Case study
How Texas State Technical College Leverages the YuJa Video Platform’s Robust Features to Improve the Educational Experience Campuswide
Introduction
Texas State Technical College Seeks Alternative Video Platform
With 10 campuses throughout the state and more than 11,000 students, Texas State Technical College (TSTC) is Texas’s only multicampus technical college. In 2022, institutional leaders were seeking a replacement solution for another product that sunset its enterprise education video hosting platform.
55+
Programs
11,000+
Students
1965
Founded
10
Locations
A joint committee comprised of several departments began reviewing alternate platforms and learned about the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform through a request for proposal process. “YuJa was a good option. It looked like it would suit our needs, and it really has,” said Sam Rodgers, Lead Software Implementation Specialist.
About the College
About Texas State Technical College System
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.
“Initially, one of the features that drew me into YuJa was that it is much easier and smoother to share files across departments and with faculty.”
Getting Started
YuJa Eased the Migration and Integration Burden
The migration to the Video Platform went smoothly using LTI 1.3. “Transitioning to YuJa was easy and smooth. The account representatives helped every step of the way,” Rodgers said.
Michael Dones, an Instructional Designer III at the institution said that from an IT perspective, the integration is deeper than with other platforms and they found you could do more inside the Canvas Learning Management System than with the previous platform. YuJa also “eased the burden” of having users enter through multiple entry points, and linking attributes is simple.
“In our previous platform, video sharing and folder sharing was limited. It wasn’t conducive to trying to unify content,” Dones added. “Initially, one of the features that drew me into YuJa was that it is much easier and smoother to share files across departments and with faculty.”
Use Cases
YuJa Improves Teaching and Learning Experience
The Video Platform is used at the institution in many ways, including for web capture, recording lectures, uploading videos, and creating video assignments. Auto-captioning, a feature that was not offered with the institution’s previous product, “has saved many hours of work,” Rodgers said. “Users can also search through transcripts and captions, which makes finding things easy.”
Some instructors create their own videos, while others lean on the instructional design team to help create content. Instructors have found that embedding quizzes helps with informal assessment before an exam, and increases interaction in the course. “Students can have a presence in a course, even though they may not be on the same campus,” Dones stated.
Rodgers noted that last fall, his team worked with the disabilities department to get sign language interpretation, which required merging two video streams so students could use picture in picture, see sign language, and arrange their video feeds so they can see the sign language interpretations.
Course Consistency
The YuJa Video Platform will Help Create Consistency in Courses
Rodgers added that courses are now performance-based, which is a new methodology being standardized throughout the state. “We wanted some consistency, so we brought together designers and experts to help determine how to deliver consistency across campus,” he said. “Faculty are using the capabilities of YuJa to guide students through files and resources they’re offering, which also provides more interaction between students and faculty.”
The Platform’s tools are easy to use, no matter your level of experience, Dones and Rodgers said. “We’ve had training for faculty and designers. The ease of use makes it so anyone who wants to can catch on quickly and use the platform how they’d like,” Doones shared. “There’s a good variation between advanced and novice uses. You have a basic set of tools, but if you want or need more advanced tools, they’re available to you.”
Both Rodgers and Dones said they’re excited about additional ways YuJa can be used at Texas State Technical College as they continue using the Video Platform.
Highlights
Texas State Technical College transitioned to YuJa after its previous video platform vendor sunset its educational offering.
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The Video Platform is used widely by both the instructional design team and instructors at TSTC.
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TSTC leaders leaned on the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform to help create consistency in courses as they developed and launched a performance-based methodology.
“Transitioning to YuJa was easy and smooth. The account representatives helped every step of the way.”
– Sam Rodgers, Lead Software Implementation Specialist, Texas State Technical College
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