Post on 05-Aug-2020
Improving The University of Michigan School of Public Health Rich Media Library
Rachael Dreyer Saurabh Koparkar
Ryan Lankton Adrienne Leo
Nathan Oostendorp
School of Public Health Library and Informatics Lecture recording, processing, distribution Process includes
E-Learning Specialist and Student Assistants Faculty Lecturers Student Consumers
Building a collection of lectures available online to SPH students: the Rich Media Library
Research into SPH-LI
Interviewed 6 candidates including E-learning specialist 2 of the student assistants Founder of RML Faculty lecturer SPH Website Administrator
Vision for RML
Repository of lectures from SPH courses Available to on-campus students, and
On-Job-On-Campus (OJOC) executive education
Well archived allowing for searching and organization
Ability to revise, edit, keep up to date
Findings on Rich Media Library 1. The existing RML is not maintained, difficult
to browse, and largely unused 2. Workflow for lecture production follows
informal procedures and is constrained by tight timelines
3. Training for many processes is based on prior experience, and relies solely on the E-learning Specialist’s personal expertise
Finding 1. Significant Issues with the Existing Rich Media Repository
Have a repository intact with 165 lecture recordings available but not publicized or used
Taxonomy used to catalog lectures is too simple—it’s organized by lecturer, course, keyword
Interviewees expressed some concerns about intellectual property
Contents are video/slideshow, lecture name, and 1-2 sentence description
Have been using Ctools as replacement
MIT Lecture Browser
Recommendation 1: Post more information with lectures
1a. Having transcripts of lectures would be ideal
1b. Add original PowerPoint slides from faculty
1c. Allow tagging and viewer comments on lectures
1d. Make materials searchable
Recommendation 1e: Use a MediaWiki Allows use of a robust and familiar software
package, expensive development not required Makes tagging, searching, revision, and video
possible Allows for collaboration/discussion by viewers Benefits: lecture archive can be much more
effectively maintained and users can find relevant lectures more quickly
Finding 2: Lecture Processing Workflow Numerous breakdowns in lecture processing
Problems handing off equipment Inadequate scheduling notice Tight timelines between recording and release
Processes are intact, but could be proceduralized
E-learning specialist doles out work as needed, is central to entire process
Recommendation 2: Make the lab an “assembly line”
2a. Post checklists for entire process 2b. Store tapes to be edited in queue by
deadline 2c. Standardize storage for tapes, and
indicate whether being actively edited These steps make it obvious to
assistants what needs to be done next.
Rearrange the Lab to represent the Workflow
The Lab!
Examples of existing space that could be arranged to more clearly delineate workflow.
Finding 3: State of Student Assistant Training Student assistants learn primarily through
experience Must have prior expertise when hired Fairly rapid turnover expected Current Assistants have high value, when
they leave, it’s a substantial loss E-learning Specialist personally responsible
for all training
Recommendation 3: Externalize and Formalize Training
3a. Institute shadowing of current students for new recruits
3b. Keep a FAQ where students can accumulate institutional memory
3c. Increase lab-wall instructions:
3d. Hire an Audio-Video Specialist
Acknowledgements
We’d like to thank our interviewees, the School of Public Health, and most of all, the E-Learning Specialist.
This was a fascinating project. We hope that you find this information useful.