University of Santo Tomas
Achievements
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Supports the learning requirements of 45,000 students
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Analytics assisted UST in making data-driven decisions
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Video tools enabled UST to improve its operations
The Challenge
Founded in 1611, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is one of the world’s largest Catholic universities based on enrollment. UST has a strong reputation that continues to grow – it is currently recognized as an Autonomous University by the Commission on Higher Education, allowing it to execute pioneering programs with reduced government regulation.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the university had to move everyone online, resulting in the need to implement new strategies that would support the redesign of class materials, instruction, and assessments. In addition, the unreliable internet connection in the Philippines meant that students faced a disadvantage at times when trying to access online learning material.
The Solution
With the shift to remote instruction, UST implemented Panopto as a tool to provide interactive, accessible, and engaging asynchronous learning experiences through video.
“We introduced Panopto as our newest tool in the university cloud campus and we highlighted its key features – recording our live sessions [and] synching it to our learning management system for later viewing,” says Shane Alexander Laong, Team Leader – Training, UST.
“Panopto arrived at the time when we were needing it the most.”
The Impact
As a result of the new blended learning approach, UST was able to integrate a range of teaching and learning strategies that adapted to both the needs of the students and academic staff. The impact has been profound – from providing a secure environment to record videos to offering asynchronous solutions to maximize engagement and feedback, ensuring students with a limited internet connection are not being left behind.
“For the asynchronous sessions, using Panopto we can curate videos, we can edit videos, we can record them as additional learning materials so that the students will be able to know more about the topics, even the tasks, for this subject matter,” says Mena Angela M. Olivero, eLearning Specialist, UST Senior High School.
Looking to the future, UST envisions teaching and learning will be blended, while the adoption of more video-based learning materials will help students adapt to the new normal.
“We’re thankful to Panopto for our partnership and we hope that these services will continue to improve our student’s experience in the future,” says professor Cheryl R. Peralta, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, UST.