In the past five years, many Higher Educations Institutions have chosen a platform to facilitate the live delivery or recording of their synchronous online classes. The platforms used have a rich feature-set including delivering Powerpoint presentations, lecturer webcam, live chat with participants and a host of other pods to share content in diverse ways. In the same time user’s expectations of online content quality has changed with users enjoying high definition, 4K Resolution, studio production and video on demand.
At the same time, users can consume high quality online content produced to professional studio standards, delivered in High Definition or 4K Resolutions and enjoyed on demand in a time and place that suits them.
Higher Education has been challenged to evolve their online delivery capabilities to keep up with these expectations. This presentation critically evaluates the experience of Waterford Institute of Technology in using Adobe Connect in the delivery of the Higher Diploma in Computer Science. The aim of this pilot programme was to identify best practice, improve the learning experience and maximise the quality of the online classroom experience. This programme was chosen because of the enthusiasm and skill set of the lecturers involved. The students were also technically savvy and open to using new tools and technologies.
The presenters will present the results of their investigation of the suitably of an online delivery platform in the following areas:
- Maintaining student's focus and engagement
- Redesigning content specifically for online delivery
- Creating asynchronous content
- Video and audio quality
- Lighting and backdrops/green screens
This presentation explores the journey to improve the experience and quality of content delivery from its rudimentary beginnings to high definition streams. The methods used to optimise Adobe Connect are presented along with the reasons why the pilot programme outgrew the platform.
