Web Conferencing Systems: Trends and Discussion (AJCU-CITM 2013)

Transcript

1. Adam Smeets Manager, Digital Media Services Web Conferencing Systems: Trends and Discussion
2. 2 Initial Questions Meetings between campuses? Recording and playback of my meeting or session? Online open houses for our school to recruit students at a distance? Online office hours for my course and my students? Secure option for holding an online meeting? Meeting between the international campuses? Software training and workshops at a distance? Training modules for inclusion in other systems? LDAP integration to our current environment? On-site solution for data access and security? Low financial impact on the institution and departments? Browser and client agnostic? Synchronous platform for online learning?
3. 3 Rationale A work group was formed to identify a web conferencing solution that integrates online meetings, eLearning and webinars which is both secure and flexible, as well as readily available corporate technical support and a large community of users.
4. 4 Institutional Value We’ve heard a number of success stories within the Institution, but here are a few samples: Enrollment Management
5. 5 Institutional Value •  Using the recording function, meetings can be viewed at any time in the future or downloaded to your local machine. •  Connect is extensible and flexible to allow custom built applications
6. 6 Institutional Value Bridge for Online Learning and Exchange •  Remote support for clients through Digital Media Services – using “remote control” screen sharing. The Help Desk has also started using this function on a limited basis. •  Adobe Connect was used to facilitate summer classes in coordination with Blackboard and Sakai. •  Faculty are using this to hold virtual office hours with their students during traditionally scheduled “off-hours.” Ease of Accessing Content and Developer Capabilities
7. Implementation Roadmap Stage 1 - Load and Infrastructure Testing Included staging a 250 concurrent client connections 7 LDAP Server for Authentication Load Balancer with Hardware- Based SSL Support Adobe Connect Hosted on Virtual Machine with Locally Hosted Database Internet Requests Learning Management System API Calls
8. Implementation Roadmap Stage 2 - Migration from Local to
9. Implementation Roadmap Stage 3 - Configuration of Cluster and Preparation for Production
10. Implementation Roadmap Stage 4 - Migration from Local to Production Database
11. Implementation Roadmap Stage 5 - Migration from Local to Shared Storage
12. Implementation Roadmap Stage 6 - Response and Triage As usage increases, responding to issues that arise from clients 1 2 Adobe Connect Physical Servers Load Balancer with Hardware-Based SSL Support Internet Requests Learning Management System API Calls Adobe Connect Test Instance for Upgrades Hosted on Virtual Machine Microsoft SQL Server Database LDAP Server for Authentication Shared Storage (NAS Device)
13. 1 3 Sample Client Interactions with Connect 13
14. 1 4 Sample Client Interactions with Connect
15. 1 5 Sample Client Interactions with Connect
16. 1 6 Sample Client Interactions with Connect
17. 1 7 Licensing: Named or Metered? •  Over 95% of 220 host licenses are currently issued to students, faculty and staff at the University. •  Currently in a named organizer licensing model, facilitated by two categories of host license holders: 30,000 Foot View of Licensing Webinars & Online Meetings Academic Instruction •  Available for Loyola University Chicago Students or Staff; -  Faculty may request a webinar license, only if not used for online course instruction •  Limited to 30 days of use, but renewable; •  No training required, but online training recommended •  Available for Loyola University Chicago Faculty (For Online Course Instruction); •  Formal training, both synchronous and asynchronous, required to obtain license; •  Limited to one year of use, but renewable
18. 1 8 By the Numbers •  Adobe Connect was first used in a production environment at Loyola on June 23, 2010 to facilitate Information Technology Services’ Change Management process. •  To date, 2,130 participants (including non-unique) have attended CM through Adobe Connect for a total of 699 hours of use by part. •  Overall, the high-level metrics for Adobe Connect are reflected below: Overview Total Distinct Meetings Rooms Created 1,769 Total Meeting Room Hours 39,210 Storage Consumption 1.5TB (and growing) Total Learner Training Completions 9,320 Total Users (ID`s and Groups) 110,930
19. 1 9 Adobe Connect User Community Best Practices and Avoiding Pitfalls
20. 2 0 In addition to the previous slide recommendations, webinars with the least amount of technical issues... •  Utilize a hard-wired connection, rather than a WiFi or mobile connection; •  Run the “Meeting Connection Test” with a new network location; •  Read the training materials and documentation prior to their meeting; •  Hosts and presenters run the “Audio Setup Wizard” utility prior to each meeting; •  With multiple speakers, presenters and hosts utilize headsets or dial-in; •  Disable screen savers and other power saving features; •  Use document sharing, rather than screen sharing, for
21. 2 1 Host/Participant Preparations Best Practices and Avoiding Pitfalls
22. 2 2 Next Steps Loyola University Chicago and Adobe Connect •  Addition of Adobe Connect servers in other countries -  Expanded international Campus support; -  Load balancing for the infrastructure; -  Failover for critical outages (weather, emergencies, etc.) •  Voice Dial-In For Hosts, including a pricing model for the University •  Potential for addition of a concurrent model environment -  Segment traffic for academic (faculty) and webinar meetings