Penn State’s mascot demonstrates the ease of the One Button Studio.
Pennsylvania State University tested out the One Button Studio system as a means of supporting the video production needs of faculty, students, and staff across all of their video production needs: for instruction, mentoring, studying, and all other academic activities. They began with two units and added ten more after a very successful, very popular pilot initiative.
The One Button Studios at Penn State provide space and technology for self-service video creation for faculty and students. Quality video can be created for multiple uses, via an easy to use configuration (one button turn on, turn off) in a suite (or suites) available as a campus service (in library spaces, maker spaces, etc.).
As the vendor advertises: “the system takes the emphasis away from controlling (and having to master) the technology, and places it where it belongs: the content produced by faculty and student users. The studio automates the control of microphone, camera and lights, simply requiring a user to insert a USB flash drive and push a button to begin. Once done recording, the system compiles the video into a format which can be shown (MP4 in this case) in class or posted online by the student or faculty member.”
-
- The one button studio is relatively compact in size.
-
- Users can start or end their session by pressing a single large button.
-
- Most one-button studios feature a whiteboard wall.
According to Ben Brautigam, manager of advanced learning projects, Penn State’s two studios had 8,874 users over the two-year pilot. “That equates to more than 10 percent of our main-campus student body, per year, for just two rooms,” (Campus Technology Online article, 12/17/14).
A user-friendly Media Production Lab at Portland State University.
The “one button” lab idea is taking root at other institutions across the United States, including some of our regional peers. A One Button Media Production Lab has recently been installed at Portland State University’s Office of Academic Innovation. It is one of 2 labs operated by OAI, the other being a screencasting lab. While support is on hand to answer questions and train users on lab equipment, both labs are designed for faculty to use for independent video production. PSU faculty can currently book either lab for up to eight hours per term.
