Echo360 Announces Groundbreaking Active Learning Platform to Help Colleges and Universities Improve Learning Outcomes

DULLES, VA--(Marketwired - September 30, 2014) - Echo360, the global leader in active learning and distance learning solutions, today announced the availability of the Active Learning Platform. It is the first cloud-based academic technology platform engineered to elevate student performance in the classroom and improve learning outcomes through enhanced learning analytics. The Active Learning Platform provides instructors and institutions with an unprecedented view of student activity both inside and outside the classroom using comprehensive dashboards. The platform is the first of it kind to combine advanced lecture capture, content management and student engagement technologies with robust learning analytics in a single technology solution.

The Active Learning Platform helps instructors teach more effectively with real-time analytics on student engagement, comprehension and study habits. Instructors can use the data to identify at-risk students and help improve individual student performance. Institutions can use aggregated data to help increase retention and graduation rates. Students use the Active Learning Platform to confidently master course material with 24/7 access to content and personalized study guides.

The Active Learning Platform integrates multiple proven education technology components in one cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution with guaranteed uptime and reliability:

• Advanced Lecture Capture: Institutions have a scalable, reliable and flexible way to create live and on-demand video events using Echo360 market-leading lecture capture capabilities, including classroom capture software, personal capture software and the SafeCapture HD hardware capture appliance. It is seamless for instructors to capture everything that happens in the classroom, and sessions are automatically shared with students in an HTML5 online learning environment.
• Student Engagement: Instructors can integrate polls, quizzes and other activities into their presentations to make the traditional lecture more interactive. Instructors using these methods have seen student participation increase to as high as 89-99 percent of their class¹. Students can also take notes, respond in real time and mark important or confusing content, using their laptops and mobile devices. Questions can be asked anonymously to avoid potentially embarrassing criticism from peers. Student activity is automatically compiled into a personalized study guide, contextually linked to recorded class sessions.
• Content Management: Instructors can easily manage presentations, videos and documents through an instructional content management system called the Learning Library. The library integrates educational content and creates learner analytics collected throughout the teaching and learning lifecycle. Easy to use archive capabilities and share/publish functions give instructors complete control over their teaching materials.
• Learning Analytics: The Active Learning Platform captures rich, real-time behavioral data on class attendance and participation as well as results from quizzes and polls, lecture capture usage, time spent studying and more. The solution delivers intuitive dashboards and reports to instructors so they can identify at-risk students and intervene to help students before exam time. Administrators can view aggregated academic performance data to develop effective strategies to improve student retention and graduation rates.

"Education institutions are modernizing the classroom but haven't had access to an fully integrated platform that creates actionable student data to improve learning outcomes," said Fred Singer, CEO of Echo360. "The Active Learning Platform combines the best of teaching and learning solutions and delivers a level of learning intelligence never before available."

The Echo360 Active Learning Platform is available now. Attendees of the Educause Conference, September 30 -- October 2, can visit Echo360 booth #1031 for a complete demonstration. For more information on the Echo360 Active Learning Platform, visit the Echo360 website.

1 = Montpetit.C, University of Ottawa.

About Echo360:
Over 2M students in 8,000 classrooms at 600 institutions across 30 countries rely on Echo360 active learning technology to enhance their educational experience before, during and after class. Developed for educators by educators, Echo360 increases in-class participation with digital polling, provides a rich out-of-class experience by recording and publishing course instruction and delivers deep usage analytics to help instructors respond to student needs. Students revisit lectures, collaborate with peers and participate in class on smartphones, tablets and laptops, wherever, whenever they choose. Echo360 was recognized with the Product Line Strategy of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan, is CSIA-certified for outstanding customer service and was named a Visionary Vendor in Educational Technology by IT research firm Basex. Echo360 is backed by Revolution Growth led by Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis.

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