TEACH / LEARN
Deliver curriculum-related video content online

BROADCAST / SHARE
Share video content with students and faculty

VBrick Products
> MPEG-2 Encoder Appliances
> EtherneTV VOD Server
> EtherneTV Portal Server
> EtherneTV NVR

VBrick Partner
SKC Communications

Links
> PDF Version of this Page
> More Case Studies

Challenge
Create an online media library to be used as a student resource and a teaching tool.

"Previous streaming video attempts had been limited to small viewing windows, short clips and poor video quality."
Mary McMahon, Director of Instructional Service
Pomona College

As part of a larger effort to upgrade the school's learning management systems, Pomona College in Claremont, California sought to implement a solution that would allow faculty to post class-related films and videos online and allow students access to that material any time, day or night.

Solution
An EtherneTV system designed to deliver on-demand video to 1,500 students on and off campus.

"I called several references, and people spoke glowingly about the way they had been able to use the VBrick System."
Mary McMahon, Director of Instructional Service
Pomona College

SKC recommended that Pomona College’s IT department look at VBrick’s EtherneTV system. "The people who had used VBrick told me it worked fine. It's an appliance, you set it up, you walk away, and it is fine. That's what we wanted to hear," said McMahon.

Today the IT department digitizes video from the various types of source material provided by faculty members through a VBrick encoder. The video is stored, managed and distributed to users via EtherneTV’s Media Control Server. On campus, the videos can be accessed at any computer connected to the College’s Campus network. The video can also be accessed via a consortium of seven area schools.

Benefit
Streaming live campus radio broadcasts, offering 24/7 access to class material and content, and reducing the number of overbooked classes.

"The system has definitely improved the educational experience at Pomona and both students and faculty have been quick to adopt it."
Mary McMahon, Director of Instructional Service
Pomona College

Pomona college has been able to use EtherneTV to save on valuable class time by eliminating the need for professors to book additional facilities just to show a film or watch video content. Students now view the videos and films on their own time, as many times as they wish, leading to higher retention rates and better comprehension.

Even sports teams have made use of the EtherneTV system by recording games and posting them on the system to be used as a training, recruiting, and game analysis tool and the staff is looking into broadcasting games live.

The foreign language classes have already made use of EtherneTV to examine other cultures using video of television shows and news events.