Echo360 and Lecture Tools: Piloting a student engagement platform for UWindsor

Nick Baker Acting Director, Office of Open

Learning

OUCC Conference28 April, 2014

Join the presentation in Lecture Tools

http://bit.do/OUCCEcho360

Overview

• Windsor and Provincial context• Selecting a solution• Intro to Echo360 and Lecture Tools• Considerations, challenges and

unexpected outcomes• Demo of the system and trying it out (time

permitting)

What challenge are we trying to address?

• Enhancing student engagement and learning, especially in large classes

• Reducing cost to students• Clicker use declining (with no replacement)• MTCU Ancillary fee policy• Class sizes increasing• Trying to increase quantity & quality of distance

and hybrid courses– Positioning ourselves to take advantage of the OOI

funding & MTCU directions

Provincial Context• Productivity and Innovation Fund (PIF)

Grants– Multi-institutional and institutional

• Total of $45m shared across colleges and universities

• $1.32m funding across 7 projects• 3 Institutional projects - $500k• Money had to be spent by March 31, 2014

University of Windsor Institutional PIF Grants

Proposal Title Funding

Navigating Large Foundational Classes: Providing Scalable Infrastructure for Next-Generation Blended Learning Classrooms to Enhance Student Learning Outcomes, Access and Choice

$349,925

Leading the Leaders: Developing Metrics and Management Mechanism for Embedded Educational Leadership Initiatives

$100,000

Enabling Cost-Effective Data-Driven Decision Making: Shoestring Analytics $49,468

Large Classes PIF

Technology• Echo360 lecture capture system• Lecture Tools Student Engagement

System• Classroom upgrades• Electronic Course Outline System (ECOS)• ePortfolio system

Instructor support

• Funds for development support• Instructional/curriculum design support• Technology support• Hardware

ECHO360

What is Echo360?

• Integrated student engagement platform– Classroom lecture capture– Personal lecture capture– Rich Media Tool– Learning analytics– Lecture Tools (clickers on steroids!)

http://goo.gl/urTkE1 (Echo)

http://goo.gl/ffvlDl (LT + Echo)

Why Echo360?

• Feature set• Price• Integration with existing systems (Crestron,

Sakai etc)• Existing expertise

– e.g. Wowza server for streaming media, Linux• Streaming and recording• Integration with Lecture Tools – powerful

additional functionality

Teachers receive real-time reports on student engagement and comprehension

Teachers create and record study materials with embedded polls and quizzes

Students review and respond to prepare and provide feedback

DURING CLASS

Teachers engage with new interactivity, can monitor and adapt to student activity

Students ask questions, take notes, flag issues, and respond to in-class questions

No Clickers Required!

Students review class materials and collaborate with peers online to master content

Echo360 Active Learning

BEFORE CLASS AFTER CLASS

Slide Reference: Echo360, 2013

Multiple Recording Solutions

Media Import• Capture content using 3rd party tools• Easily ingest content into EchoSystem with

consistent look/feel/branding/security

Personal Capture Software• EchoSystem capture software on laptops/desktops• Create modules and tutorials from anywhere with

an internet connection

Classroom Capture Software• EchoSystem capture software• Automated classroom capture using existing

technology investment

SafeCapture HD Appliance• Hardware based capture• Full integration with room A/V environment• Ideal for auditoriums, smart classrooms, etc.

Slide Reference: Echo360, 2013

Capturing options

• 2 x video streams + 1 audio recorded– e.g. PC, external laptop, webcamera, VC

cameras, document camera, electronic whiteboard, digital microscope…anything that can go through projector!

• HD Capture appliance• Software Capture (no Mac, no streaming)• Personal Capture• Media Ingest

Media Import: Easily Upload Content from External Sources

Slide Reference: Echo360, 2013

HD Appliance - Video

• Any VGA, DVI-I or HDMI enabled device– H.264 standard– 240kbps – 3.2Mbps

• Digital (HDMI) or analogue (composite) input

• Configurable output frame rate• Output to stream (via Wowza server) +

asynchronous “Echoes”

HD Appliance - Audio

• Stereo, mixed-mono, mono• Capture in AAC • Pro-level or consumer level signals• Balanced or unbalanced • Stereo RCA or bare wire• Control integrated with Crestron

controller/touch panel

Software capture• Site licence • Same as Personal Capture now• Schedulable (personal capture not schedulable)• Room AV input to PC

– Epiphan DVI2USB device– ART Pro USB Dual pre-amp & computer interface

• No streaming, No Mac (Personal Capture does though)

• User must be logged in to start scheduled capture

Automated and Intelligent Workflow for Lecture Capturing

Record, Produce, Manage and Publish Instructional Media

Slide Adapted from Echo360, 2013

Processing videos

• Internal HDD on Appliances for temporary local storage; PC HDD

• Push to ESS and Media Server via SFTP for processing

• Raw files stored on server, processed to ‘Echoes’– Raw = 60% of storage; delete these after 30 days &

keep Echoes• Processing time = real time + small % • Processed in order received by server

Publishing videos

• Either released/published automatically or released manually by instructor– Instructor can edit multiple times until raw files

deleted (non-destructive editing)– Multiple formats for same recording can be

published• Publish to LMS and EchoCentre• Can make recording publically available• Can publish to other locations e.g. iTunesU,

RSS, webportal

Viewing recordings• Access through LMS or EchoCentre

– LDAP (requires Active Directory for full functionality), CAS, Shibboleth, Trusted System authentication

• Access on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, tablet/phone (app or browser)

• HTML5 interface

Echo Centre

https://e360system.uwindsor.ca:8443/

Scheduling recordings

• Schedule recordings based on – Term, Course, Section, Instructor– Campus, building, room

• Automatically schedule with integration to SIS (and/or other enterprise systems)– Start automatically at scheduled time

(appliance), or after log in (software)• ‘Opt out’ at the moment• Ad Hoc

Other considerations

• Can brand recordings automatically with institutional look and feel

• Can brand at the faculty or department level

• System Admins can change almost anything without additional assistance from Echo360

• 24/7/365 support from Echo

LECTURE TOOLS

What is Lecture Tools?

• Web-based student engagement platform• Similar to clickers but much more powerful

– Searchable repository– Notes system

• Developed at UMich and sold to Echo360• Currently Flash-based with app for iOS

(moving to HTML5)• Can be integrated to LMS (LTI) (gradebook,

access etc)

What is Lecture Tools?

• Very easy to use, upload files, add interactive slides, reorder etc.

• Drag and drop functionality• Flat images of slides (no animations)• Learning analytics (lite)• Student notes, discussion forums,

bookmarks, searchable lectures• Student questions (anonymous or not)• http://goo.gl/D61ljt

Accessing Lecture Tools

• LTI integration to Sakai – challenging but works

• Passes through roles but still need to create a password first time

• Students see list of lectures by date

First Use in CLEW

First Use in New CLEW Site

Outside of CLEW

Outside of CLEW• Upload a file containing the following:

email address (mandatory), optional Last Name, First Name. No column headers, one student record per line

• Save as a .csv file

Student Access by Direct Link

Presenting in Lecture Tools

• Can import previous presentation or upload new– File types to upload can

include .ppt, .pptx, .pps, .ppsx, .pdf• ‘Objectives’ slide can be created in the system• Animations will be lost when uploading PPT• Edits to slides need to be done in program they

were created in, NOT online• Delete, hide or rearrange order in Lecture Tools

Preparing a presentation

Question types

• Multiple question types inserted easily into presentation

• Behaves slightly differently on app (especially Image Quiz & visible characters)

• Results can be sent to gradebook in LMS

Developments coming in Echo360/Lecture Tools

• Android App• Integration with Echo360 as a single

student engagement platform• Improved analytics

Next steps

• Installation in classrooms over summer• Personal Capture rollout• Lecture Tools trial in selected large

classes• Integrate with systems (LMS, SIS, etc)

Challenges & Considerations

• Time restrictions on spending money• Large project team• Room AV setups different across campus

– Different reqs for appliance and software• Integration with existing systems (LMS,

SIS, HR) and level of integration• Ongoing administration

Unexpected outcomes

• Increased deep collaboration across units• AV upgrades• AV inventory• New ways of managing AV in classrooms• Policy review and development in a range

of areas (e.g. security, archiving, copyright, appropriate use of IT, IP, course mode definitions etc.)

• Going beyond one-off development• Encourage development of new coherent

credentialing programmes– Attract new students– Allow more current students to graduate/succeed

• Significant redevelopment of existing courses to DE/hybrid mode

• Redeveloping courses that are significant blockers for existing students

What are we trying to achieve?

• Mainstreaming DE/Online/Flexible/Hybrid learning and teaching

• Building capacity in faculty, enabling new practices

• Sustainable offerings and practices• Increasing quality in DE & blended offerings • Improved reputation• Providing more flexible options for all

UWindsor students (and instructors!)

What is the end game?

Summary

• Very simple to use, varying levels of automation possible

• Expected high value return• Lot of work, but worth it• Need strong AV engineering, server,

firewall/security teams• Evaluation of outcomes longer term project• Expect to see change over 2-3 years

ContactNick Baker

Acting Director, Office of Open LearningErie Hall 1111email: nbaker@uwindsor.caext. 4925

Connect with us• In person…

– Erie Hall 1110-1112• Phone…

– Ext 2008• On the web:

– Office of Open Learning Official Website (under construction): www.uwindsor.ca/openlearning

– Open Learning Windsor Blog: http://ctl2.uwindsor.ca/openlearning/

• Social media:– Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/UWindsor.OfficeOfOpenLearning– Twitter: @UWinOpenLearn