DULLES, VA--(Marketwire - September 23, 2009) - Echo360, higher education's first choice for
allowing students to relive the classroom experience on demand, announced
that colleges and universities around the world are turning to its
industry-leading lecture capture platform to support learning and teaching
activities in preparation for emergencies, pandemics and other events that
result in the suspension of academic operations.
Lecture capture has traditionally been used as a review tool for students
to improve retention and mastery of their course materials. The
applications for lecture capture have expanded beyond the classroom to
support students with physical and learning disabilities, increase
institution enrollment via distance learning, capture student study groups,
and now, business continuity planning.
"Business continuity planning is a top priority for CIOs in higher
education. Tools like lecture capture give us an alternative that keeps our
students learning in the unfortunate circumstance that we need to suspend
some or all of NYU Stern's face-to-face teaching activities," said Anand
Padmanabahn, CIO of New York University Stern School of Business.
With the well-publicized concerns about a potential swine flu (H1N1 virus)
outbreak, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department
of Education have issued
guidance that calls
on institutions of higher education to "plan now for ways to continue
educating students who stay home through distance learning methods."(1)
Echo360 allows instructors to record lecture and other learning materials
on their personal computer from anywhere in the world. The recorded
content -- available to students as podcasts and rich media -- can be
viewed on computers and portable media devices. Used alone or alongside
other teaching technologies, Echo360 clients can quickly institute remote
learning options consistent with the government recommendations.
"By pairing lecture capture with our course management system, we have a
powerful, end-to-end method to create, publish and provide student access
to academic content in an interface already familiar to our faculty,"
Padmanabahn continues.
Academics interested in learning more about the use of lecture capture as
part of business continuity planning are invited to attend an educational
webinar titled "Thinking Ahead: Preparing for a Potential Swine Flu
Outbreak." The London School of Economics and Australia's Curtin
University will join Echo360 to discuss uses of lecture capture technology
as part of a comprehensive university response plan to swine flu and other
emergencies.
Date: October 1, 2009
Time: 11 AM Eastern Time
Speakers: Steve Ryan, Director, Centre for Learning Technology, LSE
Martin Hill, iLecture Systems Manager, Curtin University
Mark Jones, President, Echo360
To register for the webinar, which is hosted by "The Chronicle of Higher
Education," please visit
http://chronicle.com/webinars/echo360.
(1) Center for "Technical Report on CDC Guidance for Responses to Influenza
for Institutions of Higher Education during the 2009-2010 Academic Year";
Centers for Disease Control; Available at
www.flu.gov
About Echo360
Echo360,
http://www.echo360.com, envisions an opportunity for every student
to be freed from traditional barriers to learning with an on-demand
education experience. Full-time, part-time, distance, continuing, and
online all describe today's student living in a 24/7 world. On-demand media
and education converge at the newly formed Echo360, helping colleges and
universities engage students on the students' terms with full and unbounded
access to classroom-based content via multiplatform replay. Developed in
partnership with the University of Western Australia, Echo360 means
scalable and affordable lecture capture solutions that can provide
institutions of all sizes with universal availability of lecture content.
Contact Information: Press Contact
Mary Young
Echo360
Office: +1 703.948.3043
Mobile: +1 703.963.2467