York University Embarks on Online Learning Project Using Sonic Foundry's MediaSite Live Web Presentation System

Sonic Foundry[R] Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFO), a leading digital media software solutions company, today announced York University purchased and is deploying its MediaSite Live[TM] Web presentation system as part of its e-learning initiatives. After a successful beta program earlier this year, York will offer online learning to a select group of students beginning this fall. Based in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada with approximately 40,000 students and was an instrumental partner in helping Sonic Foundry refine its rich media Web communications solution for the online learning market. "We've been looking for something like MediaSite Live for years, and during that time we evaluated a lot of different products," said Kelly Parke, senior multimedia designer at York University. "What makes MediaSite Live unique is that it's the only product of its kind that removes all the post-production work of synchronizing video, audio and presentation materials typically associated with e-learning ventures. Professors simply create their PowerPoint[R] slides, just as they always have, and everything seen and heard in the lecture hall is simultaneously streamed to students online." In addition to giving students more flexibility in their class schedules, interactive, on-demand features of MediaSite Live provide the benefit of navigating and replaying specific portions of lectures to increase understanding, which could be particularly helpful to the large number of international students for whom English is a second language. "Through this pilot project, we are striving to add value to our existing lecture spaces by extending the opportunities for education beyond their walls," said Dalton Kehoe, associate professor of social science and communications studies at York University and a frequent speaker on the effective use of technology in teaching. "Just as important, this project will add value from the students' point of view. Particularly, those who work part-time are very time-driven, so any expansion of access to lectures needs to be done in a way that would give them more flexibility in managing their schedules." MediaSite Live lowers the costs and complexity of rich media Web communications. It captures and streams on-the-fly any type of digital content—from presenter video to presentation graphics—including the ability to switch back and forth from PowerPoint[R] slides to screen shots to live Web pages to white boards. For education institutions, the system can be incorporated into a variety of classroom, lecture hall and laboratory facilities to capture any type of instructional content from a variety of presentation devices. And, unlike other offerings, MediaSite Live is completely integrated, so it doesn't require the installation of any special software on the presenter's PC nor does it require the presenter's slides ahead of time. "We are delighted that a top higher education institution like York University is both our partner and our first customer in the education market," said Howard Affinito, general manager and senior vice president of Sonic Foundry. "We found York to be one of the most sophisticated institutions in North America for providing professors with the greatest tools and advances in technology for teaching. They've helped us tremendously in refining MediaSite Live for the online learning market so that it offers exactly the types of features needed by education institutions." As a highly versatile online presentation and communication tool, MediaSite Live is not only appropriate for education institutions, but any organization that needs to use the Internet to communicate quickly and effectively to a large number of people, without expensive media production equipment or a technical staff. Applications include employee training, corporate communications, product marketing and conference or event presentations. About York University