Just got off the live webcast from Echo360 Inc, hosted by GM Mark Jones and Creighton University's Tracy Chapman. Tracy provided an excellent case study of how
her institution started with MP3 podcasting, graduated to Apreso presentation recording, and is now scaling up to 5 classrooms.
Here are some of the salient points:
- School of Pharmacy and Health Professions runs an on-campus programme in addition to its distance learning, and both run at the same pace over the same semester.
- MP3 and PPT downloads had initially served to connect the distance learners to the on campus programme, but lacked the visual elements and engagement.
- Initial Apreso deployment (mid-2006) focused on maths learning, especially the calculation skills important for dispensing pharmacists. This is consistent with the popularity of presentation recording to augment STEMS courses.
- Infrastructure included 3 capture stations, but only one had video capability (due to the cost of video cameras). Recordings are all prescheduled using fixed capture stations (there are no mobile setups). I was surprised when Tracy said there was no use of LMS. Instead, the learning content was published through ordinary web pages (later largely replaced with MS Office documents).
- Video was hosted by an outside service provider (and some problems arose there due to service interruption). Now Echo360 Inc is providing interim hosting, while Creighton negotiates another service provider.
- Feedback from learners and instructors was very favorable with more video being a common sentiment. Initial fears were mostly allayed, and instructors did not have to commit any effort as the solution operated transparently.
- Creighton has recently scaled up to 5 capture stations and added cameras to the initial two audio-only classrooms. One new capture station is deployed in a lab environment, rather than a traditional classroom. School is experimenting with teacher training using Echo360.
- Tracy says a decision was made to offer presentation capture *only* to distance ed learners. Campus learners cannot access the recordings. The rationale was to forestall any reduction in attendance and to avoid paying for bandwidth related to on-campus delivery.
- Engagement for distance ed has increased in both measurable and anecdotal ways. Dropouts have reduced significantly, and test scores in most courses have improved for distance learners using Echo360 presentation recordings. Creighton has plans to expand the programme to learners in Alaska and the Carribean.
Overall I would say that Creighton is making good use of presentation recording, scaling up their usage, and getting good support from Echo360 Inc. The case study provides excellent proof that presentation recording helps distance learning programmes engage learners, without special effort from instructors. But the Creighton experience offers an unusual perspective as a case study because they don't use an LMS, don't use mobile recording gear, did not initially opt for video, and don't deliver recordings to their on-campus learners.
The decision to offer recordings only to the distance ed students would obviously be very controversial. I'm sure students on-campus are not thrilled that they can't see the recordings, and it ignores the experience of other schools that recordings actually drive attendance by enhancing student engagement.
It was not clear to me how many people participated in webcast. I asked a few questions, but they were not answered.
According to a report in Earthtimes, Echo360 has been named a "Visionary Vendor" in education technology by Basex, a leading knowledge economy research and advisory firm. 
