ODESSA COLLEGE CASE STUDY

Improving Student Engagement and Retention with Video Keeping The Human Element In Blended Learning With TechSmith’s Lecture Capture Platform

“Odessa College experienced

more than 10 times the adoption at

one third the cost of our previous

system, all within six months of

introducing TechSmith Relay.”

– Shawn Shreves

VP of IT at Odessa College

01

“It’s common for online

students to not succeed

at the same levels as

face-to-face students.

Knowing that’s true for us,

we had to do something.”

The SituationWhile forging their blended learning program, Odessa College quickly realized they were facing multiple obstacles. They wanted to transition to an eight-week term – a task in and of itself. At the same time, they wanted to significantly increase student retention.

For the shortened term-length to work, they needed to increase student success

rates not only in their traditional classrooms, but in online courses in particular.

They knew the latter could be a much more difficult task.

“I know it’ s common for online students to not succeed at the same levels as

face-to-face students,” explained Robert Rivas, Executive Director of Innovation

and Research. “Knowing that’s true for us, we had to do something.”

02

Online communication

felt robotic and de-humanized.

The Challenge One of the big hurdles to growth was their legacy lecture capture system. It was expensive, lacked a sense of direction, and was difficult to use.

The platform was so clunky that faculty had become uninterested in using video –

at all. Across the entire campus, there were only six to eight faculty actively

making videos. “It was a lot of trouble for the instructors to use,” commented

Jennifer Lee, Web Design and Instructional Technology Specialist. “That’s why

they opted not to use it because it was just more trouble than it was worth.”

In addition, their legacy lecture capture system used an enormous amount of

disk space. Because it was self-hosted, it ate up more than its share of energy,

time, and expenses. “It was a resource hog – bandwidth coming in and out of our

network, and raw disk storage,” explained Shawn Shreves, Vice President of IT.

At a cost of $18,000 per year, it clearly wasn’t worth the cost for only six faculty.

“From the 30 ,000-foot view, that’s what caught my attention,” said Shawn.

Deterred from using video, faculty didn’t have any feasible way to add interactive

features in their courses. Online communication felt robotic and de-humanized.

03

“We realized there

was not a lot of

engagement happening

as far as multimedia.”

“Once we started looking at a lot of our courses, we realized there was not a lot

of engagement happening as far as multimedia – videos, audio, or anything like

that,” said Jennifer. “They were pretty much text, uploaded PowerPoints, maybe

some PDFs. There was really not a lot of video-type engagement.”

Their legacy video platform also didn’t give instructors any way to analyze whether

their students were watching the videos, or not. There was no interaction between

the students and instructors.

Not surprisingly, students were having a hard time retaining the course material

and participating in the course in general. “That was one of the things that we

really wanted to try to increase,” Jennifer explained. ‘We hoped that if we increased

engagement in the courses we would help increase retention and success rates.”

A Quest for QualityOdessa College administrators soon realized that finding a way to assure creation

of engaging, multimedia course content was a central step in keeping students

interested and accountable, especially in online classes. They spearheaded an

initiative to encourage the creation of quality courses on campus.

Formed in the spirit of the Quality Matters guidelines, they set out to develop a

straightforward rubric to review and measure the quality score of each course.

04

“Relationships matter. Engagement

matters. Those two things almost

matter more than what or how

we’re teaching the students.”

“We wanted to take something that was a little more simplified so our faculty could

get on that level and make sure they were meeting the basic requirements,”

explained Jennifer. “We’ve seen some very detailed [rubrics] and knew that would

be really overwhelming.” Instead, they set out to focus their own program on a few

key elements, hoping to center faculty’s attention on the things that mattered most.

They began by looking at what elements were working for traditional students,

to see if they could translate that to help with online students. As part of the overall

engagement effort, Odessa College was already focusing on three main goals for all

students across campus:

1 Enhance the student-instructor relationship.

2 Increase student engagement across all course types.

3 Increase student success rates and retention.

They knew that creating more connection and providing a quality experience online

was essential, particular to the second goal. Robert explained: “We have so much

data at the college from before we started doing this with our online courses that

relationships matter. Engagement matters. Those two things almost matter more

than what or how we’re teaching the students. The data is the same across all of

our instructors, all of our different disciplines.”

05

“We were looking for different tools that would

let the faculty use their creativity and provide

better analytics for student information.”

In addition to requirements for rich multimedia and interaction online, the rubric

also clearly laid out concrete ideas on how to build relationships with online

students. “If we know what works and we don’t try to do it for our online students,”

said Robert, “we’re just doing our students a disservice. They were struggling.”

Given their inadequate lecture capture system, Odessa College knew that getting

better technology would be crucial to their overall initiative. Shawn knew their

video platform wasn’t working for them. Instead, he wanted something that

would not only help instructors enhance face-to-face classes within their Learning

Management System (LMS), but would provide insight into student participation.

“W e were looking for different tools that would let the faculty use their creativity

and provide better analytics for student information,” said Shawn.

Implementing a New PlatformOdessa adopted TechSmith Relay as their video platform for lecture capture,

which offered interactive features that integrated with their LMS – a key component

to their overarching initiative, as well as ways to measure learning outcomes.

Given the widespread aversion to the old system, their first task was to assure

faculty that the new platform was a much better way of doing things.

06

“When you get a good tool like

TechSmith Relay, it spreads naturally.”

“One of our biggest challenges was that we had to convince them that this wasn’t

some horrible monster – that it was easy to use, it was convenient to use, and it

would improve their classes,” Jennifer explained.

Upper management proactively offered training camps during professional

development weeks before the semester began. The idea of a ‘better way to do

this’ caught on with instructors, and soon they were willing to learn the ropes.

“There ’s going to be certain faculty that lead the herd, if you will, that everyone

else is going to follow,” said Shawn. “It’s kind of a virus that spread, in a good way.”

The trainings showed how simple Relay is compared to their previous platform,

and encouraged instructors to make the switch. “It is just so easy to use compared

to [our old platform] Tegrity. You hit the record button, you get the link, and it’s done,”

said Shawn. “When you get a good tool like TechSmith Relay, it spreads naturally.”

Unlike the old system, faculty were now able to record and manage video

content from their own devices. “The flexibility for being able to add video media

is great, and it’s really easy,” explained Jennifer. “All you have to do is install the

desktop recorder, or you have the Fuse app on your phone, and you’re good

to go. And training is really simple.” Relay also granted peace of mind, since it

copyrights and protects content, preventing it from be shared on non-sanctioned

avenues such as YouTube.

07

They started asking

faculty to focus on high-

engagement strategies

with their online students.

Because TechSmith Relay is so intuitive, word of mouth played a big role in

spreading adoption, with instructors showing each other how it works. “We have

some faculty jumping in and helping as well, because they kind of get excited about

it and say ‘Ooh, look how easy this is,’” remarked Jennifer. “It’s been nice to have our

faculty get excited about it and want other faculty to know how to do it, too.”

Results & ROIHaving the right organization-wide video creation solution was the underlying foundation Odessa College needed to increase the student-instructor connection in their online programs. Now, it was up to instructors to put those rubrics into practice.

Expanding the Drop-Rate Improvement Program already in place for face-to-face

courses to their online offering, they started asking faculty to focus on high-

engagement strategies with their online students. “Get to know your students.

Talk to them by name, meet with them all the time, tell them that you care, that

they’re real people,” explained Robert. “We were just looking to see if we could

get more students to stay in our classes. It was surprising, because we did. What

was most surprising is our [online] students started succeeding at higher rates.”

08

“We want them to know

that there’s actually

another person on the

other side of the screen.”

According to Robert, the focus of these guidelines were what helped it succeed.

“W e asked our faculty to just try four things. It wasn’t ‘You have to do this.’ It wasn’t

‘Change everything you’re teaching, ’ it was just ‘Try these four things’.” Since

faculty were already accustomed to getting to know face-to-face students, they

were ready to try it with online students, too. “Most faculty were eager to jump in

and start doing that.”

Rules of EngagementIn addition to guidelines about how to include interactive content in courses,

they asked instructors to create videos that help build a personal connection,

even when a student is long-distance. “We ask them to do an introduction of

themselves because we want it to feel more personal to the students,” said

Jennifer. “We want them to know that there’s actually another person on the

other side of the screen.”

‘Navigation videos ’ are another requirement, to help students get oriented with

the course expectations and those of the instructor. “For a student who has

never taken an online course before, and is really afraid - asking things like

‘I don ’t know where my assignments are, where to find my grades’ – we ask the

instructor to do a quick little walk-through of the course,” said Jennifer.

09

More than 90% of

students who sign up

for classes at Odessa

College actually complete.

They found that personalized videos were helping to enhance blended

classrooms, too. For lab-based hybrid courses, having access to online content

at home gave students more of a foundation to interact with their instructors

when they met face-to-face. It also gave instructors another way to connect with

students. “A nursing faculty put the app on her phone. She said: ‘Students can’t

find my office. Let me walk you to it.’ It was different, but people loved it because

it showed she’s a real person,” Shawn explained. “It made it personal.”

The focus on relationships began to show results, first with participation. “As soon

as you build that personal connection, you get their attention a whole lot better.”

said Shawn. “That shows up in all of our analytics.”

More than 90% of students who sign up for classes at Odessa College actually

complete, with close to 85% earning a ‘C’ or higher. “Most students are not only

sticking with us but are doing better,” commented Robert. ”As we started to focus

on those relationships we’ve seen continuous improvements in those two areas.”

Efficiencies in Teaching and AdministrationHaving an easy way to create and share videos within their LMS helps instructors

have more productive time in class by giving students important class content

ahead of time. “When we were in college, you went in, you got the syllabus, met

the instructor and then, ‘Thank you, have a nice day’. We need that time now,”

10

Video communication is a

great way to connect for

staff-related training and

professional development.

explained Shawn. “We’re encouraging faculty to get the students trained – before

they even go into class they’re already logged into BlackBoard. They skip all

the frivolities, and the first day of class is a functioning time. It’s what we used to

consider the second or third day of class, back in the old days.”

Additionally, faculty are finding new efficiencies in how they teach, now that they

have a simple way to create and share videos; similar to team-teaching, except

voluntary and informal. “If we have one English instructor who really likes talking

about grammar, they can make a video on grammar and share it in that master

course so that all ten instructors who teach it can use the same video,” explained

Jennifer. “We’re trying to reduce the amount of work they have to do and still

share learning objects. A lot of our nursing instructors all share videos because

they all teach the same courses, but they’re in different locations. One might have

a really good module on newborn infant care, and they decide they want to use it

both on campus and at the Andrews center. It makes it a lot easier on them.”

Odessa College is also finding that video communication is a great way to

connect with faculty who aren’t in the area, for staff-related training and

professional development. “Many of our adjuncts aren’t local in Odessa,

they are all over the United States,” explained Jennifer. “It’s easier to reach

adjuncts with video – record workshops and put them in BlackBoard.”

11

Instructors can now track

student data to find

strengths and weaknesses.

Actionable AnalyticsEven better, instructors can now track student data to find strengths and

weaknesses. They are able to provide quick responses to students, follow

along with their performance, and guide them in the right direction.

Instructors use data analytics to measure participation, especially in online

courses. “If they’re not there, we can’t teach them,” said Robert. “They can’t learn

anything.” Beyond participation, real-time data helps identify at-risk students by

monitoring their viewing percentages prior to major exams. These analytics are

key to identifying students who aren’t participating, early on, with enough time

to make a difference. “We need to know when those students are struggling,

when they’re not watching a video, or when they blow a quiz in BlackBoard,”

said Shawn. “All that data just gives us more information so we can provide a

much quicker response, so we can grab them by the hand or the neck, as the

case may be, and get them back on track.”

The analytics were a crucial part of tracking their efforts. “We can see the

achievement of our students improved rapidly since we implemented that

program,” said Robert. “Online success improved more rapidly than for

students in the classroom.”

12

In courses with dense

content and a rigid

schedule, video has

really helped keep

everything on track.

Thomas Crawford, a biology professor at Odessa College believes in the

analytics that TechSmith Relay offers by observing the correlation between the

engagement level and performance of the students. He meets with each student

in his class to analyze how they can improve and be successful in the course.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t change it. If we can catch those students not

watching the lectures, we pretty much can predict that grade before the exam ever

gets there. That’s something we have used TechSmith Relay for exclusively, is

pulling the analytics to see exactly which students are watching, how often they’re

watching, and the percentage of the recordings they watch.”

A Successful Transition to Eight-Week TermsWith instructors on board creating quality interactions through the new lecture

capture system, Odessa College successfully switched to eight-week terms, while

increasing completion rates and retention. Jennifer explained the role technology

integration played in that transition. “A huge component of being able to maintain

the rigor of those courses – still offer the same content and meet the outcomes

– was that we had to have a way to give our lecture content inside a learning

management system so they could spend more time in class discussing and

working on assessments.”

Especially in courses with dense content and a rigid schedule, video has really

helped keep everything on track.

13

“Having the video ability was really big.

Especially for our biology program,

and some of our science and nursing

programs; they use it quite heavily.”

“Having the video ability was really big, ” said Jennifer. “Especially for our biology

program, and some of our science and nursing programs; they use it quite

heavily. That was a really big deal for the transition to eight-week.”

The eight-week term now allows for more hybrid courses to be offered, which

has helped attract more students, particularly the growing number who are in the

midst of a very busy time in their lives, balancing work schedules or childcare. Having

flexible options outside of regular school hours – and in any location – give these

students options to put in the time needed to successfully reach their degree.

Cost Savings and Student OutcomesAs an added benefit, Odessa College has seen considerable savings on IT and

staff costs since using TechSmith Relay.

“ Odessa College experienced more than 10 times the adoption at one third the

cost of our previous system, all within six months of introducing TechSmith Relay,”

said Shawn. “It’s not self-hosted, so it’s resources my staff doesn’t have to deal

with. From the IT perspective, it’s hands-off. We don’t have to back it up, we don’t

have to store it, or buy the tapes. It’s very cost-effective, with students and faculty

both using it and engaging more than they ever did with the previous platform.”

14

TechSmith Video Media Views

During the first year of implementation, utilization increased significantly. Media views for classes at

year one were 36,627 and

by the end of the third year

have more than doubled

to 75,978.

Odessa College Course Withdrawal Rates

8%

9%

6%

4%

2%

7%

5%

3%

1%

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

0%

6%

8%

5%

4%

5%

3%

Web

F2F/Hybrid

Student retention and performance improved. Withdrawal rates for web

courses dropped from 8% to 5% and hybrid courses

decreased from 5% to 3%.

Odessa College Course Success Rates

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

70,000

50,000

30,000

10,000

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

0

36,627

67,89175,978

Media Views

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

66%

72%

78%

68%

74%

80%

84%

70%

76%

82%

86%

77%

72%

75%

84%

82%

84%

Web

F2F/Hybrid

Course success rates

jumped from 72% to 75%, with students receiving a

C or better in the course.

For hybrid and face-to-face

courses, success rates

increased from 82% to 84%. Students enrolled in

an online lab had scores

11-14% higher than students

enrolled in just a face-to-face

classroom lab.

15

Odessa College received

the Rising Star award for

doubling graduation and

transfer rates, and rapidly

improving student completion.

Getting NoticedOdessa College soon found that others were noticing the improvements they had made to student engagement.

They were identified as a 2017 Aspen Award top-ten national finalist out of

1,200 schools. “We were identified based on our numbers and success rates,”

explained Shawn. “All of a sudden we were in the top ten, based on the data.”

The award process is disciplined and well-respected. “There are some very

detailed metrics where you have to show the numbers – student retention,

student performance. You have to show them that we are on the right track.”

Odessa College received the Rising Star award for doubling graduation and

transfer rates, and rapidly improving student completion. “We were very honored to

get that award, being the new kid on the block and still making it into the top five.”

16

“We did it. Other colleges

can do it, too.”

– Shawn Shreves

VP of IT at Odessa College

Looking Forward Now, Odessa College is continuing to improve their quality rubrics and engagement program, as well as extending their reach to more students and doing more flipped learning.

“The prize has never been about winning the prize ,” explained Robert. “What the

Aspen prize does is it looks at colleges who are doing something that can move

the needle and help us to do more. We want to get to the point where 60% of all

Texans between 25-35 have college credentials.”

Instructors at Odessa College are working toward integrating the flipped

classroom approach where the students learn course material through lecture

capture on their own time, then use valuable face-to-face time during class for

group discussions, activities, and similar higher-order learning.

Now, Odessa wants to share what they’ve learned with other colleges. “We’ve

been getting schools who want to come out and visit. We’re starting to look at

organizing a two-day workshop so that everyone can come at the same time.”

As much as possible, Odessa wants to let other colleges know that better student

engagement can be accomplished, regardless of other factors. “We did it,” said

Shawn with a smile. “Other colleges can do it, too.”

The higher education video platform you’ll actually use.Better adoption • Better engagement • Better results

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