Computer scientists present lecture-capture technology at Harvard

Matterhorn is an open-source technology jointly developed by the U of S that is being used by more than a dozen institutions around the world. In total, some 13 different North American and European partner institutions participated in the project. In the last year alone, more than 2,500 U of S students have watched lecture videos in the Matterhorn system – equivalent to approximately 414 days of video content.

Christopher Brooks, a U of S PhD student in computer science, Jonathan Bird, an instructional support specialist with Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and Adam McKenzie, an ICT software developer and U of S graduate student in computer science, will each be presenting at the Opencast Matterhorn 2012 Unconference from June 6 to 8 at Harvard University. U of S computer science graduate student Greg Logan will be presenting remotely from Saskatoon.

Their four presentations will outline the success the U of S has had developing and using the innovative technology which allows classroom lectures to be recorded and made available to students online.

"Our local experiences with lecture capture through Matterhorn combined with its wide adoption globally add to a growing body of evidence that this technology can contribute positively to our teaching and learning efforts" says Jim Greer, University Learning Centre director. "With more flexible access to lectures, thousands of our students in dozens of courses can review course material whenever they wish or catch up on what they may have missed on a particular day. Early analysis shows a positive connection between use of the Matterhorn technology and increased student success."

"In addition to the international collaboration on this open source technology, the project also involved teamwork and cooperation among graduate students, researchers and staff in multiple departments at the University of Saskatchewan," says Ed Pokraka, Director of ICT Planning and Governance.