Interactive and Online

Written by Erin Flynn Jay

Online education creates a forum where information is exchanged and solutions are collaborated. Web-based platforms like Tegrity Campus 2.0 and Angel Learning are helping military students learn more efficiently. Learning is now more immediate and more valuable.

Tegrity Campus 2.0 is a platform for distance learning programs. As a Web service, Tegrity eliminates the need for manual installation and maintenance of server software, recording software or classroombased recording equipment. The instructor teaches as he or she normally would, anywhere they choose— classroom, office or beach. Tegrity automatically captures, stores and indexes the entire lecture, including PowerPoint slides, audio, video, Websites and any additional content the instructor chooses to present, for later retrieval by students over the Web. There’s no hardware or software to install, no need for extensive training, and no manual intervention.

Thunderbird, an international business school, is utilizing Campus 2.0 for its military programs. Patented Tegrity “search anything” technology enables students to search class content by keyword or phrase to instantly zoom to the exact class moment they want to review, said Isaac Segal, chief executive officer at Tegrity Inc. “A biology student on the eve of an exam, for example, may search on “photosynthesis” and Tegrity will present a list of every instance in which the term occurs throughout the course. The user can then select and review the exact moment of the original lecture they need, then move on to the next,” Segal said. “They can pause and restart the lecture, visually scan the lecture content using the Tegrity slider at any moment. Tegrity automatically captures and indexes textual screen content (i.e., meta-data) to enable this search.”

Tegrity Campus 2.0 integrates with an institution’s dataset. It reads the entire course catalog, student roster and enrollment data from its CMS or SIS, and uses that data to automatically create personalized accounts populated automatically with the right courses and class recordings for each user.

AUTOMATIC LECTURE CAPTURE

Once integrated with the institution’s existing data sets, Tegrity makes the entire process of capturing, indexing, publishing and storing every class across the entire campus automatic. It runs itself, making it easy for instructors, and requiring no extra work for IT. Every recording is automatically placed in the right course for enrolled students to access securely.

Tegrity captures the entire interaction between instructor and students, including audio, computer screens, PowerPoint slides, application files (e.g., MS Excel, Word), Whiteboard notations, instructor video, instructional video and tablet notes.

Tegrity Campus also includes reporting tools that enable the institution to monitor student usage per class and per course. “With our frequently accessed class sections report, for example, instructors can identify which chapters from a specific class are most accessed, helping them identify ‘problem areas’ for further elaboration,” said Segal. “Many faculty members offer students incentives such as extra credit in exchange for viewing time, while others post study problems and extra credit exercises.”

Tegrity minimizes maintenance and support costs as well as deployment risk, and is highly scalable and easy to learn and use—ensuring rapid adoption among military students and faculty.

The average instructor speaks 120 words per minute while the average student can capture at most, 20 words per minute in their notes. “Instead of focusing on what the instructor is saying, they’re distracted by taking incomplete notes and the longer they wait to review them, the less likely they are to retain what was presented,” Segal said. “If students know that they can access a recording of a class later, they feel free to actively participate in class.”

With Tegrity, military students can review class lectures anywhere, anytime with nothing more than a browser. If a student didn’t fully comprehend a complex formula or calculation, for example, they can review the professor’s explanation of the calculation over and over until they get it. If they miss a class due to illness, or if they struggle with language issues, they can review all or part of a class anytime.

In a University of Alabama survey, 84 percent of students surveyed indicated that Tegrity enhanced their performance and 82 percent indicated that it enhanced their enjoyment of the class. Tegrity Campus helps military students study more efficiently, increasing student satisfaction and retention. Many Tegrity customers report that Tegrity helps strengthen student feelings of engagement with their university, providing constant access to faculty resources. Students and parents appreciate the investment the institution is making in the student’s education. The University of New Haven includes a demo of Tegrity in their standard Admissions tour.

Tegrity is employed on hundreds of campuses throughout the United States. The University of Central Florida employs Tegrity to support traditional students as well as nontraditional students who may be juggling demands of work, family and study. UCF faculty routinely record lectures on and off campus and students review class content where and when they choose.

The educational experience of the future is centered on collaborative exploration of knowledge and ideas—not question-and-answer sessions with a teacher, said Dr. Elkanah Faux, an economist who teaches economics for Strayer University Online Campus. Technology is making this experience possible, and creating students who demand it.

The Internet has created a new means of communication— immediate interface and real-time transfer of information. Web 2.0 qualities like social networking and blogging are even more valuable for adults including the military who choose to pursue an advanced degree while balancing work, family and other responsibilities. “For these students, Online Education 2.0 creates a forum where information is exchanged, not just presented, and where solutions are collaborated, instead of given,” said Faux.

NEXT GENERATION COURSES

The Next Generation learner seeks out content, requires control over content and is accustomed to and comfortable with interactivity. Strayer University’s Next Generation courses provide the attributes to make learning more immediate and more valuable. Why is interactivity necessary? Because learning styles change as technology changes, and teaching styles must match learning styles. Next Generation lecture materials allow ease for the online student to acquire and control content: streamlining, synchronization, search, bookmarks and attachments.

Next Generation lecture materials also include simulations, which are effective for teaching principles and practices of a concept, allow learners to practice a skill in an environment where it is acceptable to make mistakes, and allow students to test hypotheses.

To remain relevant and credible in today’s advanced learning market and in the current global marketplace, higher learning institutions must utilize more sophisticated online education techniques to connect with students and connect students with each other. “Gone are the days when a videotaped lecture posted online was the ultimate in distance education,” said Faux. “Technology like television programming on demand, 24/7 Internet access via Wi-Fi, instant messaging, iPods and text messaging have primed multiple circuits, or neural pathways, in the brains of today’s students to seek out and absorb knowledge on their own terms.”

It would be unwise to narrowly confine online students to conventional teaching methods such as the traditional lecture. Doing so would deny the rich potential they bring to the educational experience and shortchange their education.

The Online Education 2.0 experience provides highly interactive learning. “Students not only listen to a lecture, but follow along with a visual presentation that can include links and quizzes embedded to allow for deeper study and to reinforce concepts,” said Faux. “Because students experience such questions or challenges in private, they may respond better than in a classroom, where fear of failure can be an issue.”

Interactive experiences simulate real-world situations. Online Education 2.0 students are able to test their knowledge by giving answers that reveal different consequences, letting them try out different hypotheses and learn by virtual experience. Free to explore possibilities in private, students can easily learn concepts in a context that remains positive instead of punitive, said Faux.

Many adult learners and servicemembers who are returning to college in their 30s and 40s are early adopters of new technologies. They receive information in different ways, and they expect technology to drive advances in the learning experience. As academia continues to lay solid educational foundations for tomorrow’s leaders, the methods with which universities convey that information must change.

Done right, online learning requires students to take a more active role, rather than be passive recipients of imparted information. “In the online experience, there’s no sitting in the back row in a darkened lecture hall,” said Faux. “Each student is up-close and personal with the lesson at hand, engaged, involved and clearly in charge of what they take from the experience.”

With no professorial lecture to disrupt, Online Education 2.0 students can take the time they need to pursue a point of interest, test their knowledge of the material and follow a hyperlink to glean additional insight, or reread or replay portions of the presentation. And with supplementary electronic resource material, links to sites such as university libraries, almost any point of interest can be pursued in depth. Never has technology been so readily available that could both hasten and deepen the learning process, leading to overall improved retention of the material, Faux concluded.

GRANTHAM IMPLEMENTS ANGEL LEARNING

Grantham University, an online university, announced in January it will implement the Angel Learning Management Suite (LMS). Angel is a Web-based learning platform that allows faculty and students to interact and collaborate within their course work and academic programs. “The addition of Angel will significantly improve interaction between our students and faculty,” said Mark Eaton, Ph.D., director of academic technology at Grantham University. “It also provides emerging Web 2.0 capabilities like wikis, blogs, podcasts and social networking that will greatly enhance our students’ learning experience.”

With the new Angel software, Grantham University will gain a better perspective of academic performance through courserelated metrics. It allows academics to measure and track student performance for course completion as well as the achievement of programmatic and institutional goals and course learning outcomes.

“With Angel, Grantham will be positioned to proactively facilitate student success and drive toward better outcomes in its academic programs,” Eaton said. “Our student experience will improve dramatically through the addition of innovative tools that connect and engage. Just like Grantham’s previous LMS, Angel is a Web-based application, so students and faculty can continue to access their learning environment from anywhere in the world.”

LEARNING MANAGEMENT TOOLS

In February, Angel Learning unveiled the Angel Learning Management Suite version 7.4, an inclusive suite of enterprise learning management tools. Angel LMS 7.4 is scheduled to be released this spring. Developed in Angel Learning’s collaborative style, version 7.4 extends the simplicity, power, and openness of the Angel LMS to empower users to accomplish evolving teaching, learning and administrative objectives across the learning enterprise.

“Our focus in the Angel LMS 7.4 release is improved workflow throughout. Faculty and instructional designers can now easily create content mashups with YouTube and other Google media. Creating and evaluating assessments is now improved with the addition of Rubrics, Lesson Plans and an enhanced Gradebook. Administrators will enjoy improved term transitions and introduce automated course backups,” said Ray Henderson, chief products officer, Angel Learning. “But beyond feature design, we’re pleased with the innovation we’ve brought to the release process for Angel 7.4. We invested heavily to ensure the release would undergo our most rigorous quality testing prior to its public release. An extensive field trial is under way and the early feedback from our participants is very positive.”

A new Angel LMS 7.4 mashup makes it easier to incorporate rich media content from sources such as YouTube and Picasa into courses. The new release also makes it possible to incorporate RSS feeds into courses. These enhancements complement Web 2.0 blog and wiki capabilities already included in the Angel LMS, enabling instructors and instructional designers to provide even more engaging course content and meet military students’ expectations for a more interactive learning experience.

The Angel LMS 7.4 provides grading rubrics to ensure all manually graded submissions are evaluated against the same criteria. A new Gradebook interface supports any grading period and provides improved workflow and reporting. Enhancements to reports generated by Angel’s exclusive Item Analysis provide more analysis of assessment success. Course surveys have also been enhanced to make them a more effective pre- and post-course assessment tool.

Angel Learning has long recognized institutions’ investment in learning content with the inclusion of learning object repositories (LOR) in the Angel LMS. LOR enhancements in the Angel LMS 7.4 make content sharing even easier and more efficient, helping institutions gain additional value from their investment in learning content.

Angel is offering the first (and only) LMS to enable export to the IMS Common Cartridge format. The ability to export content from the Angel LMS 7.4 provides instructors and institutions greater ability to move content from one system to another. ♦

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