Finding the Right Solutions for Your Virtual Events

Finding the Right Solutions for Your Virtual Events

While each of these virtual settings serve different purposes, an Enterprise Video Platform offers your organization all the flexible tools needed to serve any meeting, no matter the occasion. To find additional use-cases and potential solutions available to your organization, visit www.yuja.com to discover how YuJa’s portfolio of enterprise media and engagement tools can help your organization.

Related Article: Five Ways in Which a Corporate Video Platform Can Promote Employee Engagement

Five Ways a Video Platform Increases Student Engagement

Whether you’re a traditional higher ed institution that’s working to flip the classroom, an institution running a remote or hybrid learning program, or you’re a distance-learning only educational institution, we’ve outlined a few ways to use your video platform to enhance student engagement.

Increase Engagement With Your Video Platform

Video technology is a valuable tool in improving student engagement and facilitating remote learning in higher education. Below are five ways a video platform can help increase student engagement.

Research has shown that students are more likely to retain information when they are able to review lectures and course materials at their own pace. Video platforms allow students to pause, rewind, and revisit lectures and other course materials as needed, which can improve their understanding and retention of the material.

1. It Enables Engagement From Anywhere: Learners can see and hear concepts being taught from anywhere, even if they don’t have an internet connection, as lectures can be downloaded for offline viewing. Pre-recorded videos can be watched by students in advance of lectures to help increase knowledge transfer and engagement. With the right equipment, space and video platform, educators can easily create engaging course lectures and materials.
2. It Highlights Problem Areas Early: When students are allowed to ask questions about subject matter covered in a video before and during the lecture, instructors can look for and understand common challenges with the subject matter and address it in the classroom. 
3. Quizzing Helps Students Stay Active: A video platform allows instructors to add quizzing to determine knowledge transfer. Instructors can use those scores to look for patterns or trends on topics showing limited knowledge transfer, indicating a need to focus on those areas further in the classrooms. For students, this allows them to see how they are grasping the material and enables them to view the video as much as needed until they feel comfortable with the subject matter.
4. Polling Opens a Feedback Loop: Educators can use polls within a video platform to query their students on how they feel about the content, learning process or lecture style.
   This opens up a 360 degree feedback loop that makes students feel empowered. It also results in a better student to teacher connection that often wanes in the traditional lecture hall, where hundreds of students can’t respond in the same private, yet timely manner.
5. Enable Real-Time Discussion for Off-Campus Viewers: A video platform helps educators make the most of a distance-learning experience by allowing off-campus learners to engage in real time with educators during live lectures. Students can ask questions and view presentations in real-time.

Benefits Of Incorporating A Video Platform With Your LMS

In addition to improving student engagement, a video platform can help: 

Increase Accessibility: This is particularly true for students who have limited access to a physical classroom or who need to balance their studies with other commitments; 

Improve Retention: Research has shown that students are more likely to retain information when they are able to review lectures and course materials at their own pace. Video platforms allow students to pause, rewind, and revisit lectures and other course materials as needed, which can improve their understanding and retention of the material.

Enhance Collaboration: Video platforms have built-in tools for collaboration, such as the ability to share documents and have group discussions. This can encourage students to work together and help them feel more connected to their peers and professors, even when they’re not physically together.

Personalize Learning: Students can access materials, watch videos, and learn at their own pace, which can lead to higher engagement and motivation, as they’re in control of their learning. 

By providing access to course materials, facilitating collaboration, adding interactive elements that enhance engagement, and allowing for personalized learning, video platforms can help students succeed and achieve their academic goals.

10 Tips for Recording Engaging Content in Your Classroom

A key component to the success of e-learning is video content, and while there are many similarities with in-classroom learning, there are often different obstacles as instructors learn the ropes of teaching to a remote audience.

Whether you use live streaming, recorded lecture capture or video conference tools, these tips will help you create engaging, effective video content and resources to help you and your students be successful in an online environment.

1. Keep your videos focused and on-topic.

   Students are most likely to engage effectively with shorter videos. The optimal video length is six minutes or shorter, according to research, which also highlights that engagement time decreases as videos increase in length. To keep students engaged, instructors may find it more effective to create a number of shorter videos to cover the content typically included in a class session in a brick-and-mortar classroom. This is known as chunking or creating micro lessons. Review YuJa’s learning analytics to assess the success of different videos in an individual class.

2. Check your tech.

   Make sure that all cameras and microphones are connected and functioning well before starting a recording. Cameras should provide a clear view, and audio should be crisp, with minimal interference. Try to reduce or eliminate white noise and outside noise so viewers aren’t distracted during your video.

3. Add interaction.

   Interactive features, like in-video quizzing, can help keep students focused and engaged with video learning. Deep analytics can assess student interest and understanding, and inform you of where to focus future lessons.

4. Make it collaborative.

   Take advantage of features like Real-time Discussions to get students talking about material presented in a video. Hashtags allow students to more easily search the Discussion Feed later.

5. Be creative.

   Use a variety of visual aids, play with camera angles, or incorporate a SmartBoard, document camera or other media into your presentations to increase engagement and help students retain information.

6. Get comfortable.

   Being on camera can be difficult for some instructors. Practice, ask for feedback from students and your peers, and find tools that help you feel comfortable, whether it’s a pointer, document camera, lectern or something else.

7. Watch your video content.

   Lecture capture allows you to assess your teaching style. Take the time to watch your own video content and evaluate your tone of voice, speech patterns, and mannerisms. Small changes can make you a better e-learning instructor.

8. Demonstrate skills.

   Don’t just tell your students about the material in your course. When possible, show the students what you’re talking about. Screen Sharing can help illustrate various topics, or even a close-up camera could help demonstrate a hands-on skill.

9. Maintain accessibility

   Ensure students can access and use videos by adding audio descriptions, captions and other accessibility features.

10. Relax!

    High-quality video content is important, but instructors should remember to let go of perfection and be content with engaging and educational content.

How Video Learning Facilitates Student Study Strategies

YuJa allows students to take time-synced notes inside a video to create a personalized index, return to a specific point in the video and search their notes. Students can download their notes and associated slides to create an offline study guide. YuJa also enables interactive video quizzes and assignments, and makes sharing recordings a breeze.

Video Study Strategies for Online Learners

While online learners don’t have face-to-face time with other students or the instructor, they may, depending on the course, have more flexibility with regard to different classroom components, like viewing lectures.

• Review the course syllabus thoroughly.
• Make a weekly study plan, setting aside regular times to work on class work.
• Log into the course at least three times a week.
• Connect with other students in the class as much as possible.

Using Video Study Skills in the Flipped Classroom

In a flipped classroom, students are provided with in-class time with their instructor and other students. Flipped classroom structures use class time for discussion and activities, moving the lectures online. To get the most out of video learning in the flipped classroom, students should:

“Video learning can provide an ideal addition to any classroom.”

• Plan time to watch lectures before each flipped classroom class period.
• Watch video lectures actively. Make notes of questions as you watch, either on paper or using the Notes tool available in the YuJa Media Viewer.
• Spend a few minutes organizing your lecture notes and questions before class. In a flipped classroom, you’ll have plenty of time to speak with your instructor.

Maximizing Video Learning to Improve Study Skills in Traditional Classrooms

Video learning can provide an ideal addition to the traditional classroom. In the traditional classroom, video learning tools most often include lecture captures, available after class. Students can:

• Review lecture captures after class, particularly if you struggle with auditory learning, or you feel your notes are inadequate.
• Use YuJa’s semantic topic analysis and search features to find answers to questions.
• Re-watch content to provide additional review or to help improve understanding.

Enhance Microlearning With Video in Corporate and Educational Environments

Modern Microlearning

Microlearning delivers educational content to learners in small, specific bursts and offers them flexibility and control of what they learn and when. This type of teaching is ideal for busy employees and students alike, as they can learn what they need to know as the need arises.

• Microlearning as a concept and training tool has been around for decades. In fact, the first published use of the term was in the 1963 book, “The Economics of Human Resources,” by Hector Correa. 
• It gained traction alongside the internet and has soared in popularity as tools like video were introduced to mainstream education and corporate training programs. 
• The rise of devices like smartphones and learning apps have only increased the opportunity for people to learn in brief segments when, for instance, they’re commuting on a bus, standing in line at a coffee shop or waiting to pick up their kids from school. 

According to a Association for Talent Development research report “Microlearning: Delivering Bite-Sized Knowledge,” 41% of survey respondents said that the top benefit to microlearning is that learners can access it when it’s convenient.

Creating Microlearning Content

Implementing microlearning provides a reusable and affordable employee training solution. Employees report positive results with microlearning, and have reported that they enjoy the microlearning process. When creating microlearning content, keep the following tips in mind:

• Keep it focused. Limit each microlearning video to one or two learning objectives. Focused videos help viewers stay engaged.
• Create quality videos. Help ensure you have a video that people will watch by keeping the camera stable, using a good microphone and integrating visual aids. Keep content crisp, clean, and limit anything extraneous.
• Keep videos short. Aim to keep your videos short. Research respondents reported that the ideal length of a microlearning segment is 10 minutes, and that segments between two and five minutes were considered the most effective length for microlearning.
• Use Video Quizzing and Analytics to your advantage. Tools like Video Quizzes and Analytics can provide instructors with insights into what’s working and what’s not, as well as where learners are struggling. 

Benefits of Microlearning

Microlearning offers a range of benefits for companies and employees, particularly when integrated into a larger employee training program. Some benefits include:

Learning retention — Microlearning can improve retention. Since there’s a small amount of information, it’s more effectively processed and absorbed. 

Low barrier to entry — Microlearning requires relatively little investment, particularly when you consider that videos, a top delivery method, can reach large numbers of employees and be reedited and reused as frequently as needed.

Targeted improvement — Because it’s targeted, microlearning enables students to learn just what is needed, rather than a range of information that may not be useful for the task at hand.

Device friendly — Employees can easily learn using a variety of devices, from a smartphone to a tablet, laptop or desktop computer. This makes the learning method practical for almost any situation.

Transcoding Explained: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

What many people may not realize is the technical process that makes consuming your content possible, including transcoding. 

What is Transcoding? 

Transcoding is a process that happens after encoding, which dictates how raw data is compressed and formatted into a video file. Once the file has been encoded, the new file is able to be distributed and played by a variety of devices. 

Transcoding is a little more complex, but it decompresses and decodes a video file from one format to another, then encodes it in a new format. 

Scalable video transcoding converts bits from a network data stream into a picture for the user and translates video into a bit stream to transmit across a network. It breaks up video bit streams into bit stream subsets that add layers of quality and resolution to video signals. 

Transcoding in the Cloud Has Many Advantages

Transcoding with YuJa’s Video Platform occurs entirely in the cloud and does not require additional institutional resources. By default, the Video Platform creates transcoded formats that include 360p, 720p, and 1080p. 

 Scalable video transcoding:

• Lowers operational costs and requirements 
• Eliminates bandwidth bottlenecks, limiting long loading times, and 
• Provides viewers with a high quality user experience on a computer or mobile device. 

YuJa’s Video Platform automates the transcoding process for optimized mobile, tablet and desktop viewing. When you upload video content to the Media Library, the content is processed, transcoded and made available in your dashboard. 

The same transcoding process occurs for YuJa-created content, like lecture captures recorded with the desktop-based Software Capture or appliance-based Hardware Hub. 

Benefits of Video Transcoding

Transcoding is an element of your video process that’s vital, yet users should be unaware of the process as it takes place. Users will experience a smooth streaming experience, no matter what device they use or their bandwidth. 

Other benefits include:

• Improved streaming quality.
• Reduced bandwidth and resource usage.
• Ability to view on computers, tablets and mobile devices.

Adaptive bitrate streaming, which improves video startup times and keeps buffering at a minimum, is integrated into the scalable video transcoder. It automatically chooses the best video resolution; however, users can choose to override the settings in the YuJa Media Player.

Using Video to Facilitate Experiential Learning

All experiential learning experiences should include: 

1. Reflection, critical analysis and synthesis.
2. Opportunities for students to take initiative, make decisions, and be accountable for the results.
3. Opportunities for students to engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially, or physically.
4. A designed learning experience that includes the possibility to learn from natural consequences, mistakes, and successes. 

The criteria included below can apply effectively both in a classroom setting, and in a video learning environment.

The Benefits of Experiential Learning

Experiential learning activities provide students with the ability to apply learning in various ways and in different scenarios. In many cases, experiential learning experiences can help students to grow both personally and professionally, gaining understanding that they can carry well past their college years. 

• Experiential learning accelerates the learning process.
• The ability to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes in a safe environment facilitates lasting understanding.
• Students are engaged through the process of experiential learning, and student retention increases.
• Experiential learning bridges gaps between theory or book learning and practice, or real-world applications. 

Facilitating Experiential Learning Online

Traditional examples of experiential learning include study abroad, internships, and some community service projects; however, experiential learning may also occur in virtual learning environments. For online students, many of these experiences may be out of reach, but instructors and course designers can integrate key aspects of experiential learning into video-based courses or hybrid learning environments. In addition, video can be used to facilitate and improve experiential learning experiences in the real world. 

Four stages or steps can help to guide the planning and creation of online experiential learning, or supplemental video materials for real-world experiential learning.

1. Doing and exploring.
2. Reflecting and sharing.
3. Analyzing and processing.
4. Generalizing and applying.

Within online or video learning, instructors can facilitate experiential learning by creating real-world examples or projects for students, encouraging collaboration, and implementing the four-stage experiential learning model suggested here.

Depending upon the subject and the organization of the course, this could take many different forms in a video or online learning environment.

• Students could engage in real-world experiential learning and bring it back to a virtual classroom to reflect and share, analyze and process, and generalize and apply.
• They could work on individual projects that facilitate experiential learning, and come together for the process, or could collaborate in small groups on projects, then come together to share what they have learned.
• Instructors could pose real-world scenarios, and ask students to explore the problem-solving process using the steps or stages of experiential learning.