Working together to generate ideas for student success

A select group of instructors and teaching and learning support staff from higher education institutions around the world will focus their efforts on using video and active learning tools to increase student engagement and support teaching excellence. This team of individuals are the Echo360 Academic Champions, who have each been awarded a grant to help develop the use of Echo360 within their courses and institutions.

Started in APAC in 2018, the grant is now worldwide, and helping universities across North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe change learning and teaching through the successful adoption of Echo360’s video-based tools.

So, how are our 40 international Academic Champions using their grants?

Exploring New Teaching Styles

Our 2019 Academic Champions have now started to introduce projects that will help generate new and exciting ways for their students to learn, both inside and outside the classroom. These Champions are working to help make better use of the tools available in Echo360 in a variety of ways. Using the active learning tools helps students to share information through the platform, voicing their opinions on the topics being covered, and asking more questions confidently on areas of confusion.

A few of the many exceptional projects that have been completed or planned through the receiving of this grant include:

  • Creating video case study stories with successful Echo360 instructors
  • Creating an online “Getting Started with Echo360” course for instructors
  • Creating videos in practical classes increasing assessment scores
  • Develop recommendations for use of active learning tools in modern language teaching classes
  • Work with students to develop student-centred, subject-focused guides to effective practice with lecture recording and active learning
  • To enhance an existing program by introducing more flexible routes for learning (hy-flex course design)
  • To develop a pedagogical study on the use of Echo360’s engagement tools in the field of Finance
  • How to improve engagement in a foreign language class
  • What engagement tools do they students actually use and how it effects their outcomes

Supporting students is a key aim for Ruth Patching, Academic Champion at The University of Adelaide in South Australia. “We’re looking at how Echo360 can help our international students develop the critical thinking and language skills they need to thrive in their studies.”

Unlocking Higher Achievement

We are really excited about the valuable partnerships many of our Academic Champions are forging with each other and the projects they have introduced to identify and replicate best practice.

ECC-Champions-3There are workshops being held that are designed to generate new teaching strategies, resources that can be shared across curriculum areas, and ongoing discussions on how Echo360’s video recording and engagement tools can support teaching excellence.

This work is helping instructors introduce more group problem-solving activities and spark lively classroom debates to keep their students engaged, even in large teaching spaces.

We look forward to seeing the results of the great work being done by our Academic Champions and are excited to be on this journey with them as they impact video and active learning strategies on student outcomes.

To find out more or to apply to become one of Echo360’s global Academic Champions in 2020, subscribe to be the first to know when applications are open.

To learn more about Echo360, contact us.

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