Colorado Technical University – Sioux Falls Enhances Student Learning with Blackboard and Tegrity
As a leading technical university, Colorado Technical University (CTU) must ensure that students are equipped with the latest knowledge and tools to succeed. By seamlessly integrating Tegrity® Campus enterprise software into the Blackboard Learning System™, they’re doing just that.
CTU serves approximately 1,200 students (growing over 100% in five years), with a combination of non-traditional and traditional learners. CTU recently upgraded to Blackboard Academic Suite™ v.6.3 (soon to upgrade to v.7) and have nearly 100% deployment with full-time and adjunct faculty. The Tegrity Campus enterprise software seamlessly integrates with Blackboard, and includes a Blackboard Building Block™. Tegrity software enables institutions to automatically capture, store and index every class on campus for later replay by every student. The on-demand content is automatically made accessible through Blackboard on any computer, and is now available on iPods™ as well. Each podcast is automatically indexed and enhanced with instructor audio, slides and annotations from class, making it much more engaging than audio-only podcasts.
Automatically Creating Podcasts From Classes
Tegrity Podcast setup starts at the beginning of the semester as the Tegrity Campus Blackboard Building Block adds a podcast subscription button in every Blackboard course and sends a personalized e-mail to students with a one-click link for subscribing to their podcasts using iTunes™.
During class, instructors press one button to start and stop recording and the software automatically creates visual podcasts broken down by chapter, that are automatically uploaded after class to the right place on the Tegrity Server. The Tegrity Campus Blackboard Building Block component uses information already available in the Blackboard Learning System to automatically catalogue the recordings by course. While listening to their podcasts, students can easily navigate to specific parts (chapters) of their class and get right to the information they need. Blackboard administrators and other stakeholders in the institution can use the Tegrity Campus governance component to track usage, observing how students effortlessly take advantage of more instruction hours without burdening institution staff.
According to CTU President Vicki Strunk, “Student retention has improved among adult students taking hybrid courses, because Tegrity enriches the online component to keep them engaged. And with more flexible scheduling, students can also take more classes per quarter and graduate earlier.” Strunk adds, “Students today are more technically astute than they used to be, and when they choose a school for an advanced degree they expect an effective, up-to-date learning environment, plus the flexibility to balance education with their busy lives. Blackboard, Tegrity and Gateway™ Tablet PCs are critical components in meeting those expectations.”
“We weren’t looking to solve a specific problem when we adopted Tegrity’s enterprise software,” said Tim Maifeld, CTU’s Chair of Computer Science and Director of Instructional Technology, “But we saw an opportunity to implement an exciting technology that enhances student learning. Anything we do, from Blackboard to our campus-wide Tablet PC program, must align with that mission.”
(Read press release)
Enroll in a free Blackboard/Tegrity-sponsored webinar on February 15th at 1:00 pm EDT featuring Colorado Tech and El Centro College. A NEW Video iPod will be given away in a random drawing at the end of the session!
At BbWorld ‘06 - Visit Silver Sponsor Tegrity in Booth #203.