University of Leeds Moves to Mediasite’s Cloud; Sees 5X Growth in Academic Video Usage During Pandemic

MADISON, Wis. — March 9, 2021 — The University of Leeds, home to one of the world’s largest automated video learning programs with Mediasite, has moved to Mediasite Video Cloud. The transition is a three-year investment to support the massive usage of academic video for virtual and – post pandemic – hybrid classes.

Academic video is a top strategic initiative for Leeds. Last year, the university saw its use of video lessons and assignments grow five times over the prior year with its 38,000 students watching content from nearly 100 countries. Just last month alone, students have viewed the content 460,000 times and nearly 6,000 new video lessons and assignments have been created or uploaded into Mediasite – a large number of those videos recorded with Mediasite Mosaic, the personal desktop capture app that allows users to create, share and watch videos from anywhere.

“I’m delighted that we have successfully migrated our Mediasite content to the cloud and that it has improved the user experience. Clearly, this is critical at this time of increased reliance on video content to support our students’ learning. I am also really pleased that we have launched automated captioning for all of our Mediasite content – this is an essential learning resource for many students, and it supports our inclusive teaching approach for all students,” said Professor Neil Morris Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Digital Transformation.

This prolific video usage in Mediasite is also driven by conferencing tools like Zoom and Blackboard Collaborate that Leeds’ faculty are using for live, synchronous classes. A significant amount of that recorded content goes into Mediasite’s robust, searchable video portal, where it is easily accessible for on-demand study. From there, all videos are published to the university’s learning management system, Blackboard.

“It’s inspiring how quickly our staff have adapted as we all teach and learn remotely under very challenging circumstances,” said Luke Haywood, Application Support Analyst, IT, University of Leeds. “With this huge increase in video creation, moving to Mediasite’s cloud was the best decision we made. We’ve already broken records with over 2.1 million views since September 2020 and consistently see 1,000 concurrent users. Everything is quicker, the performance is better, videos load faster and our data is secure. Ultimately, that all equates to a better learning experience for our students.”

Jim Bird, Application Support Manager, IT, University of Leeds, said: “The continued success between the University of Leeds and Sonic Foundry to deliver the evermore digital services for education is testament to the strong partnership we have. I look forward to the future.”

“The University of Leeds not only successfully pivoted to remote learning at the start of the pandemic but also set itself up to be incredibly well-positioned for a post-COVID hybrid world. The team at Leeds has mastered both ends of the spectrum – user-generated content and the automated capture from classrooms that it strategically deployed and perfected seven years ago,” said Rob Lipps, EVP of International Sales, Sonic Foundry, the creator of Mediasite. “In a blended learning environment, schools must be able to reach students watching online and in the classroom simultaneously, while also capturing all of the collaborative meetings that occur between these dispersed students.”

Lipps continued: “Leeds’ integrated workflows to ingest content from other tools like Zoom into Mediasite ensures all students, regardless of where they are watching, receive the same quality learning experience. We are proud and inspired by the example University of Leeds sets in higher education and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship as we collectively prepare to enter this next hybrid reality.”

Haywood is speaking at Mediasite Experience 2021 virtual event May 19 and 20. Learn more about Leeds’ video strategy, as well as those of other universities and organizations, during the event. Tickets are available at www.mediasiteexperience.com.