Work in Progress: Rapid and Inexpensive Archiving of Classroom Lectures

While extensive use is currently being made at our facility of video over IP as a distance learning delivery technique, the current archival scheme of using VHS tape leaves much to be desired from a timeliness and complexity perspective. Our goal is to deploy and test a simple scheme that captures encoded video packets directly from the network, and immediately converts that into the QuickTime format for studying by learners, and allows faculty to review their presentations. The capability to automatically capture, translate, and transfer classroom lectures to a server for students to view on demand, not only improves remote teaching capabilities, but provides a new basis for offering online programs. Additionally, this provides a critical "backup" for those inevitable technical difficulties that prevent or disrupt real time broadcasts