The Socrates Project is an exciting new program that makes Panopto's state-of-the-art
lecture-capture technology accessible and affordable to accredited academic institutions.
By providing access to CourseCast free of
charge, Panopto intends to forge a new, collaborative relationship with academia
whereby all parties benefit from the greater understanding of the drivers of lecture-capture
technology, and how they can continue to improve the learning outcomes of participating
institutions.
CourseCast's easy-to-deploy lecture-capture technology enables educators to capture,
edit, index, archive and stream video and audio over the Internet. CourseCast gives
students on-demand access to indexed lectures and course material, enabling them
to experience or revisit entire lectures, or to focus on segments of their choice.
Currently deployed at leading institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University,
the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, CourseCast's core components include classroom
and desktop lecture capture, web streaming, indexing (via PowerPoint and student
notes), search (at the course and individual session level), web-based editing and
archiving. CourseCast requires no proprietary hardware or software. The Panopto
CourseCast software runs on industry standard laptops, desktops and servers, and
allows instructors to incorporate lecture-capture processes at a fraction of the
cost of traditional lecture-capture systems.
In the spirit of the collaborative nature of the program, in exchange for free access
to the software, participants are asked to support the program with references,
quotes and case studies, and to provide critical product feedback by participating
in the company's developer and beta programs.
Socrates Project benefits:
- Free lecture-capture software
- Direct participation in product design and feature specifications
- Exposure to lecture-capture best practices across the program network
- Value-added services provided on a discount basis
The Socrates Project FAQ
Q: Is there truly no charge for the CourseCast software for program participants?
A: Yes, the software is free of charge for qualifying academic institutions.
Q: Will you charge for it in the future?
A: The “Core” CourseCast software product and its requisite updates will remain
free for qualifying Socrates Project participants in perpetuity. Some new features
(“Blades”) are support intensive and will require a service contract for participants
wanting those new features immediately. Eventually, most new features (again, “Blades”)
will roll into the Core version which will not require a service contract per se
(although we always recommend purchasing service for production level deployments).
The primary exception to this is when we are bundling a third party product in the
system or are otherwise obligated to pay royalties to a third party. You can find
the current list of features for both Core and Blades here.
Q: Why is Panopto making this software available free of charge?
A: CourseCast was designed and developed at Carnegie Mellon University and so the
concept was to give back to academia in a manner in which we received benefit. We
also expect the product to benefit from the participation of institutions in our
various feedback programs, such as the beta and developer programs (previously announced).
Q: How will Panopto make money?
A: Panopto offers a range of premium support and specialized services, such as transcription
and translation services. Also, it is important to note that this version of the
technology is only available to academia, as it is the company’s intent to sell
commercial versions of the technology into the commercial sector.
Q: How does Panopto’s CourseCast software compare with similar commercial lecture-capture
offerings targeted to the education market?
A: CourseCast is a fully functional lecture-capture system that can record, automatically
index, stream and archive vast amounts of institutional content. It has been deployed
successfully at over 250 higher education institutions including Carnegie Mellon,
University of Pittsburgh, UPMC, University of North Carolina and Miami Dade College
as well as growing roster of K-12 School Districtts. The system gets high marks
in terms of both its ease-of-deployment, portability and its embrace of industry
standard pc hardware and software—thus lowering the total cost of ownership dramatically.
Q: Will the company provide product support to educational institutions that deploy
CourseCast?
A: Yes, on two levels. We will provide free support that will include video documentation
(developed using CourseCast), how-to information, and—on a best-effort basis—email
and phone support. We also will offer per-incident support and pre-paid premium
support plans for those institutions that desire them. These support plans will
include onsite support & training, guaranteed response time, full installation and
backup, branding and styling of view pages, and other services.
Q: What are the requirements for participation in the Socrates program?
A: There are a handful of basic requirements. All of them are basically aimed at
ensuring the successful deployment of the technology, as well as the product’s continuing
enhancement and development. Socrates is open to public or private universities,
colleges and K-12 school systems. In addition, we require that candidate institutions
show a clear commitment to the use of lecture-capture technology, and a willingness
to support the product, as follows:
- Some familiarity with lecture-capture systems (LCS), i.e., a definitive program
underway or a commitment to implement LCS;
- Resources earmarked for lecture-capture technology
- A commitment to participate in Panopto’s beta and developer programs
- Agreement to provide use-case studies for potential marketing purposes by Panopto.
Q: Are there any participation deadlines, thresholds or other program constraints?
A: There are no deadlines, but of necessity the company is managing applications
for participation on a first-come, first-served basis. The company anticipates that
there could be a significant back-log as a result of heavy program enrollment.
Q: Are there any geographical limitations to participating in the program? In other
words, is this a U.S.-only program?
A: No, the program is available to all qualifying academic institutions world-wide.
Q: How can I enroll my institution in the program? How do we get started?
A: Please follow to the link to the program enrollment form at
http://www.panopto.com/socrates_form.aspx and fill out the application/questionnaire.
A Panopto representative will contact you promptly to review the program elements
and any questions you may have. Once the application process is completed, the company
will work with your team to coordinate installation, support, etc.
New CourseCast 2.1 Features: Core and Blades
CourseCast Core 2.1 (service contract optional)
- New "single click recording" user interface
- User-specific recording presets
- Background content upload from recorder
- Enhanced ActiveDirectory domain and group support
- PDF attachments
- Speaker bio and abstract displayed in viewer
- Public / private notes
CourseCast 2.1 Blade Pack (service contract required)
- Live broadcast capability
- Viewing statistics / analytics
- H.264 output (video podcasting)
Interested in Socrates? Enroll
Here
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