Exciting new technology to enhance teaching and learning options is being rolled out across campus, and the project team is inviting instructors to get involved.

The University will be piloting Echo360 lecture capturing tools and Lecture Tools student engagement platform as part of one of the recent Productivity and Innovation Fund grants awarded to the University by the Ministry of Training, Universities and Colleges.

These tools engage students in deep learning both in and outside the class, through digital polling, rich media recordings of instruction, and social learning opportunities, says Nick Baker, acting director of open learning. The tools also provide instructors with deep usage analytics to help them understand student progress.

“We are very excited about the possibilities these new tools provide in enhancing the student learning experience,” Baker says. “Echo360 will significantly enhance our blended and online teaching and learning capabilities, and allow us to provide things that instructors and students have long been asking for. The platform is used by 6 million students in 600 institutions around the world, and has become the cornerstone of many thousands of flipped, blended and online classes.”

Echo360 active learning technology allows students to watch and engage with lectures wherever they have access to the internet, on any web-enabled device. They can participate in class via their mobile devices, responding to and asking questions, and collaborate with their peers.

As part of the University’s commitment to expanding hybrid learning opportunities, and the rollout of this new technology, the Office of Open Learning and the Centre for Teaching and Learning will facilitate a two-day Blended Learning and Teaching Course Design Institute. This event will provide instructors with the theoretical and practical basis for designing and implementing their own blended learning.

The Institute is designed with flexibility in mind, with the first day focusing on the theoretical and practical elements of planning a blended course, and day two focused on a hands-on introduction to some of the exciting new tools that will soon be available to instructors at Windsor.

Perry Samson, internationally recognized active learning educator and creator of Lecture Tools, will facilitate a session on active learning and engagement in the classroom starting at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 19.

The Blended Learning and Teaching Course Design Institute runs for two days on February 18 and 19. To register, and for more information on the sessions available, please go to http://ctl2.uwindsor.ca/openlearning/workshops/3/.

If you are interested in learning more about blended, hybrid and flipped teaching and learning, please contact Baker in the Office of Open Learning at nbaker@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext. 4925.