1. Strategies for Training and Support in
a Distributed Autonomy Environment
Ian Wilkinson
Education Projects Specialist,
Technology Support
ian.wilkinson@ttu.edu
May 2016

2. About Texas Tech University
Created by legislative action in 1923
TTU is the only Texas university to house
undergraduate, graduate, law, architecture,
and medical schools

3. About Texas Tech University
Lubbock is geographically isolated from the rest of
the state, and 300 miles from the nearest city in
any direction, so Texas Tech has always had an
emphasis on distance education and outreach
programs-
video learning fits well into this mission

4. About Texas Tech University
•13 colleges
•Over 35,000 students
•Over 1800 students enrolled online
•Big 12 athletics conference

5. About Texas Tech University
What other organizations are represented here today?

6. Distributed Autonomy – Collaboration and Partnership
Central IT Function:
CIO and Central IT Staff
Dept. IT
Staff
Dept. IT
Staff
Dept. IT
Staff
Dept. IT
Staff

7. What is “distributed autonomy”?
• IT Division provides common services and essential
tools to all departments on campus
• IT Division helps ensure compliance with state and
federal regulations
• College and department IT focus on specialized
technology needs for that area
• Work in partnership to select campus technologies,
leverage common requirements, and review emerging
technology solutions
• All aligned with institutional strategic priorities and
goals

8. Distributed Autonomy
Examples of what the IT
Division provides:
• Network infrastructure
• Email service
• Network account management -
SSO
• Site License software
• Single Point of Technical Contact
• Central IT services, including
SharePoint, Blackboard, WIKI,
Mediasite, etc.

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Presentations: 12,000+
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Views: 761,000+
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Hours of Content: 10,000+
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Unique Viewers: 25,000+
Mediasite 5-year Growth

10. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
IT Division provides:
• On-premise Mediasite HA server
• Media storage
• Scheduled and on-demand training
• Technical support for content owners
• Technical support for viewers
• User access to video production software
• Captioning tools
• User access to Mediasite environment

11. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
Department responsibilities:
• Mediasite recorder annual license(s)
• Recording equipment & room
integration
• Lecture capture room scheduling
• Access to department content
• Captions

12. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
Mediasite HA Server:
Mediasite HA server
• Mediasite is made available as a
service to all departments at Texas
Tech University
• IT Division operates and maintains
the Mediasite server cluster
• Load balanced, redundant high-
availability server configuration

13. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
Mediasite Storage:
• IT Division operates and maintains
Mediasite server media storage servers
• IT Division provides storage reports to
content owners every semester to
indicate what content is unviewed and
can likely be archived
• When needed, IT Division assists with
archiving or restoring content

14. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
Training:
• IT Division has several scheduled
hands-on training events per year
• IT Division provides training as
needed for new users
• IT Division consults with
departments and staff on associated
technology purchases
• IT Division works with eLearning to
integrate Mediasite with other tools

15. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
Video Production Software:
• IT Division provides site license
for software that can be installed
and used by faculty and staff to
produce high-quality video,
including Adobe Presenter and
Adobe Premiere Pro

16. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
Captioning Tools:
• IT Division provides site license for
software that can be installed and
used by faculty and staff to caption
video
• IT Division establishes connection
to caption providers and grants
permission to users authorized to
use the service

17. Distributed Autonomy: Mediasite
User Access:
• O.U.s and Security Groups in Active
Directory are tied to roles in
Mediasite
• Allows for password management to
rest with SSO
• Allows some departmental control
over access for their members where
desired
• Faculty and staff only- we currently
do not allow student access

18. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 1:
Student has problems viewing online video

19. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 1:
Student has problems viewing online video
• Students can call ITHC for help
• Faculty are encouraged to put this information in
their syllabi
• Faculty who use other video platforms often wind
up providing ad hoc technical support for these
other platforms

20. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 2:
A department wishes to add lecture capture capability to a classroom

21. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 2:
A department wishes to add lecture capture capability to a classroom
• Department defines purpose and scope of classroom
• Department defines budget, finds/allocates funds
• IT Division consults on equipment & configuration
• IT Division provides access & training for Mediasite

22. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 3:
A faculty member wishes to create video lectures for flipped and/or
online learning

23. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 3:
A faculty member wishes to create
video lectures for flipped and/or online
learning
• Faculty referred to IT Division (usually by
ITHC or Instructional Design team)
• IT Division consults with faculty to
determine best tools to use
• IT Division grants access to MyMediasite
• Faculty is provided one-on-one training by IT
Division staff
• Faculty (and viewers) have support for
Mediasite content

24. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 4:
A department wishes to record a special event in a room that is not
equipped with a Mediasite recorder

25. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 4:
A department wishes to record a special event in a room that is not
equipped with a Mediasite recorder
• IT Division has a small fleet of portable recorders that can be checked out to
capture special events
• IT Division provides training on recorder use and often helps with setup

26. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 5:
Departmental IT has trouble publishing recorded content to the
Mediasite server

27. Distributed Autonomy
Scenario 5:
Departmental IT has trouble publishing recorded content to the
Mediasite server
• Departmental IT can call IT Division staff for support and troubleshooting
• IT Division will work with department staff and Sonic Foundry support to
resolve the problem

28. Distributed Autonomy
Lessons Learned:
• “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”… we do not ever update Mediasite or add
features during an academic term
• Let someone else find the bugs! We wait to upgrade to major versions and
stay a couple versions behind the latest release
• Follow Sonic Foundry’s example: encourage Mediasite users to work
together and share tips and tricks
• Collaborate with Provost, eLearning, teaching development, and other
academic groups to develop a retention and archive strategy
• When cleaning out unused presentations, someone will decide they want
something back… keep archived content in network storage for a short
time to allow easier restoration

29. Thanks for listening!
Feel welcome to contact me with questions
Ian Wilkinson
Education Projects Specialist,
Technology Support
ian.wilkinson@ttu.edu