“Oh, please NO!!”  This was my internal response when I was asked to write a blog post on ‘getting started’ with Echo360. Not because I don’t want to help or because I think it’s difficult or complex to start using the cloud-based platform – it’s not. The real reason I have a hard time putting how to start into words is that I don’t know…because I don’t know who you are.

To effectively get started, I need to know how you like to teach? Lecture, team-based learning, workshop? Do you ‘flip’ any of the learning? What do you know about your students and what outcomes are you looking to achieve? Do you want to create content for students outside of class hours in the same way Dr. Karl Borden does when he updates his students on major financial news in real time?

Maybe you teach face-to-face classes of 300 students and you want to be able to check in with them during the class. Are they following? Engaged? Learning? Are you concerned about offering as much support as you can to students who have children and/or full-time jobs and can’t always make it to class?  Maybe you simply want to make sure students can revisit your lectures before exams.

Identify the challenges for you – and for your students – and I can guide you.

Echo360 is a platform designed by teachers, for teachers and is as comprehensive as it is simple to use. As an Instructor, you choose how much – or how little – of the technology you implement in your class. For one Instructor, the process involves turning up to a lecture theatre, clipping on a microphone and letting the technology (and the students) do the rest. For others, it’s about using the active learning tools in Echo360 to enhance the conversations or to support retrieval of information. So, if you’re asking where do I start?, the is the most important part of the question.

Recording Demonstrations for Students to Watch…and Watch Again.

George Clegg who teaches both very practical hands on cooking classes as well as the theory and practise of running a commercial kitchen recorded himself cooking in face to face demonstrations and then uploaded the videos to a class where his students could watch and re-watch as they practice for themselves before the assessment.

With the large number of students in the course, Mr. Clegg isn’t always able to reach every individual in class, the video he captures allows his colleagues to follow up with students on his behalf.

What does he need to know to make using Echo360 a smooth process?

  1. The Echo360 mobile app allows him to upload video straight to the platform.
  2. The editing and preview tools available in Echo360.
  3. The few simple clicks that import the video from his library to the section students are watching.
  4. How to easily linking Echo360 to the LMS.
  5. How to access the learning and engagement analytics for individual students and the entire class.

Next year, now that he has a library of cooking footage, Mr. Clegg might make the video available before the class allowing him to focus more on the technical difficulties his students might face.

If you missed my recap of the ANZ 2017 conference, check him out here talking about his pilot year with Echo360 and how he not only increased the success of his students, he used the lecture capture analytics to reflect on his own teaching.

Combining Echo360 Technology with On-Campus Technology

At the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Echo360 has been driven by students who can’t imagine learning without technology. Many attend their lectures in person and want to be able to re-watch recorded lectures and lab demonstrations. In some cases, the students need their education to integrate with their working lives and so they attend online or hybrid courses and appreciate the lecture recordings as additional support.

One of the key features supporting students at UNMC is the online study guide that is generated from the time-stamped notes the students take next to video of the lectures.

To make the most of Echo360, students and instructors at the Medical Center have learned about:

  1. The capture technology
  2. Online study guide
  3. Linking to the LMS
  4. Video downloads

See why the university feels the video platform technology results in more highly trained health professional.

Intervening to Help Struggling Students Before it’s Too Late

Dr. Claire Stuve teaches an online trigonometry course. She used Echo360’s Personal Capture to record over 80 videos of about 5 minutes each that showed her solving problems. This allowed her the opportunity to use the weekly web sessions to have students solve various problems using ‘real-life applications’.

Originally, Dr. Stuve started with 55 videos. Having the analytics available allowed her to observe which videos students were watching over and over again and realize they may not understand the underlying material. It was this ability to observe where students were spending their time, the types of questions they were posting while watching the videos in combination with the platforms Q+A tools, that encouraged the development of over 80 helpful videos.

To create this process Dr. Stuve needed to know:

  1. Echo 360’s Personal Capture app
  2. The engagement tools available to students while in the platform, such as time-stamped notes and the Q+A tool
  3. Where to access the analytics on video views
  4. How to upload her videos to the Echo360 classroom
  5. How to easily linking Echo360 to the LMS.

Read more about how her failure rates declined from 28% to 4%.

For more stories about the teachers who have used Echo360’s video-based learning tools, why don’t you check out;

University of Michigan’s is using image-based questions in anatomy to shift to active learning and student-centred activities.

Monash College is managing a large cohort of International students. Hear them discuss how Echo360 increased engagement – and therefore success rates – on the colleges journey to receive two awards for their successful transition and outcomes.

Learn more about Echo360.

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