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Effective Online Learning with Ensemble Video

By on March 13, 2020
effective online learning

A trend toward powerful online learning experiences has been gathering momentum for some time, and the latest shot in the arm from the coronavirus (COVID-19) is set to stimulate another big leap in online learning for many schools, universities and businesses. Video should be central to any online learning strategy, as it provides a necessary and engaging human touch that is just not possible with notes, documents and other media. Used properly video can inform, engage and inspire, and facilitate much-needed and very human communication on an ongoing basis.

Lecture Capture and Online Class Recordings Should be Just the Beginning

It is attractive for many new to online learning to think in terms of what we do now in the conventional classroom or training room, and try to use video to replicate that experience. That means recording lectures and putting them online, or simply moving scheduled classes from classroom to a Web conferencing platform like Zoom or WebEx where they  Ensemble Video can facilitate that effort in a variety of ways.
zoom and webex integrations

With the Ensemble Video Zoom and WebEx integrations, synchronous online classes can be recorded and automatically populate a video playlist available in an LMS or other platform like Sharepoint or WordPress.  With Ensemble Studio and lecture capture hardware it is easy to record course content directly from a classroom, and this type of lecture capture is already common among many Ensemble Video customers. While this can be very useful, lecture capture and synchronous class meetings are not the most effective online learning tools. With Ensemble Video, there is much more that can be done, very easily, to thread video interaction into an online course for a vastly improved learning experience.

Additional Video Tools and Interactions are Crucial

Recording traditional lectures is easy and obvious, but the end result is a terabytes of of long-form content which is not effective or engaging, especially considering the capabilities of today’s video technologies. In many cases these long lectures become tedious and boring to students and employees, creating a negative reaction rather than a positive, engaging reaction. It is well known that individuals respond better to shorter form Web video consumption, so offering “video snacks” or “video snippets” that students and employees can quickly consume, rather than long form lectures, is crucial to the success of a video strategy. Additionally, synchronous classroom sessions offer limited learning opportunities, especially considering that some students or employees may not be able to attend in real time.

Bored Student on Laptop


Ensemble Video offers capabilities well beyond lecture capture or integration with synchronous Web conferencing platforms that can facilitate and stimulate online learning using the power of video-on-demand, video quizzes and video assignments.

 

Instructor Created Content

Ensemble Video offers effective, easy-to-use tools instructors can use to create and share more digestible “video snacks” that can be used to share ideas and information and reinforce crucial learning outcomes. In a matter of minutes an instructor can record a short form video or screencast using the FREE Ensemble Video Chrome Recorder or the more capable Ensemble Anthem desktop recording application, which enables drawing, text notes, trimming and chopping. Ensemble Anthem Pro can be used in classrooms and auditoriums for traditional software Lecture Capture.

Ensemble Anthem Screen Capture

 

The Ensemble Video Mobile App enables instructors to create video content on the go, for easy and timely video additions to any course. Once recorded the content can be seamlessly added to wherever students or employees are accessing course or training content. Instructors can use video-on-demand content to answer common questions, reach out to individual students with custom video explanations that can be easier to create than a long email or discussion forum post. Creating “video snacks” to engage and stimulate learners, offer insights and feedback, can help deliver interesting and effective learning experience, compared to long form lectures that include a talking head and slide deck. Finally, creating short and focused videos takes less time and effort!

Use Student Generated Content

Active learning techniques have proven to be far more effective for some learners than traditional teaching and learning activities. Video can be used to enable active learning where students create and present their ideas to a class for discussion. With the Ensemble Video Assignment Dropbox, students can submit video projects to instructor and the assignment will automatically be populated in the LMS gradebook or made available to the entire class. The Ensemble Video Assignment Dropbox integrates directly with the Ensemble Video Chrome Extension and the Ensemble Video mobile app to make it easy for students to create and submit video. Educators don’t need to worry about creating accounts for students, they just create the assignment and grade the submissions. Student exemplars can be published or kept private, at the discretion of the instructor.

Ensemble Video App Preview

Enable Useful Navigation Within Long Form Video Content

Providing access to a video is nice, but providing ability for remote learners to mine that video for content is better. With Ensemble Video you can easily caption video content and make it searchable so with the Ensemble Video Interactive Transcript so students and employees can navigate directly to relevant time points in a video. This is especially useful for long form lecture capture content or recorded class sessions. Likewise, the Ensemble Video Annotations feature can enable navigable chapter points in a video to lead remote learners to specific points in a video where key learning takeaways occur.

Use Video Quizzes to Measure and Reinforce Learning

The best remote video learning experiences include active components, and the Ensemble Video Quiz capability enables instructors to easily create a video quiz to measure and reinforce learning. Quiz results can automatically populate an LMS gradebook or they can be viewed in Ensemble Video. Combine this with the Student generated dropbox capability and instructors can ensure students are working actively on their end to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Finally, many students prefer creating video content and taking video quizzes over traditional forms of assessment.

ensemble-video-quiz-question

Build an Engaging Content Library

The most effective online instructors will build a library of online materials that students can browse over time to glean insights and obtain learning outcomes whenever and wherever they are online. This 24×7 resource extends learning well beyond the confines of long form lecture capture or classroom Web conference recordings. With the Ensemble Video Portal feature, instructors can easily build a video viewing portal where students can browse by subject, and where new videos can be featured. The portal enables customized colorful branding which provides a more satisfying user experience.

Of course Institutions can also build engaging online portals that a mix of public and private content. The content can be organized by subject “channels” and portal administrators can turn comments on for asynchronous communication around specific videos.

Ensemble Video Portal

When publishing to an LMS, instructors can use Ensemble Video playlists to customize access sand navigation to on-demand video assets. There are simple grid and list formats, some playlists can include a featured video, and a showcase option is available as well that takes advantage of playlist categories. There is also a looping playlist for those who may want to pull together a set of short form videos for continuous playback. Students respond well to engaging user interface design, and Ensemble Video playlist publishing offers easy, customizable playlist configurations that remote learners will find useful and pleasing.

Don’t Forget Access to Licensed or Copyrighted Library Material

Online learning is not complete without leveraging content created by various authors and agencies that is procured and maintained by an on-campus library. Many Ensemble Video customers use the Ensemble Video Restricted Streaming feature and/or IP address security to enable access to this content for online learners. This can be provided to instructors so they can add to their individual course libraries, or provided via a library maintained portal. Video is central to your online learning strategy and Ensemble Video can help you grow beyond old fashioned lecture capture.  Our video platform helps you stimulate online learning using the power of video-on-demand, video quizzes and video assignments.

 Are you ready to deliver effective and powerful learning experiences with short and focused video content? 

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