Eastern New Mexico University

Eastern New Mexico University uses Mediasite lecture capture by Sonic Foundry for flipped classroom, hybrid classes and dual enrollment. ENMU is the third largest university in the state, covering a particularly large geographical area. The university wanted to make education accessible to the region’s traditional, non-traditional and high school dual enrollment students. 

Many of ENMU’s non-traditional students have children, work full-time and live in rural communities. Armed with a Title V grant, ENMU created a plan to support graduate programs and other key academic initiatives with Mediasite as the central educational technology. It went from pilot to full-scale, campus-wide deployment in less than 12 months.  

Of the roughly 6,000 ENMU students during the fall 2012 semester, over 4,300 took at least one online course via Mediasite, and more than 200 of those took their courses entirely online with live webcasts of lectures. Mediasite makes education accessible at ENMU and provides the support and warmth that students in a traditional classroom setting have. It provides the convenience of the traditional classroom but with no geographical boundaries. 

At a glance

• ENMU is located in Portales, NM, and is the third largest university in the state, covering a large geographical rural region.
• Many of ENMU’s non-traditional students have children, work full-time and live in rural communities and are unable to live on campus or commute each day. 
• With a Title V grant the university created a plan to support graduate programs and other key academic initiatives with Mediasite and went from pilot to full-scale, campus-wide deployment in less than 12 months. 
• During the fall semester, 4,341 of the roughly 6,000 ENMU students took at least one online course via Mediasite, and more than 200 of those took their courses entirely online with live webcasts of lectures. 
• ENMU has five dedicated lecture capture rooms and it also uses Mediasite to record events outside of the classroom.
• In addition to distance learning, ENMU uses Mediasite for a flipped instruction pilot, hybrid classes, asynchronous distance learning, helping high school students earn college credits and recording special events. 
• Mediasite provides ENMU distance students the best of both worlds – the convenience of the traditional classroom but with no geographical boundaries. 

Challenge

Eastern New Mexico University is the third largest university in the state and covers a very large geographical region. The area is so vast and rural that it is a barrier for many of the campus’ non-traditional students. Over 40 percent of the current student body is non-traditional, meaning over the age of 25, and many have children, work full-time and live in rural communities. 

The university needed a way to make education accessible to those students and make it convenient and as close to the classroom experience as possible. 

Solution

With a Title V grant, ENMU created a plan to support graduate programs and other key academic initiatives with Mediasite as the central educational technology. It went from pilot to full-scale, campus-wide deployment in less than 12 months. 

ENMU has five dedicated lecture capture rooms and it also uses Mediasite to record events outside the classroom. 

“With Mediasite we make education accessible. Considering we’re in New Mexico, a lot of our students live in rural communities, and Mediasite helps us reach out to them and provide that support and that warmth, the things they’re used to having in a traditional classroom setting. It bridges the gap,” said Curriculum Development Specialist Roy Marquez. “Mediasite is a great way to provide the best of both worlds – the convenience of the traditional classroom but with no geographical boundaries.” 

Prior to using Mediasite, the university used a system that required distance students to drive to a site to watch video of a transmitted class. 

“We were looking for a way to reach people where they were and still have the ability to interact with them,” said Linda Weems, Graduate Dean. “With Mediasite, students can see faculty in real time. There’s a way to ask questions. They can see our PowerPoints, our DVDs. Plus we’ve been able to increase the courses and programs that we offer online.” 

Results

Of the roughly 6,000 ENMU students during the fall 2012 semester, 4,341 took at least one online course via Mediasite, and more than 200 of those took their courses entirely online with live webcasts of lectures. 

“Mediasite technology has greatly improved the pedagogy of online, hybrid and even face-to-face classes. High quality, user-friendly lecture capture means that students can tune in live or later to the actual teaching presence of our best professors,” said Mary Fanelli Ayala, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Face-to-face students can ‘attend’ when they’re sick without sharing the latest bug with the whole class, and everyone can review lectures and explanations before a test.” 

In addition to distance learning, ENMU uses Mediasite for other groundbreaking higher education initiatives, including:

• Facilitating a flipped instruction pilot. Faculty are pre-recording their lectures for students to watch prior to class, leaving class time dedicated to dynamic discussions and interactions. 
• Creating hybrid classes. Students in the classrooms and online interact simultaneously via live webcasts of the lecture.
• Branching out into asynchronous distance learning. This occurs when the teacher and students interact in different places at different times. 
• Helping high school students earn college credits. New Mexico’s Dual Enrollment program allows high school students to take college classes, either on campus or online, to earn high school and college credit. 
• Recording special events and guest speakers. The campus provides professional development online, connects alumni and more. 

“We’re just having so much fun with Mediasite. Our college is thrilled about the way Mediasite allows us to reach more and more distance students without having to give up a lot of the traditional feel of the classroom,” Fanelli Ayala said. “For many of our professors this gives them a much better option than the traditional text-based flat online class that has no video or audio component. Mediasite lets our professors do what they do best which is teaching in front of students even though they are far away.” 

About ENMU

Eastern New Mexico University is the largest regional comprehensive university with a four-year campus in Portales and two-year campuses in Roswell and Ruidoso.