A brand-new video-streaming solution was rolled out at the beginning of the 2017 academic year under the auspices of the Centre for Learning Technologies (CLT). One of the main initial drivers to have the system ready at the start of the year was the anticipated increase in first-year enrolments and the resultant increased pressure on lecture venues.

The goal was to enable students to take part in the lectures via the video-streaming solution, either as a group in additional lecture venues or on their own from anywhere they wished.

Through this intensive preparation for a potential risk, SU now has a working, stable and easy-to-use streaming platform.

• It is completely integrated with SUNLearn (the lecturer creates a virtual classroom session within a SUNLearn module, and the students access the link to the virtual classroom on SUNLearn).
• It is able to support participants in different concurrent, virtual, real-time, streamed classrooms.
• It utilises the well-established, tried and tested Adobe Connect platform.
• It is made to stream live learning events from the classroom, office (or even from mobile devices from anywhere in the world) and to record sessions as videos for later viewing.
• It is mobile-device and cross-browser-friendly (having a very useful and user-friendly mobile app, and working on all platforms and up-to-date browsers).

"The strategy for the use of SUNStream (i.e. Adobe Connect on SUNLearn) is to introduce the platform slowly, systematically and in a structured way to ensure that lecturers are trained and supported, and students orientated," said JP Bosman, Head of the CLT.

Interested lecturers, departments or faculties are invited to contact the CLT at 021 808 3563 or jpbosman@sun.ac.za for further information, planning and deliberation on pedagogic uses.