AT&T gift aids streaming media education effort

Already a national leader in the use of streaming media in higher education, UW–Madison is poised to enhance its services, thanks to a gift from AT&T.

AT&T has awarded $50,000 to the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) to enhance and expand a Web-based resource that supports teachers, trainers and educational technologists in using streaming media in teaching and learning. Streaming media includes audio, video, animations, graphics and text – all delivered over Internet links.

“This gift from AT&T enables us to build an information resource and teaching site that can educate faculty and instructional staff in the use of streaming media,” says Annie Stunden, director of DoIT and UW–Madison chief information officer.

The AT&T gift will enable UW–Madison to expand its existing Web-based resource to include:

• Advanced multimedia tutorials about streaming technology and how it can be used effectively for teaching.
• An expanded faculty showcase with examples of effective and innovative uses of streaming media in teaching and learning.
• Tips, techniques and other resources to help faculty get started with creating, designing and producing streaming media.
• Information on ensuring accessibility to streaming media by people with vision or hearing limitations.

The UW–Madison site at http://www.streaming.wisconsin.edu/ has been popular for several years among those seeking basic information on streaming media in higher education.

“Now we have the funds to scale this up and create a much broader vision,” says Stunden. “We can more thoroughly and effectively share our expertise in streaming media with faculty in the UW System and with a worldwide audience on the Web.”