Skyline College
The Challenge
Skyline College is one of three comprehensive community colleges in the San Mateo County Community College District with more than 100 degree and certificate programs and an annual population of over 17,000 students.
In March 2020, Skyline College was already in the process of reassessing the technology stack offered within the classroom and finding the best way budget can be used for the benefit of students and faculty. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, though, the need for new technologies increased rapidly with the shift to online learning.
The Solution
SMCCCD selected Panopto to deliver the video recording and asset management flexibility faculty needed when making the shift from a primarily in-person classroom experience to remote learning. To support faculty in this rapid transition, the Academic Support and Learning Technologies teams across the district launched a Quality Online Teaching and Learning course for faculty and staff that included learning about and engaging with Panopto and how to incorporate it into their existing teaching style and use it to support their curriculum in remote, in-person, and hybrid contexts.
Over the course of the next four months, more than 675 faculty became certified through the Quality Online Teaching and Learning course offered by the three SMCCCD colleges. This course focused on basic pedagogy and learning management system usage, giving faculty the foundation they needed to return to the classroom and successfully use the available technology.
By the time the fall 2020 semester started, all faculty were prepped and ready to implement new technologies in the classroom experience.
The Impact
Panopto’s ease of use and integration with the Canvas learning management system offered faculty at Skyline College and its sister campuses the confidence they needed to make the shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and adopt new, hybrid approaches as students returned to the classroom in the semesters to come.
Even disciplines that historically did not utilize remote teaching technology are able to explore new possibilities with Panopto. For example, a music theory and composition class at Skyline College used data from Panopto’s video analytics reports to see where students were stopping or rewatching instructional videos. This information allowed the faculty member to dedicate time to supplement the lesson with additional information and increase student outcomes.
The Future
Today, faculty at Skyline College are using Panopto in a more advanced manner, moving beyond creating and sharing learning videos to gaining a more robust view into how students are interacting with information.
“Video viewer data within the Panopto platform allows faculty to ask, ‘Is there a certain space where students normally drop off? Is there something in a class where students are struggling and they continue to go back to that particular piece of lecture? And how do we address these things?’” shares Rolin Moe, Dean of Academic Support and Learning Technologies.
Faculty at Skyline College now have a desire for more student data with the implementation of Panopto, increasing the effectiveness of pedagogical conversations. Student data allows faculty to improve courses and increase student engagement and learning outcomes. Even as students are returning to an in-person classroom experience, faculty still use Panopto and other learning technologies to expand their teaching capabilities.