The advent of online video, audio, and podcasts has fundamentally changed the possibilities for eLearning for fully-online and blended-learning students. If properly leveraged, rich media has the potential to be a powerful educational equalizer; for students who cannot be in the classroom, watching course-related media is the next best thing. For adult learners, who often carve out study time in between professional and familial responsibilities, a multimedia-centric, “on-demand” style of learning is extremely attractive, as multimedia is an extremely efficient and convenient educational medium.

ShareStream’s rich media platform, which was developed in collaboration with Georgetown University at its Sun Center of Excellence, allows institutions to operate as state-of-the-art educational media organizations to cater to the lifestyles and learning preferences of distance-learning students.

Implementation of the ShareStream platform allows managers of online education programs to:

• Better serve distance-learning students by providing anytime/anywhere access to rich media coursework and other university-related media
• Provide staff with an easy-to-use, automated mechanism for digitizing and uploading media to "watch folders" that automatically transcode files to a format compatible with an educational institution's streaming server
• Seamlessly incorporate secure streaming, downloads, and podcasts into online course delivery to create a more engaging e-Learning experience through ShareStream’s Blackboard Building Block and integration point with other LMSs
• Control access to content via higher education-specific digital rights management (DRM)
• Consolidate multiple, support-intensive "silos" of rich media content into a scalable, enterprise-wide system optimized for large rich media files to achieve economies of scale.

Features and functionality include:

Automated Digitization, Batch Migration and Transcoding to multiple file formats, including files for streamed media for all of the predominant end formats, files for downloads and podcasts, as well as files in a variety of resolutions to reach users with wide-ranging levels of Internet connectivity

Media Dropbox for submitting student-generated content to faculty and transcoding the file to the appropriate format

Higher Education-specific Digital Rights Management that allows institutions to secure and control access to content, as well as manage digital media licenses

Workflow and Business Process Management for staging the process of publishing media that includes approval process

Online Video-editing Tool that provides time-based editing, overlays, clip trimming and other capabilities

Metadata-driven Advanced Search

Streaming cross-streaming server, format, and player (Flash, Quicktime, Real and others)

Podcasts into iTunes and RSS feeds in both an authenticated and open environment

Secure Deep-linking Functionality that provides the capability to post media and thumbnails to multiple locations, including websites, applications, and even e-mails, in a secure, password-protected manner

Interoperability with Learning Management Systems through ShareStream’s Blackboard Building Block and integration point with Sakai, eCollege, and other learning management systems

Integration with Authentication and Authorization Services and Single Sign-on Solutions

Open API for Independent Third Party Integration

Reporting Tool that audits and monitors user and content accesses to assist in managing digital media licenses

Authoring Tool that allows users with minimal digital literacy to create web 2.0 learning objects comprised of video, audio, podcasts, images, and segments from e-books in a simple, template-based fashion.