UNINETT

UNINETT uses Mediasite to increase lecture capture across Norway.

Owned by the Ministry of Education and Research, UNINETT is responsible for the country’s National Research and Education Network (NREN). It connects all Norwegian universities and research institutions – more than 200 – and more than 300,000 students and teachers to top educational technologies. UNINETT is based in Trodheim, Norway and aims to empower these institutions to incorporate educational technologies in classrooms. 

The demand for lecture capture in Norway is huge, but it’s difficult for many of the smaller institutions to deploy the latest technologies. In response to the demand, UNINETT added Mediasite to its list of cost-effective services. Participating institutions can connect any number of their Mediasite Recorders to UNINETT’s centrally managed Mediasite EX video management platform.  This solution gives schools and researchers an economical, yet scalable infrastructure to record, deliver and manage rich video content. Now, the use of academic video is increasing quickly in the country. 

At a glance

• UNINETT is owned by the Ministry of Education and Research and is responsible for Norway’s National Research and Education Network
• Based in Trodheim, UNINETT connects over 200 Norwegian educational and research institutions and more than 300,000 students and teachers to top technologies for classrooms.
• There is great demand for lecture capture in Norway, but many of the smaller institutions aren’t able to incorporate the technology into classrooms due to cost. 
• UNINETT added the Mediasite EX video management platform by Sonic Foundry to its list of cost-effective services available. 
• Institutions can connect Mediasite Recorders to UNINETT’s centrally managed Mediasite webcasting and management platform, which provides an economical and scalable infrastructure to record, deliver and manage rich video. 
• Lecture capture is increasing across Norway due to the partnership between UNINETT and Sonic Foundry. 

Challenge

In Norway there is a student-driven demand for lecture capture, and institutions want to provide it. However, it’s often difficult for smaller universities and research institutions to offer the technologies needed. 

“There is absolutely a demand for lecture capture in Norway. You can ask any student, and he or she would say ‘I want lecture capture,’ ” said Thorleif Hallen, senior adviser at UNINETT. 

All Norwegian schools and research institutions are connected to UNINETT’s National Research and Education Network. UNINETT aims to remove barriers to technology use within these institutions and empower them to incorporate educational technologies in classrooms, so the logical solution was to add a webcast technology to its IT infrastructure. 

Solution

UNINETT added Mediasite by Sonic Foundry to its national IT infrastructure. The Mediasite EX video management platform is on UNINETT’s list of cost-effective services available to the institutions. This allows the schools and research institutions to connect any of its Mediasite Recorders to UNINETT’s centrally managed Mediasite webcasting and management platform. 

“Everything I’ve been looking for in webcasting tools the last few years is in Mediasite,” Hallen said. “Our members want a technology that allows them to share lectures, support mobile devices and allows for videoconferencing, so selecting Mediasite as a service offering was a natural fit. Mediasite checks off every box and is the best lecture capture system there is.” 

Results

Including Mediasite in UNINETT’s list of technologies available provides schools an economical and scalable infrastructure to record, deliver and manage rich video. UNINETT recently began offering these services to Swedish universities, too. 

"Mediasite increases the quality of teaching and communicating. Students get to learn in a more personalized way, and they really appreciate that lecture recordings are available for review on-demand,” Hallen said. 

The partnership between Sonic Foundry and UNINETT has sparked rapid adoption of lecture capture across Norway. 

About UNINETT

UNINETT provides network and internet services to universities, colleges and research institutions and handles other national ICT tasks. It is owned by the Ministry of Education and is located in Trondheim, Norway.