According to YouTube’s company statistics, almost 3.25 billion hours of video is watched on the platform each month. If this was 1987, imagine how many VHS tapes that would take.
1.26 billion 2-hour tapes, or 11.3 billion pounds of plastic, if you don’t want to do the math. That’s a lot of VHS tapes.
As time presses on, technology changes everything. It improves the way we live and work, and the way we learn. Taking advantage of new technology will help you, as a student, to create an engaging online learning experience, while also helping you to become more familiar and comfortable with new technological advances. Furthermore, learning any new technology can add another skill set to a growing résumé.
Being exposed to new kinds of technology and using this technology in an online course keeps you up-to-date in the digital age. It also helps you practice and apply important communication skills via multiple mediums, which adds value to the ever-changing workplace.
Regardless of the industry you are currently working in or the degree program you are studying, using relevant technology to effectively communicate is vital for any discipline. This is just one of the major reasons why the Center for Learning and Technology is excited to introduce Kaltura, a new video platform you may see in your upcoming courses at Thomas Edison State University.
What is Kaltura?
Kaltura is a leading online video platform that is fully integrated with Blackboard Open LMS, formerly known as Moodle, the University’s Learning Management System (LMS). Currently, there are three main ways Kaltura videos are integrated into online courses. A required activity in an online course may use the video platform in one or more of the following ways:
- Create a Vlog or Video via Media Upload or Webcam Recording: Vlogging (video blogging) or creating a video through a webcam recording is a great way to practice oral communication skills. It allows you to present findings, share perspectives and get in front of your peers. Kaltura makes it easy to record and submit a video in just a few clicks.
- Post a Video to an Online Discussion Forum: Traditionally, postings and responses to online discussion forums are completed through written expression and text. Students spend time drafting responses and replying to classmates all through text. Using Kaltura in an online discussion forum allows you to not only practice presentation skills, but it also helps to build a sense of community within the online classroom. Creating and posting a video helps you discover ways you can be creative with the course content and engage directly with other classmates with a more "face-to-face" feel to the classroom space.
- Create a Media Presentation or Screen Recording: Having the ability to record a voice over or produce a side-by-side video presentation demonstrating a PowerPoint or other visual is another great way you can practice your oral communication and technology skills in the online classroom. Kaltura will soon be upgrading this feature with an add-on extension combining recording, publishing and interactive viewing together to make uploading and selecting videos for assignments even easier.
Enjoy a sneak peek of the way you may see Kaltura being used in one of your upcoming online courses in this short highlight video and stay tuned for upcoming posts about more new technology!
