Case study
How the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform Enables Accessible Video Learning at El Paso Community College
Introduction
Introduction
Located in a border community in Texas, El Paso Community College (EPCC) is a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). For several years, institutional leadership had been looking for a tool to caption videos. “With the pandemic, the conversation (of securing a Video Platform) took on a whole new meaning,” said Luz Cadena, Director of Distance Learning Support Services and an adjunct history professor.
Once she learned about YuJa’s Video Platform, she said she knew it was a tool the institution desperately needed to support student learning and success. The Distance Learning Standing Committee met with a number of video hosting companies, then took part in a trial period to use the Video Platform.
EPCC was able to incorporate its need for a video management system with captioning abilities into a grant proposal, which it received. The institution adopted the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform in 2022.
130+
Programs
22,942
Enrollment
1969
Founded
5
Campuses
About the College
About El Paso Community College
El Paso Community College offers more than 130 academic programs and more than 350 personal enrichment/continuing education courses at five campuses located throughout El Paso County, Texas. The College also offers cutting-edge technology, ultra-modern training facilities, and innovative learning options. The El Paso County Community College District’s mission is to provide educational opportunities and support services that prepare individuals to improve their personal quality of life and to contribute to their economically and culturally diverse community.
“Not only do captions benefit students who are deaf or hard of hearing, it benefits all students. Captions can help students whose first language isn’t English by helping them with language acquisition, it helps students strengthen reading and comprehension. It can also help students learn even if they are in a noisy environment where audio can’t be heard or if a speaker is difficult for them to understand.”
Video Captioning
Accurate Video Captioning Helps Students Succeed
Cadena said she was drawn to YuJa’s Video Platform because of its ability to accurately caption videos. “Not only do captions benefit students who are deaf or hard of hearing, it benefits all students. Captions can help students whose first language isn’t English by helping them with language acquisition, it helps students strengthen reading and comprehension. It can also help students learn even if they are in a noisy environment where audio can’t be heard or if a speaker is difficult for them to understand,” she said.
Before integrating the Video Platform, faculty recorded videos in one platform and then downloaded the MP4 file into YouTube to caption and edit captions. “The issue we were having was that it didn’t integrate into the LMS,” Cadena said, adding that videos were available for the entire college to see, which many didn’t want, or they could be embedded into the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS).
With the previous solution, the sharing process was cumbersome, and it was particularly challenging to share a video after it was captioned and embedded to the LMS. “You had to go into the stream and add each student as a user to allow them to view the video, and it just wasn’t conducive, especially given that instructors were trying to share the same video with four sections of students,” Cadena stated. “It was built for the corporate world, not education. We needed something to be easy and that had easy integration, and that’s where YuJa came in.”
Integration
Integration With the Blackboard Learning Management System
When it was time to integrate the Video Platform with Blackboard, Cadena said the process was seamless. “It was easy. It took five minutes,” she shared.
Now, videos are easily accessible from within the courses and instructors have the ability to embed a video into a course or several courses at once. In addition, Cadena said instructors can share a link outside of the LMS. “It’s a big plus, which is why I’m encouraging departments around the college who create videos for other things aside from instruction, like for orientation, to use YuJa to edit, caption and share their videos.”
Centralized Video Platform
Instructors and Faculty Enjoy Having a Centralized Video Platform
In addition to captioning, instructors and faculty enjoy using YuJa’s features like video quizzing, which helps turn watching videos from a passive activity into an active one. “Having students engage with the video by asking questions or having them reflect on it can change the way students engage with that video content,” Cadena explained. “It’s a great teaching and learning tool for faculty and students.”
Instructors have also been intrigued by analytics, where they can see who watched a video and even for how long. They also like that they can freely record and store video without worrying about space restrictions. But perhaps the most helpful aspect of the Video Platform, Cadena shared, is that everything is in one place. “Giving faculty a tool — one tool where they can record, store, caption, edit instead of having to record in one tool, caption in another — having a one-stop shop is extremely helpful.”
Students Benefits
Students Benefit From Video Player Features that Promote Engagement
For students, Cadena said the Video Platform has provided them the same one-stop-shop where they can take notes, ask questions, see a transcript for a video and search indexes. “The ways in which the video player can support student learning is amazing,” she stated.
Cadena said the Video Platform plays a role in all classes, but is especially useful in online courses, which continue to be in high demand. “A lot of our students are non-traditional students. They’re working. They’re here part-time. We serve students across the county from one end of the county to the other. In some places there’s no easy transportation into the city limits,” she reflected, adding that the Video Platform helps serve those students. ”Online courses are a big selling point for a lot of our students who are working, who have kids, are in the military, and those kinds of things.”
Support
Support is Strong and Continuous
Cadena said she would “absolutely” recommend YuJa, which has been supportive and helpful from the demo to implementation of the Video Platform, and beyond.
“YuJa has been an amazing partner. It’s not just that the technology is great, but the people I’ve worked with at YuJa have been so nice, responsive, attentive, and willing to assist if we have questions,” Cadena concluded.
Highlights
Before adopting the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, El Paso Community College was using tools built for the corporate world that didn’t meet the needs of a higher-ed community.
02.
In addition to instruction, EPCC uses the Video Platform for virtual training videos that are shared both internally and externally.
03.
Ease of use and a simple integration process were a draw to the YuJa Video Platform, but continued innovation and a helpful team are some of the reasons for continued support of the Platform.
“YuJa has been an amazing partner. It’s not just that the technology is great, but the people I’ve worked with at YuJa have been so nice, responsive, attentive, and willing to assist if we have questions.”
Luz Cadena
Director of Distance Learning Support Services
El Paso Community College
