Jocasta Williams is the Director of Australian Operations for Echo360 and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. She is also the program manager for the 2011 Blended Learning Research Grants Program. Jocasta authored or co-authored numerous studies on the use of lecture capture technology. These studies are available at www.lecturecapture.com.
From within the University of Western Australia, it was easy for me (and the Lectopia team) to conduct research into the use of lecture capture – after all, we had one of the world’s largest deployments of the technology at our fingertips. The great thing about this position was that everything we found out through performing our research fed back into the system’s design and features, making it a better product, and one that was able to perfectly match the use cases and requirements encountered in higher education. In leaving the University to join Echo360, we risked losing this intimate connection.
Technology providers will often claim close ties with their customer base. There is frequently a (sometimes unavoidable) disconnect between the people who design and build the technology and those who use it.
Fortunately, through a number of community initiatives, Echo360 has managed to maintain our somewhat unique insight into why, how, where, when – and by who – lecture capture is used in higher education.
An excellent example of such an initiative is the Echo360 Blended Learning Grants Program, launched initially in 2009, and about to commence its third year. Through the provision of a competitive research grant scheme, Echo360 is supporting (and encouraging) our clients in interrogating their use and understanding of blended learning and lecture capture technologies.
From the insights and observations uncovered by successful grant recipients, the lecture capture community becomes ever-more informed about the impacts, benefits and use cases surrounding this technology – at the same time, Echo360 ensures that our industry-leading solution continues to meet the needs of higher education.
This year’s grants program, with the theme “Breaking New Ground: Outcomes, Retention and Recruitment”, has just been launched.
The closing date for applications is 16 September, with results being announced on 1 November. Anyone interested in submitting an application should visit the Grants Program website.
What areas of blended learning and lecture capture practice would you like to research? What questions do you have about the technology and its use in higher education that you want to see answered?
