Instructional Television Facility

In the classroom and beyond, the Instructional Television Facility (ITV) is digitally ready. The Whiting School of Engineering created the Instructional Television Facility (ITV) in 1983 to support the distance-learning activities of the Part-Time Programs in Engineering and Applied Science. That remains ITV's primary focus as it continues to provide technical and educational support for the School on the University's microwave TV network and on the Maryland Interactive Distance Learning Network.

In the 14 years since ITV began operation, the diversity of video-related activities has increased dramatically, and now everything is computerized. ITV's digital involvement ranges from computerized editing and MPEG digital video to computer-enhanced instruction. A case in point is the now computer-enhanced video classroom in Maryland Hall. With high-resolution computer monitors at each student desk and a networked computer at the lectern, Maryland 214 served nine local Homewood classes in the 1996-97 academic year and hosted numerous special lectures involving Homewood Academic Computing,

Administrative Computing, Purchasing, and academic departments.

ITV's major video production this year was for the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation (CNDE). Showing research activities and projects, the video quickly and efficiently demonstrates CNDE's mission and capabilities. Productions for the American Geophysical Union, the Hopkins Central Development Office, and the American Society for Materials were among others ITV completed this year.

In other projects, ITV simultaneously taped and transmitted Hillary Clinton's speech for the U.S. Agency for International Development to remote viewing rooms via the Homewood campus fiber-optic network. ITV recorded the Whiting School's Krieger Hall renovation celebration for posterity and completed its third year of taping the weekly seminars for the Center for Language and Speech Processing.

This year when the Maryland Science Center hosted the engineering school's annual spaghetti bridge contest, ITV taped the action and subsequently produced an amusing "highlight" tape which will be used to promote the event.

ITV played an important role in the Provost's Subcommittee on Electronic and Distance Education's first symposium. This interdivisional event, which showcased innovations in electronically enhanced education at Johns Hopkins, was transmitted live to audiences at the Applied Physics Laboratory and the School of Medicine. The University and ITV celebrated a technological first during the installation of President William Brody. ITV achieved the ultimate in reaching out as it broadcast the ceremony in real-time on the World Wide Web, making the event available to alumni around the globe.

What does the new year bring? MPEG video, developed by the Moving Pictures Experts Group. Until very recently, digital video was a cumbersome component of multimedia projects with poor resolution, non-standard formats, and large file sizes. With the emergence of an international video standard, MPEG-1--and the seamless integration of MPEG-1 videos into the latest Windows 95 systems, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and web pages--can now incorporate the dynamics of video. While converting standard video into digital MPEG files can be challenging, ITV has the equipment and expertise to make it happen.