Photo credit: Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy
Students in Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy’s Weekend Program say Mediasite lecture capture by Sonic Foundry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFO), the trusted global leader for video creation and management solutions, is essential to their success in the program.
“By having the ability to replay lectures, we are able to have all of the explanations we need over and over again,” said Pharm. D. student Hannah Cawoski. “Recorded lectures have really been helpful in allowing me to feel confident with the information I am expected to know.”
The Post-Baccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.) Weekend Program, the first and only one of its kind, is a unique and flexible format that caters to non-traditional students looking to make career changes with full-time jobs and families. The program involves on-site weekend courses, all of which are recorded via Mediasite for students to review on-demand, enabling them to earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in four years. Students attend class every Saturday and Sunday year round.
“Because of the intensity and complexity of the instruction, we made an agreement when the weekend program began 11 years ago that every minute of every lecture would be recorded with Mediasite,” said Bob Timmins, multimedia specialist at Mylan School of Pharmacy. “The value of Mediasite is that you can see video of the professor, the audio and the PowerPoint slides, and everything is searchable. Students tell me when they take notes in class they’ll jot down a time so they can go back and reference it in the recordings.”
According to student Alana Grabigel: “Access to video recordings of lectures is a great way for students to obtain reinforcement of the material covered in class. If a topic or lesson was not fully understood during the initial presentation, the ability to review this information allows for supplementation of notes taken during the lecture.”
Richard E. Greer, president of the Weekend Class of 2015 said: “I don’t know if I would have graduated without the weekend videos.”
Since this school year started in August, Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy has recorded nearly 800 hours of video. In total, from July 2014 to June 2015, the School of Pharmacy recorded 8,100 hours – 480 presentations with 14,900 views. That includes about 15 hours of content recorded each week upon faculty request for the school’s traditional students in the six-year program.
Duquesne University has used Mediasite since 2005 to capture what’s happening in lecture halls, classrooms and special events on campus.
“The fact that Mediasite is a key differentiator for Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy, helping them recruit and retain more successful students, is validation that lecture capture has become an essential investment for any school that wants to compete,” said Gary Weis, Sonic Foundry CEO. “Through its unique Pharm. D. weekend program, it is ensuring its students, who are busy with full-time jobs and families, have the same opportunities to learn as their peers. It’s an honor to continue our more than decade-long partnership with Duquesne University to elevate the quality of anytime, anywhere learning.”