Community College Expands Distance Learning Program Using Innovative Video System from VBrick and VideoCall.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2003 Cedar Valley Cedar Valley may refer to:
Learning Experience and Increase Program Enrollment The Cedar Valley College Cedar Valley College is a community college of the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD), located in Lancaster, Texas (USA) in southern Dallas County. Cedar Valley first opened its doors in 1977 and has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students. (www.cedarvalleycollege.edu), part of the Dallas County Community College District The Dallas County Community College District (or DCCCD for short) is a network of seven community colleges in Dallas County, Texas (USA). The district was founded in 1965 and the first school, El Centro College, located in downtown Dallas, was established in 1966. , has deployed an advanced video communication system from VBrick Systems, Inc. (www.VBrick.com) in cooperation with Austin, TX-based VideoCall (www.VideoCall.net), one of the country's leading video network integrators, to improve the capabilities of the college's growing distance learning program. The first-of-its-kind video system, which VideoCall and VBrick are pioneering with award-winning VBXcast MPEG-4 networked video appliances and a Video on Demand (VOD See video-on-demand. VoD - video on demand ) server, will provide rich media on-demand to Cedar Valley students to enhance the learning experience and increase program enrollment. Dr. Jennifer Wimbish, president of Cedar Valley College said, "We are excited about our partnership with VBrick Systems and VideoCall because it allows us to achieve two important goals related to our strategic direction: providing our students and community with learning experiences that are critical to living and learning in the 21st century by engaging them in learning experiences utilizing technology; and developing partnerships that allow us to maximize our resources." How it works Portable VBXcast appliances are mounted on a cart along with a camera. The system design by VideoCall allows for the "video cart" to be wheeled from classroom to classroom or to auditoriums around Cedar cedar, common name for a number of trees, mostly coniferous evergreens. The true cedars belong to the small genus Cedrus of the family Pinaceae (pine family). Valley's campus. By simply plugging the VBrick into any port on the college's existing data network, professors can broadcast or record class sessions and demonstrations. Students can access these videos anytime simply by clicking on designated links on Cedar Valley's virtual student bulletin board. Because VBXcast compresses video and audio into the MPEG-4 format, students can access the video on any PC that is connected to the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the , no matter what speed connection they have. MPEG-4 uses bandwidth more effectively, allowing it to extend the reach of visual communication to everyone with Internet access See how to access the Internet. from dial-up to broadband broadband Term describing the radiation from a source that produces a broad, continuous spectrum of frequencies (contrasted with a laser, which produces a single frequency or very narrow range of frequencies). . Because it is network appliance (1) A specialized device for use on a network. For example, Web servers, cache servers and file servers can be implemented as general-purpose computers with the appropriate software or as network appliances, which are computers dedicated to a single function and cannot do anything dedicated to streaming, VBXcast is reliable and easy to set up and use. While Cedar Valley's video system will be used for distance learning classes in all majors, it will be particularly beneficial for the college's veterinary technology program, which is primarily made up of virtual classes attended by students who live all over the world. Now, instead of relying on PowerPoint slides for learning material, students can watch live or pre-recorded class sessions and demonstrations taught by professors. Because the quality and fidelity of VBrick video transmissions are so high, remote-learning students can pick up nuances and subtleties of a lecture or lab demonstration that would otherwise be missing from a set of slides and an audio recording. "Our VBrick/VideoCall video system allowed us to take advantage of our existing infrastructure to quickly and inexpensively provide an additional avenue for our students to receive classroom instruction," said Jason Siegrist, IT Manager Cedar Valley College. "And since the VBricks essentially are out-of-the-box ready to stream, we were able to have our video system fully deployed in one half of a workday." Industry Firsts Working with VBrick Systems and VideoCall, forward-thinking Cedar Valley Community College has created a video system that breaks new ground for colleges of its size. "The system design that VideoCall created with VBrick marks several new developments in distance learning for large colleges the size of Cedar Valley College," VideoCall President Richard King said. "Never before have faculty been able to simultaneously stream and record lectures in the MPEG-4 format for students to replay anytime on any computer connected to the Internet." The significant industry firsts include: -- The ability to simultaneously stream and record lectures in the MPEG-4 format allowing students to watch the course live or on their time schedule -- The ability to provide multiple channels from the classroom so that students can not only see and hear the instructor, but also view the instructors PC screen, all at minimal bandwidth The advanced system could be a model for other small institutions that also want to harness the power of streaming video A one-way video transmission over a data network. It is widely used on the Web as well as company networks to play video clips and video broadcasts. Computers in home networks stream video to digital media hubs connected to a home theater. for their distance learning programs. "The number of colleges offering their curriculum through distance learning is expanding rapidly as schools look for ways to enhance the learning experience for the student around the block or around the world," said Jay Schwartzberg, vice president of sales and business development for VBrick Systems. "Cedar Valley is an excellent example of an educational institution using VBrick's unique line of networked video appliances to extend its reach through a flexible, reliable Internet video Video material obtained from the Internet. It may refer to streaming video from real time broadcasts, streaming archival material or downloading video files for watching later, all of which are viewed on the computer. system." About VBrick Systems, Inc. VBrick Systems, Inc. manufactures simple, reliable video solutions that enhance communications and reduce costs for organizations large and small. VBrick enables enterprises to benefit from high quality visual communications through networked video appliances. VBrick MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). video solutions provide the simplest and most dependable visual communications to businesses, educational institutions and government agencies ranging in use from distributing news and information and distance learning to training and surveillance. Based in Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 43,026 at the 2000 census. History Wallingford was established on October 10, 1667, when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the "making of a village on the east river" to , USA, VBrick Systems' products are distributed through industry-leading value-added resellers A value-added reseller (VAR) is a company that adds some feature(s) to an existing product(s), then resells it (usually to end-users) as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution. , system integrators See systems integrator. and distributors. Find out more at www.VBrick.com. About VideoCall VideoCall is a videoconference vid·e·o·con·fer·ence n. A teleconference using video technology, such as closed-circuit television. vid service provider of Systems Integration and Managed Solutions to the education, commercial and medical markets worldwide. For fourteen years, VideoCall has designed, installed and maintained more than 500 videoconference systems. VideoCall was awarded "Outstanding Corporate Commitment to Service" in 2001 by the Texas Distance Learning Association. In 1996 it was awarded "Most Outstanding Advance in Video" at the 1996 annual TeleCon convention of the videoconference industry. Find out more at www.VideoCall.net. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion