Streaming media initiative at University of Portsmouth was started and pioneered by William Garrison in early 2000 and it was supported by Nipan Maniar through his software development. The value of streaming media in higher education is widely recognised. It can be reflected in a very positive feedback received from Lifesign external evaluation report:

"The majority of project staff saw the technological achievements as one of the main successes of the Lifesign project, with one highlighting that it had been two years ahead of anybody else involved in streaming in education. The most recent success is the development of a virtual editing tool, which enables users to choose the segment of a stream that they want to use and get a URL for this. Again, this is a significant technical breakthrough in streaming media" (Lancaster et. al., 2003, pg. 119)

Aims

• Design and implement web based applications to support learning via multimedia technology.
• Support university streaming media activities.
• Enhance quality of research in the field by recruiting PhD students.
• Bring income into the department via research grants and consultancy and make the group self-supporting.
• Link Creative Technologies with industry via Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme.

Strategy and Objectives

It is our belief that streaming media and related services provide a valuable contribution to the mission of the University. This contribution is evidenced by the increasing demand for streaming media, by the success of recent bids such as JISC, EPSRC, FDTL5 and CETL that incorporate streaming media, and by the success of the Lifesign Project. Our objective is to meet this growing demand and to provide new, transparent ways for users to benefit from these technologies. These objectives fall into three broad categories:

1. Provide Universal Access

The Streaming Media Initiative delivers its content through three web sites where users can browse, watch, and select programmes for inclusion in online learning. This is a centralised model where we provide content and others watch it. We are moving towards a decentralised model where any user can create content and share that content across the university or across the world. One example of this can be achieved is through automated encoding systems that allow students and staff to upload video of their own creation. Automated upload and encoding facilities would open the world of streaming media to all members of the University community. This would allow video-based coursework to be viewed and assessed online. It would foster peer-assessment and help build communities.
As part of the move towards universal access, we plan with the support of marketing to create a student-run television station. This station will carry content produced by and administered by students with a small amount of advertising for the University. The station will provide many benefits for the student community and provide the University with an effective way of communicating important messages. It may also create new marketing opportunities.

2. Provide Reliable and Transparent Technology

Reliability and ease of use are essential for the academic community to adopt any new technologies. Achieving greater reliability for streaming media will require the replacement of some hardware, software updates, and the continuing development of software tools that simplify the creation of online learning content. This software tools are marketable utility and this source of revenue is being developed.

3. Provide Creative Approaches to Licensing IPR

Our third objective is to greatly enhance the catalogue of existing video content that can be integrated into learning. Our current catalogue contains hundreds of hours of content that has been either produced by Learning Media Development or licensed through the Lifesign Project. We will greatly enhance this catalogue through a creative approach to licensing that meets the disparate needs of license holders and users. We are currently working with rights holders such as BBC Worldwide to develop models for licensing that may allow us to provide access to programmes that are otherwise unavailable.