      • Our group will test out the 4 different platforms during our meetings
        • Musical chairs, 15 minutes?
      • Our group will try to identify the one tool that stands out and then pilot that group with the various academic/administrative groups reliant AC

 

  • During those 15 minutes, we’ll be evaluating

 

  • Project team: Mack, Petar, Joe, Bob, ODL (Sean or Amy C)
    • Project team will share meeting links with us to attend via the different platforms, a member of the project team will lead each test.

LTI Governance

    • Learning Technology Integration (LTI)
    • Canvas has the ability to link to other services internally
    • LTIs can be linked at
      • Course level (by faculty)
      • Subaccount level (MIIS, Breadloaf, etc.)
      • Uber admin level (available for all courses across the board)
    • Eduapps
      • Right now, faculty can find direct links to services and add them directly
    • Governance questions and next steps

 

  • Next steps: Joe has drafted a recommendation and will be sharing for feedback, then we’ll decide how to move forward

 

  • Additional questions from the group
    • What was the process for Moodle/LTI? (Petar)
      • College only had one LTI request ever – no precedent
    • Replace “student data” with “protected data” in flowchart?
      • Comply with FERPA
      • Health data?
    • WordPress parallel – how do plugin requests get vetted? Do we need to be talking about governance processes more broadly? (Bob)
    • If we do approve the request, at what level does that take place? Subaccount? Everyone?
    • If the LTI has a cost, which budget would it come out of? (Mack)
      • Cost will be addressed on a case by case basis
    • Streamlining the faculty experience – should we try to ensure that this request process is similar to requesting WordPress plugins or Google Apps integrations (Zach)?
      • Joe’s gut reaction: we should stick to focusing on Canvas, the governance question is new to us. Let’s focus on success with Canvas governance and then think about how it could be a model for future platforms. We can have the conversation about Google Apps at a later date.
      • Currently no governing body that approves or denies WordPress plugin requests. There has never been a formal system for vetting requests beyond whether adding them will break anything. (Adam)

Notes for Google Drive & Course Hub, Adobe Connect

Announcements

  • Horizon report – Joe has been asked to sit on the Expert Panel for the 2017 Higher Ed Report – will inform our work for making cyberinfrastructure projections.

 

Course Hub/Middfiles/Google Drive

Provisioning Google Drive folders and Middfiles folders using the Course Hub. – Joe

  • Meeting w Jim Stewart and Mike Roy about this
    • Use of middfiles has declined 20% over the last few years – let’s provision course folders on demand from the course hub instead
    • It is possible to provision Google Drive folders using the Course Hub, allowing the Hub to set up appropriate permissions and add rosters.
    • MIIS courses don’t use local storage
  • What communication needs to happen?
    • There needs to be clear messaging that Google Apps is available to everyone, and provisioning of course folders is an option.
    • Exit strategy needs to be in place
  • The plan is to move away from local storage to cloud services
    • What do we lose in this transition?
        • Media projects have to be downloaded every single time
    • Moving directories to the cloud
  • Before this gets automated in Course Hub, do we need to consider other configurations e.g. OneDrive?
    • Course Hub can allow for all sorts of provisioning, do we need to make a strong recommendation for one or the other?
  • There is currently no proposal/ask to decommission Middfiles/course folders. That functionality will still exist.
  • Google folder provisioning through Course Hub will not be in place for the fall semester
  • Are we supposed to make a recommendation for one or the other?
    • People are already using Google Drive privately, they’re not using Office 365
    • Should we do a comparison pilot to determine the unique affordances of the two platforms?
      • Only one program will have dedicated support – once we make a decision about which one is supported we need to articulate an exit strategy
      • At the end of the pilot, would we turn the unselected platform off?
  • Tenure review process and current 2-year retention policies are at odds
      • We’d have unlimited storage with google apps, but we can’t guarantee google wouldn’t change their terms of service – exit plan necessary
  • How long Moodle archives will be accessible after decommissioning is undecided

 

Recommendation: Create functionality that allows for the provisioning of Google Drive spaces for courses using the Course Hub.

Recommendation: Create functionality that allows for the provisioning of Course Folders on Middfiles using the Course Hub.

 

Video Conferencing (Mack and Petar)

  • Adobe has discontinued its educational pricing for Adobe Connect, and the new price is prohibitive; we need to plan for a replacement for next fiscal year
    • We are in agreement that there is a need for adobe connect-like functionality beyond our other platforms
      • Large scale curricular events that allow for screen sharing, file sharing, interactivity, recording, etc.
      • MIIS Recruiting, International Education Mgmt program, and other departments are dependent upon Adobe Connect for virtual events
        • virtual symposia, recruiting webinars, synchronous sessions for hybrid courses (presentations, roleplays, lectures)
    • Alternatives to Adobe Connect
      • 6 week Skype for business pilot took place
      • WebEx by Cisco is being piloted now
      • GoToMeeting by Citrix – not much for academic use
      • Additional tools being piloted
        • Some of these tools could potentially meet the needs that Adobe Connect currently serves, but they are being evaluated as replacements for our telephone systems. Is that sufficient consideration for curricular use?
        • What would be missing?
          • Given how heavily MIIS programs rely on Adobe Connect, if tools are being piloted that could replace it, MIIS and the DLC must be part of that conversation and any potential pilots
        • Mack and Petar could do demos for us
        • We could potentially do a curricular/academic pilot of one of these platforms
        • Seems like Zoom is the strongest contender for curricular purposes
          • Potential pilot participants – MIIS’ International Education Mngmt program does a symposium every semester. 60 students will be presenting this November (majority of presentations rely upon web conferencing).
      • Would be great if alternative platform could also replace polycom infrastructure, but that’s not the primary purpose of the evaluation

 

  • Next steps: Petar will share spreadsheet for us to respond to/indicate our needs in a replacement. Make additions by 8/9

 

 

From Petar:

 

Per our conversation at the ACTT meeting, we need to look for a replacement for Adobe Connect as we cannot afford their new pricing model (which is twice the cost = $40k). This is the link where Mack and Petar have begun to collect a list of features that are required/desired to have in a replacement, and a list of potential replacements. Please add any features or solutions that you think are missing. We are hoping to have the feedback collected in the next two weeks and review the list again and choose the top three solutions.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Vv1LwQNz-cY0EOnVofZEl3vDdKet3KWpFF48twQFElo/edit#gid=0

ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for MiddCreate

Tuesday, July 5 from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Polycom 712833

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

Evelyn Helminen will be sharing the MiddCreate project, currently in the pilot stage moving into production for the fall.  After we will discuss how MiddCreate fits into Middlebury’s academic cyberinfrastructure.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.