NY colleges to share video resources via the cloud
Connecting state and local government leaders
A consortium of six colleges plans a cloud-based streaming video infrastructure that it will share across its campuses.
A consortium of six colleges plans to build a cloud-based streaming video infrastructure that it will share across its campuses.
Through the New York Six MediaShare Project, consortium members will share media collections and technologies, allowing them to tap common resources and enhance services. The New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium is a cooperative venture of six upstate New York liberal arts institutions: Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College and Union College.
The consortium has chosen the Ensemble Video platform to provide the core video streaming technology for its six member campuses and for the MediaShare Project. The content will be housed in a private cloud, and Wowza Media Cache servers will be deployed to the campuses, maximizing streaming efficiency.
Ensemble Video will give the schools secure access to content; rich publishing options for course lectures, campus events and guest speakers; and sharing of media collections and technologies, the company said in a release. Users will be able to embed single videos and video playlists in a variety of learning management systems, HTML pages, blogs, portals, and other content management systems.
“The Ensemble Video infrastructure is an important step for the consortium in advancing our library and IT collaborations,” said Amy Doonan Cronin, executive director of the New York Six. “Not only will it enhance our MediaShare project, it will provide a framework for a wide range of multi-campus activities in the coming years.”
“This is a growing trend we’re seeing in higher ed,” said Ensemble Video founder and CEO Andy Covell. “Institutions are coming together to share media resources and technology infrastructure. Ensemble Video’s powerful sharing features allow content to flow freely between campuses, while our flexible, decentralized administration structure lets each school or department remain autonomous.”
In July, Ensemble Video announced an agreement with the State University of New York and its 64 member campuses. The SUNY Information Technology Exchange Center (ITEC) will host and support Ensemble Video, the company said, and individual institutions will have the option of hosting their own local media cache, to further increase efficiency.