Tilburg School of Economics and Management Receives Prestigious Award for Mediasite Program

MADISON, Wisconsin, September 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Faculty win Jim Bulloch Award for E-STAR Learning Project which increased pass rate, retention and course evaluation

Sonic Foundry, Inc.(NASDAQ: SOFO), the recognized market leader for rich media webcasting, lecture capture and knowledge management, announced that Tilburg School of Economics and Management has won the prestigious Jim Bulloch Award for innovations in Management Accounting Education.  

The award recognizes and rewards faculty members Bob van den Brand, Eddy Cardinaels and Ivo van Amelsfoort who created the E-STAR Learning Project. Launched with Mediasite as its core educational technology, E-STAR focuses on in-depth applications of blended e-learning in the introductory courses of management accounting. The jury admired the integrated approach of offering web-based materials to students to improve their effectiveness in learning.

"We want to connect with a new generation of students. Lectures should be time and place independent, have alternative or mixed learning routes and it should be an online experience. Mediasite by Sonic Foundry helps us to do this extremely well. When we reviewed the raw data we discovered retention improved from 58% to 79% in four years. This is huge and there are benefits for students as well as for lecturers," said Bob van den Brand, adjunct associated professor at the Tilburg School of Economics and Management.

E-STAR stands for Experience, Snippets-practice, Try and test, Ask questions and Results. It starts with short studio-recorded lecture blocks that quickly dive into the learning material with case studies and self-guided student exercises. Students get bonus points for taking practice tests through Blackboard, and are immediately able to check their answers through yet another lecture block.

"The online connection is important for the 'Ask' part. The live stream allows students to ask questions through Mediasite and the faculty can answer within 30 seconds," said van den Brand.

Van den Brand's team pays close attention to the viewing habits of the students, and the analytics provided by Mediasite shows students are developing efficient study habits and selecting when and where they want to learn. From the faculty perspective, the block system improves upon the didactic lecture model, and students' ability to review course content via Mediasite increases the pass rate, reduces office hours and dramatically improves course evaluations.

The E-STAR learning model has been introduced into more schools at Tilburg, including Liberal Arts and International Business Administration, and recordings are being done in multiple languages. Student satisfaction ratings have increased dramatically.

"Mediasite has long been the benchmark for blended-learning technology at leading business schools around the globe.  The recognition achieved by the faculty and technology staff at Tilburg is well deserved and we're proud to have played a key role in enabling their E-STAR program.  The fact that it is faculty driven makes this accomplishment even more significant, and aligns with our commitment to provide solutions that deliver performance in the classroom and real results with the students," said Rob Lipps, executive vice president of Sonic Foundry.

The project was also recognized with a 2011 Rich Media Impact Award which honors excellence in the practical and creative integration of Mediasite in business, education, health and government. Van den Brand's submission can be viewed at http://sofo.com/fac75.

About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.

Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ: SOFO, http://www.sonicfoundry.com) is the global leader for rich media webcasting and knowledge management, providing enterprise communication solutions for education, business and government. Powered by Mediasite, the patented webcasting platform which automates the capture, management, delivery and search of lectures, online training and briefings, Sonic Foundry empowers people to transform the way they communicate. Through the Mediasite platform and its Event Services group, the company helps customers connect a dynamic, evolving world of shared knowledge and envisions a future where learners and workers around the globe use webcasting to bridge time and distance, accelerate research and improve performance. Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. or their respective owners.

Certain statements contained in this news release regarding matters that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Because such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, uncertainties pertaining to continued market acceptance for Sonic Foundry's products, its ability to succeed in capturing significant revenues from media services and/or systems, the effect of new competitors in its market, integration of acquired business and other risk factors identified from time to time in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.