University of Exeter Deploys Echo360 as Part of Institution's Blended Learning Culture

LONDON--(Marketwire - May 2, 2012) - Echo360, the global leader in campus-wide blended learning and lecture capture solutions, is being integrated into the curriculum at the University of Exeter, as part of the University's progressive technology-enhanced learning strategy. The institution has attained a solid reputation as a destination university and seeks to further boost levels of student satisfaction by answering the student demand for the latest in learning technology. The announcement was made from the 5^th Annual Echo360 European Community Conference going on today.

The University deployed Echo360 after completing a successful pilot program in 2008 and has documented a dramatic rise in the total number of recording views per week over the past four years. During the pilot, students viewed 4,000 recordings during the 2008-2009 academic year. Accelerating student usage propelled the number of views to nearly 12,000 during a one-week period in 2010-2011.

"We are listening to the student views and answering this by putting in place the technology that they value," said Matthew Newcombe, Head of e-Learning at the University of Exeter. "The ultimate benefit of this technology is its low impact on the academic combined with its role as an accepted technology for students."

Lectures are being captured across all of the university's disciplines and categorized in EchoCenter, and then the recordings are embedded into the Moodle VLE. Analytics have shown a distinct trend in increased recording views by students prior to assessment, evidence that they are using the recordings as a key component in the review process.

Academics are not only capturing lectures to better prepare students for assessment, but are also pre-recording content for student review prior to class. "Echo360 can support academics' delivery of lectures and the way they interact with students inside the live lecture environment. The ability to record material for review prior to class can allow more time for questions and discussion of more complex issues during allotted class time," said Newcombe.

"Technology is simply a 'must-have' in the eyes of today's student," said Fred Singer, CEO of Echo360. "In successfully adopting blended learning technology as the norm, The University of Exeter is answering their students' heightened expectations for universal access to online learning tools."

In response to ever-increasing demand on the part of both students and academics, plans are underway to expand the blended learning technology to additional classrooms and newly constructed buildings this summer.

About Echo360
As a global leader in blended learning and lecture capture products, Echo360 helps higher education institutions keep pace with modern students' learning needs through products that digitally record and upload learning content. Echo360 has been recognized with a Product Line Strategy of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan and named a Visionary Vendor in Educational Technology by IT research firm Basex. Echo360's products facilitate better instruction for large collections of students, lower costs and enrich learning experiences by enabling students to easily access and share multimedia content. Through Echo360's platform, students can replay recorded sessions and review information from instructors online; at their convenience and across various devices. Echo360's products are used by 500 institutions in 28 countries.