Enterprise Video Platform Project

The Enterprise Video Platform (EVP) project aims to define and meet UBC’s current needs for video. The project goal is to select an enterprise-level platform that best supports the requirements of instructors, students, and staff in capturing, managing, and sharing/streaming videos.

EVP Project Background

Enterprise video platforms expand UBC’s capability for online and hybrid teaching and learning and meeting other university multimedia needs. Good platforms should provide stable, accessible, and user-friendly support for capturing, managing, and sharing/streaming videos.

The predominant shift to online teaching early in the pandemic increased the use of such platforms by approximately 500% at UBC. The recent shift to more hybrid learning has further increased demand for video support. The student community has also advocated strongly and repeatedly during the last two years for ubiquitous and easily accessible academic videos.

It is important that UBC continue to provide strong support in this area. To ensure this support, representatives from UBC IT and the Centre for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT) are working together to assess the EVP space.

Project sponsors

  • UBC IT: Aarti Paul, Director Engagement Services, Office of the CIO
  • UBC CTLT: Tammy Yasrobi, Associate Director, Teaching & Learning Technologies

 

EVP Project Overview

Goal

UBC currently supports multiple enterprise video platforms: Kaltura, Panopto, and Mediasite.

Supporting multiple platforms comes with added costs for UBC and unnecessary complexities for instructors and students. The EVP project seeks to streamline the available platforms, by examining requirements and selecting a single platform that can best support UBC’s needs.

Comprehensive engagement with faculty and students will form a key part of both phases, to ensure that the chosen platform best meets the needs of the UBC community.


First Phase

January – May 2023

The first phase focused on assessing the current use and status of these platforms through five main initiatives:

  • Starting engagement with faculty, students, and instructional support staff to understand what the UBC community has experienced with the current enterprise video platforms and what broader needs they have in this space.
  • Comparing Kaltura and Panopto, based on their current functionalities and technical requirements.
  • Investigating the possibility of integrating Panopto with Canvas/UBC CWL, to increase the security of Panopto videos and allow for fuller use of its features.
  • Moving Kaltura videos hosted at UBC into the Kaltura cloud, to better support and improve the sustainability of the platform.
  • Shutting down Mediasite, which has already been approved for decommissioning based on a prior analysis.

Second Phase

June 2023 – January 2024

The second phase focuses on gathering more detailed needs from faculty and students for teaching and learning with video​. This phase will also seek to increase awareness in the community about the different ways that video is being used at UBC, while considering ways that video could further support innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

This collecting and sharing of feedback will be done through five main activities:

  • Establishing an EVP working group of faculty, students, and instructional support staff to develop comprehensive EVP surveys for the UBC academic community.
  • Hosting EVP smaller feedback sessions with faculty, students, and instructional support staff, to explore more in depth their needs and preferences.
  • Hosting EVP open feedback sessions throughout the summer and fall of 2023. These sessions will be available to anyone in the UBC community to attend and share their needs and preferences for a video platform.
  • Running EVP surveys with faculty and students, respectively, to gather their specific needs and preferences for a video platform.

EVP Project Contact

We welcome general questions about the EVP project or specific questions about the Kaltura cloud migration.