How YuJa’s Enterprise Video Platform Enables Differentiated Instruction
But what does it really mean?
Differentiated instruction, also known as differentiated education, simply means that teachers identify and take into consideration each student’s individual learning style, strengths, needs and interests, and then develops lessons to ensure students have opportunities to learn using their preferred style.
Well-known educator and speaker Carol Ann Tomlinson is known for her work in differentiated instruction. In her book, “How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms,” Tomlinson explains, “At its most basic level, differentiating instruction means ‘shaking up’ what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products so that each student can learn effectively.”
The model has a lot in common with other pedagogical approaches, particularly ones in which teachers vary approaches to teaching the same material that appeals to different students in the same classroom, such as response-to-intervention, data-driven instruction and scaffolding.
YuJa and Differentiated Learning
Using tools like the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, teachers can provide differentiated learning in a variety of ways, such as:
- Lecture capture, which facilitates classroom flipping and microlessons;
- Social learning, which allows real-time discussion and promoted media engagement; or
- Video conferencing, which offers engaging options for virtual lessons, desktop sharing, collaboration and more.
Quizzes help assess what students understand as they progress, and detailed analytics offer insights into how to tweak instruction based on areas where students are struggling.
YuJa’s Video Platform also makes it easy to incorporate additional learning materials, like online videos, for students requiring additional review or support to gain understanding. Those same tools enable instructors to offer more information to students seeking a deeper understanding of the material.
How YuJa Caters to Various Learning Styles
Students learn differently. While some are auditory learners, others are visual or kinesthetic learners. YuJa’s lecture capture technology meets the needs of each type of learner.
Visual Learning: Visual learners can read the auto-captions on lecture captures. Some visual learners respond best to images, like tables, maps and charts, and others to written words. Word-based learners are called visual-linguistic learners, while those who respond best to images are visual-spatial learners. Since YuJa incorporates all aspects of presentation media, lecture captures include your tables, charts, images and more. In addition, file upload technology makes it easy to provide visual learners with access to PowerPoint presentations and other visual aids.
Auditory Learning: Auditory listeners can listen to lecture captures and re-listen as needed. Since auditory learners learn less effectively from the written word, lecture captures can provide a key tool for these learners. In addition, the YuJa Learning Channel enables you to incorporate other types of video learning for auditory learners.
Kinesthetic Learning: Kinesthetic learners can engage with video quizzes, video creation, and online assignments. In addition, mobile access to YuJa lectures means that kinesthetic learners can take their lectures on the move, walking or even watching a lecture from the gym or wherever they best learn.
YuJa Facilitates Collaboration in the Classroom and Beyond
What is Collaborative Learning?
According to Cornell University’s Center for Teaching Innovation, collaborative learning is an educational approach that involves students working together in pairs or small groups to solve a problem, complete a task or create a product.
Benefits include:
- Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.
- Promotion of student-faculty interaction.
- Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility.
- Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives.
- Preparation for real life social and employment situations.
Collaborative Learning Transfers to the Workplace
The collaborative learning approach carries from the classroom directly into the office, creating individuals capable of working effectively together and solving workplace problems as a team. It encourages cooperation, communication, and makes the best of each person’s strengths.
A LinkedIn Learning study showed that talent developers, executives and people managers all agree that training for soft skills, such as collaboration, communication and leadership are a top priority. Further:
- 68% of employees prefer to learn at work
- 58% prefer to learn at their own pace
- 49% of employees prefer to learn at the point of need
Providing avenues in the workplace to meet these objectives is vital to a successful office environment in which everyone thrives.tudents who graduate prepared to work effectively in a collaborative environment are desirable employees. The communication skills, etiquette and cooperation mastered through collaborative learning will take students from the classroom to the office with grace and ease.
How YuJa’s Suite of Products Integrates into Collaborative Learning
YuJa integrates aspects of collaborative learning into the classroom environment through the Enterprise Video Platform, where each learner has the opportunity to actively participate in the classroom experience.
- Access to file uploads, video chats, and shared files allow students to work in groups, to interact, and to make active progress on course work.
- Real-time whiteboards enable participants to draw and annotate within a live Video Conference session ideal for one-on-one office hours, small group collaborations, and large-scale video conferencing.
- YuJa’s Video Conferencing Platform for the classroom enables multimedia collaboration with no application downloads or installs.
YuJa makes it easy to allow students to collaborate and solve problems. For students in brick-and-mortar classrooms or in a virtual environment, the social learning environment improves access to and opportunities for collaboration, thereby creating richer, more flexible and streamlined learning.
The Value of a Cloud-Hosted Video Platform
Cloud Hosting vs On-Prem Hosting
Cloud hosting involves using a network of connected remote and/or virtual devices, which makes the technology scalable, reliable and on-demand. Because information is spread across data centers, if a hosting site goes offline, others compensate to keep your system up and running smoothly. No two organizations’ needs are the same and cloud hosted services can be tailored in an unlimited way, with flexibility in areas like architecture, space and security. The servers are owned and managed by a vendor.
The alternative to cloud hosting is on-premise, or “self-hosted” solutions. This option uses local resources to run software on computers physically located on-premise of the organization. The organization must have a space for the servers, known as a data center, or use a virtual private server or virtual dedicated service to locate on premise software, but hosting is still provided by the organization’s own hardware.
Cloud Hosting is a Value Driven Solution
Cloud hosting has become increasingly popular for a number of reasons, including speed of innovation, operating cost and security.
“Cloud hosting removes barriers to entry for businesses and organizations, which no longer have to find and train their own team to support their infrastructure,” said Nathan Arora, Chief Business Officer at YuJa, Inc. “It’s a smart, cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.”
Speed of innovation: Cloud solutions allow for rapid innovation with fewer risks of disruption. Members of your organization can focus on innovating rather than reacting to daily minutia of technical issues that arise when self-hosting. You can scale up or down on demand, test ideas quickly and keep moving toward your organization’s next great idea.
Internal operating cost: Using the cloud shifts what is normally a capital expenditure to an operating expenditure, lowering the initial costs, as well as ongoing IT management and support costs. On-prem hosting requires a trained team, whereas with cloud solutions, everything is handled through the vendor.
Level of data security and privacy: Cloud platform solutions like the YuJa Cloud ensure data security and privacy, which includes having third-party audits to ensure the highest level of security.
The YuJa Video Cloud
Designed by engineers, scientists and PhDs with a track-record of deploying large-scale distributed systems, each tool within our Enterprise Video Platform leverages the YuJa Cloud to deliver a high-impact user experience. The YuJa Cloud is the backbone of our entire video-powered platform, including lecture capture, media management, live streaming, video conferencing, social learning and mobile video tools.
Case Study: Chatham University Makes the Switch to YuJa’s Comprehensive Video Platform for Ease of Use, Robust Capabilities and Ongoing Support
Lauren Panton, Director, Instructional Technology and Teaching Development at Chatham University was at a conference when she learned about YuJa’s suite of ed-tech products.
She was particularly interested in the Enterprise Video Platform, an all-in-one, cloud-hosted solution that enables institutions to securely create, manage, and distribute video and other media content. “I was impressed with the product and customer service experience,” Panton said, and when the university was looking for an alternative video platform, “we were really pleased with how the software product has grown, features have expanded, and the ease of use. We were excited about a lot of the functionalities that did not exist with our existing vendor.”
Chatham University had been using its former video platform for over a decade, but administrators were unhappy with changes to the license and model, features, and support.
Read the full case study here.
IntelliVid Research Discusses Future of Video in Higher Education With YuJa
Steve Vonder Haar, a Senior Analyst with IntelliVid Research, recently interviewed YuJa Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Nathan Arora, on the evolving role of video in education, how the market has changed since the pandemic, and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education technology tools.
YuJa is a great example. It started with a purpose-built Video Platform for teaching and learning, and for delivering educational content at scale. Since then, several products have been added to the suite of tools, including those that focus on delivering accessible content, managing data and storage, test proctoring, and audience engagement.
While the company continues to serve the higher education market, the focus has been on deepening its impact. Rather than expanding horizontally, YuJa “serves a single audience with a number of different products that serve them more effectively, all within the same realm,” Arora said.
“The pandemic accelerated a need to become more digital not just in teaching and learning, but in all interactions.”
The pandemic led to a big increase in utilization of video in higher education, as institutions worldwide were forced to get on board. After nearly 100 percent utilization, usage has gone down, but not to pre-pandemic levels. The pandemic accelerated a need to become more digital not just in teaching and learning, but in all interactions.
“That means our products become much more pervasive, but it also means there’s a need to do things better and more cost effectively. So if you’re going to manage larger volumes of content, you’re going to make content a central part of the strategy, you have to make that more accessible,” Arora said. In addition, everyone should benefit from media, and with a centralized, enterprise-deep strategy, they can.
Vonder Haar also asked how AI would impact the development of video related applications and how it has impacted YuJa’s roadmap and go-to-market strategy. AI is already being used in technologies like automatic transcriptions and captioning, and to extract valuable insights. In higher education, though, Arora said institutions tend to take a more measured approach to implementing new technologies.
Fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement is essential to keep pace with evolving technologies and pedagogical trends. In the future, Arora said he sees AI being used in other meaningful ways that keep the academic rigor of the institution, but noted it will be institution-led.
Case Study: Bronx Community College – Deploying a Video Platform to Meet Current and Future Instructional Needs
Bronx Community College is a forward thinking college, but when it came to technology to record and host videos, its former in-house server and labor intensive programs were no longer meeting the college’s needs. In fact, the legacy program the college used didn’t have a user interface where faculty or students could log in. It was inefficient and cumbersome for all parties, which is why the college knew it needed to invest in a more robust solution that could not only act as a video repository, but that could streamline processes and workflows for students and staff.
Albert Robinson, Associate Director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology at Bronx Community College, said he knew the perfect solution existed, and further, he knew there were other colleges in the CUNY system that had gone through the process and were pleased with their results. “I reached out to my colleagues in the CUNY community and was connected to YuJa through a Lehman College contact,” Robinson recalled. “An account executive at YuJa actually gave us a demonstration, and right away we could see the ease of use.”
Several years into using the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, the college still uses it as its main video repository. Additionally, all training, events, and guest speakers are recorded and posted to the Video Platform.
Read the full case study here.
Using Video Outside of the Classroom to Engage and Support Potential Students
Reaching Potential Students
Video offers an ideal way to reach out to potential students. Unlike text and photos, video offers an immersive experience where potential students can see your campus and the surrounding community.
Instructors and staff can introduce themselves, and the traditional campus tour can go online for students and their families who may not be able to visit in person, including those internationally.
Consider integrating video content that shows:
- Campus facilities: What do the dorms look like? How big are the classrooms and classes? How active is the student center? Videos of your campus can help answer these questions for potential students.
- Faculty and programs: For many students, and particularly graduate students, access to skilled researchers and academic faculty is a deciding factor in school choice. Choose faculty to introduce different schools, departments, courses, and who they can expect to learn from if they attend your institution.
- The campus community: Show potential students their future classmates. Get video of fun events like the annual water balloon fight, or a charity fundraiser to share with potential students.
Attracting International Students
”Creating rich video content of your campus, community and the surrounding town can give international students an orientation of the area long before their flights touch down.”
At many colleges and universities, international students make up a significant percentage of the student body. For an international student, there may not be an opportunity to visit the campus. Creating rich video content of your campus, community and the surrounding town can give international students an orientation of the area long before their flights touch down.
To appeal to potential international students, share more than just information about your campus and community.
- Interview current international students, and consider offering some interviews (or captions) in the native language.
- Show meetings of international student groups, clubs and activities.
- Include tours of graduate student housing, including off-campus housing if you’re able.
- Share success stories of current students or alumni, highlighting impactful community initiatives, and showcasing campus events and activities contribute to a vibrant and engaging culture.
- Use testimonials and behind-the-scenes glimpses to help ignite curiosity and drive students to take the next step.
- Consider hosting a Q&A session for prospective students.
Creating an Alternative to the Campus Visit
While many students will make a campus visit, either before accepting their admission or the summer before they attend, this isn’t an option for all families. A well-rounded video library can provide students with access to much of the information available during a campus visit.
- Use lecture capture technology to capture classes and workshops offered during campus visits.
- Record a campus tour. Take the time to explore, just like a potential student might.
- Get as many people as you can, instructors and students, on camera to help highlight the campus and its community.
- Create video tutorials for the first day on campus, from moving in to picking up a parking pass and student ID. That way, all students can quickly find how to do these tasks whether they were able to attend orientation or not.
Interactive video experiences can help educational institutions build trust and credibility while compelling potential students to consider the institution as a valuable partner in their educational journey. Using video for non-instructional purposes presents an opportunity for colleges and universities to attract and support students at all stages of their educational journey.
Case Study: How Parkland College Creates a Connected, Engaging Learning Environment for its 20,000 Students With the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform
Lori Wendt, an instructional technology specialist at the institution, led the charge to find a new ed-tech solution.
Wendt has a unique perspective both on what instructors want and need, as in addition to her technology role, she has been a part-time faculty member for more than 15 years.
“I’ve had the opportunity to use a lot of tools over the years, and I can relate to how faculty use technology,” she said, adding that accessibility features like auto-captioning have become increasingly important.
As the institution evaluated tools, YuJa stood out. “YuJa had all the key features we were looking for,” Wendt said.
Case Study: How Texas State Technical College Leverages the YuJa Video Platform’s Robust Features to Improve the Educational Experience Campuswide
Texas State Technical College is a coeducational two-year institution of higher education offering courses of study in technical vocational education. Texas State Technical College contributes to the educational and economic development of the state of Texas by offering occupationally-oriented programs with supporting academic coursework, emphasizing highly specialized advanced and emerging technical and vocational areas for certificates or associate degrees.
Case Study: SUNY Corning Community College Leverages the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform for Instruction and Other Uses Across its Campus
One of the community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, Corning Community College is a public community college in Corning, New York. It was initiated in 1957 and moved to its Spencer Hill campus in 1963. This two-year college serves three counties: Steuben, Chemung, and Schuyler.