Is your school ready to deliver virtual learning in the event of a widespread closure from coronavirus? Do your administrators, instructors, and teachers have the tools needed to continue educating and keep your curriculum on track during an extended school or university shut down?
As of March 2, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported in nearly 70 countries and 10 US states*, with the threat of additional city and community-wide outbreaks looming. This has prompted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recommend that schools develop a plan of action for reducing the risk of introduction and spread of this highly communicable illness.
Administrators and educators can help by deploying common sense coronavirus prevention actions for students and staff, including emphasizing actions such as staying home when sick; appropriately covering coughs and sneezes; cleaning frequently touched surfaces; washing hands often; and creating communication plans for use with the school community.
Beyond that, schools are preparing for the possibility of short and long-term closures—and addressing the urgent need for remote education learning plans.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, concerns about coronavirus have already led officials in Hong Kong to institute a two-month school closure for the city’s 800,000 students, prompting many teachers and parents to make the switch to remote education and homeschooling. That way, students don’t have to miss their lessons: they can keep up with classwork and assignments online. And as of March 4, all schools and universities across the entire country of Italy are in a state of closure as the country combats a surge in coronavirus infections.
In the US, K-12 school districts and higher education institutions are looking for ways to seamlessly make the switch to online or video-based learning should their brick-and-mortar facilities close due to an outbreak. Fortunately, technology can help.
Here are five ways lecture capture and content management technology can streamline even the most complex traditional-to-remote learning program transitions.
1. Live streaming
Keep your students engaged and on track with classwork even though they’re learning remotely. Your video and content management platform’s HD-quality mobile or fixed-camera live streaming helps you establish a standardized, classroom-like experience in real-time that improves interaction and ensures all learners can participate at the same baseline.
2. Video recording
Remove geographical and technical barriers to experiential learning, wherever you’re creating and sharing video-based learning content. Your solution’s flexible video recording software optimizes the remote learning experience: simply and easily leverage the smart user interface to record, edit, and play HD-quality live video-based learning lecture sessions within any environment, or capture videos on the fly with the companion app suite.
3. Content management
Take your remote learning curriculum to the next level with robust content creation, editing, search, and management functionality. Consider how your integrated, all-in-one video content management and recording system lets you deploy a full complement of features optimized for remote education video and course management to combine audio, video, lecture content, and support resource materials.
4. Assessment and performance tracking
Educators understand the importance of monitoring learners’ retention and performance in real-time. Whether you’re teaching college or graduate-level online learners or k-12 homeschooling students, your video and course management solution makes it possible to leverage integrated quizzes and polls back to online learning course content and bookmarks, and automatically assess performance scores for individual students, courses, and classes.
5. LMS integration
Does your school or program use one or more learning management systems (LMS) to streamline courses and curricula? No problem! It’s easy to connect to an existing LMS with your enterprise lecture capture and content management solution. This technology empowers you to leverage LTI standards and integrate with virtually any LMS software on the market, including Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, Sakai, etc.
>> Need to prepare for a coronavirus school closure, or simply exploring your online learning technology options? Click here to discover MEDIASHAREiQ, the leading lecture capture and video management solution that facilitates synchronous and asynchronous online learning with next-generation technology. MEDIASHAREiQ combines an integrated cloud-based solution with a suite of easy to use companion apps that provide an extended feature set for remote and blended learning needs. Learners enjoy seamless accessibility, asset management, and on-demand delivery of interactive education and training content that extends well beyond traditional learning environments.
>> Need support for funding your online curriculum? EMS is offering a grant program to support our nation’s schools and universities in preparing for coronavirus closures. Find out how you can participate HERE.