Adoption of new technologies in higher education must be approached with great care. While introducing a video management system to your education ecosystem  brings numerous benefits, you may be asking yourself, “How do I encourage faculty to use these tools to the fullest?” Faculty could be hesitant due to lack of time to learn a new technology or may already be juggling too many tools.

Faculty adoption may seem like a hurdle – but it doesn’t have to be. New technologies should make their jobs easier and create opportunities for faculty to strengthen  their existing teaching styles. 

Here are 5 steps to encouraging faculty buy-in when introducing a new VMS:

1. Demonstrate how a VMS can benefit their day-to-day priorities.
2. Share success stories from other peers and organizations.
3. Highlight new opportunities the technology brings.
4. Create a roll-out plan and consistently communicate it.
5. Gain trust through an early adoption program.

 

1. Demonstrate how a VMS can benefit their day-to-day priorities.

To address hesitations around implementing a VMS, start the process by focusing on the benefits these new technologies will bring. 

Benefits of a VMS in your educational technology ecosystem include:

Making your institution more competitive and supporting student enrollment.

Trends in higher education technology show that asynchronous education video content is going to be a key part of higher ed’s approach to more flexible and future-proof learning delivery moving forward.  Plus, to protect intellectual properties, Panopto’s video management system integrates with SSO ID management solutions as a number of LMS authentication systems for both desktop and mobile users to ensure all video content is secure and only available to those who have permissions.

An increase in learning outcomes, student satisfaction, and engagement. 

Panopto’s engagement analytics allow educators to dive deep into student insights, improving access to learning outcomes. Detailed reports on audience engagement and comprehensive insights into viewing behavior are available for every video.

Higher faculty satisfaction and productivity.

With streamlined workflows and automatically captured live sessions, Panopto easily integrates into any classroom experience and offers faculty the opportunity to increase productivity and satisfaction. Your VMS system should act as the central hub between any and every VC and LMS you might have. Through integrations, you can also add, create, and ingest video without any additional software, and without ever having to leave your LMS environment. You can use a recording device on-premise or in the cloud from any web browser or smartphone, and your videos are automatically uploaded to Panopto and shared with users.

 A flexible learning experience, making equitable learning accessible to all.

A VMS offers students the opportunity to learn at a pace that works the best for their needs. Through on-demand lecture videos, students are able to watch learning videos at convenient times, include captions for accessibility, and rewatch important videos while studying. In addition, if you are using Panopto as your VMS, searching through your entire video library is as easy as searching through your email. Panopto’s Smart Search feature uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to automatically index and time-stamp every word that’s spoken or displayed on-screen in 15 different languages.

 

2. Share success stories from other peers and organizations.

Drawing inspiration from other higher education institutions who have successfully implemented an ecosystem of learning technologies can help put worried minds at ease. Find case studies and testimonials of institutions who have found benefits to using these technologies to share with faculty. 

For example, the University of Arizona  embraced academic video with full force and has some impressive engagement numbers to show for it. Each week, Arizona’s faculty produces more than two terabytes of data. Over the course of the last year, their lecture capture totaled nearly 30 thousand hours of recorded content. Just as impressive is how students engage with all that material. In the last year, students at Arizona have viewed nearly 270,000 hours of video – studying for tests, catching up on classes, and owning their learning experience.

Another great example comes from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Thanks to Panopto implementation, UNLV increased accessible and flexible learning across the campus through HyFlex learning.  Panopto has helped UNLV expand its educational possibilities, from providing faculty with the capability to record lectures and easily upload them to Canvas, to helping students submit assignments, to utilizing Panopto to onboard new staff and host student orientations.

 

3. Highlight new opportunities the technology brings.

For some faculty, the idea of using new technologies can feel overwhelming and cloud their minds of the possibilities it can bring. Highlight unique and helpful features of different technologies within the ecosystem and showcase how the tools can fit into their specific teaching style.

While there are numerous opportunities to use video for education, some common examples include:

• HyFlex Learning. HyFlex teaching focuses on providing students with the most flexibility by giving them the option to choose from learning in-person, online synchronously or asynchronously.
• Flipped Classroom. “Flipping the classroom” is a popular movement to make greater use of face-to-face time within the classroom. In a classic flipped classroom model, educators pre-record a video lecture to be watched prior to classroom time, saving face-to-face learning for more engaging learning opportunities.
• Aiding Accessibility. Supporting students with special educational needs is more effective through a VMS. Along with simply making lecture recordings available for students to watch at their own pace, whether they need flexibility for work or a sickness or any other reason, Panopto also includes accessibility-focused features like configurable video captions, variable speed playback, and support for screen readers.
• Improving Instructional Design. Video analytics help instructors understand how students are using video and can use these insights to improve the classroom experience.

 

4. Create a roll-out plan and consistently communicate it.

Create an implementation plan to make sure faculty have access to training, timelines of the roll-out, and where to find support throughout the process. This plan might include detailed newsletters, adding the tool to training materials, and creating banners on your LMS and other educational ecosystem tools in the weeks before the change. This comprehensive campaign will ensure that everybody is well prepared and can modify their workflows as necessary.

Communication doesn’t end after launch, either. Provide support as faculty implement the new VMS and add the tool to their learning experience. Share updates to faculty on the success and value of your VMS and troubleshoot issues for those who may take a bit more time getting up to speed.

 

5. Gain trust through an early adoption program.

Peer-to-peer learning can be helpful when implementing new technologies to help showcase benefits and use cases from trusted colleagues. The early adoption program can also bring up general questions and gather feedback to ensure the technology will be successfully integrated into the education ecosystem. 

Invite members of leadership, such as department heads, to begin utilizing the new technology, such as a VMS system. Academic technologists might find a couple enthusiastic faculty members to be VMS advocates who can serve as inspiration for what’s possible with the tool and hold regular sessions sharing how they are using it, the value they’re getting, and answer any questions. This can normalize use of the tool and help get faculty imagining what’s possible.  These early adopters will help serve as influencers of the new technologies and showcase the benefits of having a VMS within the classroom ecosystem.

 

 

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