UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Kaltura, a media management and streaming platform, will be available for all Penn Staters to create, stream, store and embed such media as photos, videos and audio files starting Aug. 20. Kaltura will work with Zoom, Penn State’s conferencing system, to provide a complete conferencing and streaming solution to replace Adobe Connect.
Zoom and Kaltura — a two-system solution
In 2016, the University determined that Adobe Connect was not meeting all live-streaming and media management needs. The following year, Zoom was introduced to Penn State to enhance audio and video conferencing abilities. Kaltura will serve as the final piece to the University’s conferencing and media management solution by providing unlimited media storage and integrating with Canvas to bring students and faculty members fast, reliable audio and video streaming.
Adobe Connect, the University’s current conferencing and media storage service, will be phased out over the 2018-19 academic year. Media, including training videos and lectures, will be copied from Adobe Connect to Kaltura by Penn State Enterprise Information Technology during the fall 2018 semester. Adobe Connect service will not be disrupted while media is being copied over to Kaltura, and users do not need to take any action to move or copy content. Starting Dec. 17, Adobe Connect will be placed in a “read-only” state in which users can continue to view media but will be unable to edit or upload additional media. Adobe Connect will be completely retired on May 17, 2019. Learn more about the Adobe connect retirement timeline on the Conferencing and Media Management website.
Kaltura features
As a media streaming and storage platform, the Kaltura MediaSpace or “Campus Tube” creates media storage options that can be used to create, upload, share, search, browse and listen to recorded audio and watch live or recorded videos, presentations and webcasts.
Kaltura also offers a rich integration with Canvas, allowing faculty to publish digital media to a course-specific media gallery; embed in a discussion forum, announcement or page; and create video assignments and interactive video quizzes and connect them to the gradebook.
Other Kaltura features include Kaltura Capture, which enables users to create professional-looking digital media for lecture capture, lab demonstrations, student presentations, knowledge sharing, and marketing and communication. Penn Staters can capture multistream recordings synchronized with a PowerPoint presentation or screen capture, which can then be uploaded or embedded in Canvas or shared with others through MediaSpace. With the Kaltura MediaSpace Go mobile application, users can stream content, including 360-degree videos, on the go, on a desktop device, or through embedded links in Canvas.
Accessible content
Most menu items, buttons and other major functions of Kaltura are easy to navigate and can be accessed by assistive technology. MediaSpace also supports different levels of contrast so everyone can view the website and media content. More information is available at Penn State Kaltura Accessibility.
Training and support
Town Hall sessions will take place in September and October for members of the University community who want to learn more about the transition and ask questions. Details on these sessions and information on how to register and submit questions in advance will be forthcoming. Additional learning paths, training sessions, documentation and quick-start guides will be available this fall for all Penn Staters to learn how to create, edit, upload, watch and share content in Kaltura. Further information on how to install and use Zoom for audio or video conferencing is available on Penn State’s Zoom webpage.
For more information about Kaltura and the transition away from Adobe Connect, visit the Conferencing and Media Management website.
For additional questions or support, contact the IT Service Desk by email at ITservicedesk@psu.edu, by phone at 814-865-4357, or in person at 130 W. Pattee Library at University Park.
For questions or comments about the transition, email kaltura@psu.edu.