Online Learning Consortium selects Panopto to expand video training
The nonprofit Online Learning Consortium, which offers training to thousands of education professionals around the globe each year, on Thursday announced a partnership with the video software company Panopto to bolster its asynchronous sessions.
OLC will use Panopto’s video management software, which records and catalogs video lectures and adds features, like captioning and search functions, to deliver professional development sessions and work for certificates. Panopto is used by many education institutions, including 9 out of 10 of U.S. News & World Report’s top-ranked universities.
Like many other organizational functions, professional development was also forced online by the coronavirus pandemic. Angela Gunder, chief academic officer for the Online Learning Consortium, said that along with developing live streaming for conferences and workshops, the organization wanted to make its recorded content more engaging and interactive, which it plans to do with Panopto’s software.
Panopto integrates with videoconferencing tools like Zoom to add features features such as simultaneously displaying video speakers and their presentations, as well as a discussion box for students. When a training session is recorded, it goes into a video content management system, where users can search and filter for videos.
“We’re moving into more discussion about how can we be really good about using time, particularly with learners that might have real challenges with with meeting synchronously but can still engage and be successful if we’re looking at a lot of different techniques and effective practices for using this instructional learning technology in digital learning environments that are equitable and inclusive,” Gunder said.
Gunder said one of the applications that the OLC wants to explore with Panopto is post-conference engagement. After conferences, participants are often considering big ideas and holding discussions, but must return to work. Through Panopto, all videos from a conference will be available online, and people who missed a session or the conference itself can watch everything online, she said.
“People that might not have been in the room for the live session, they can go back and leave their ideas and their reflections and you can interact and continue to engage after that experience,” Gunder said.
