Class for Web vs. Kaltura Virtual Classroom vs. LearnCube

I would say it is very useful for group collaborations online, as well as virtual classrooms where you wish your students/guests to collaborate in an adaptable environment; however I would advise against using the shared screen to display audio or video, nor would I encourage the use of the shared board with a group of people with disciplinary issues (as there is no accountability for who wrote/drew what).

Incentivized

Streaming Live content Organisation of content Selling content Authentication Containerisation Its good for receiving files into drop folders where clients can access to have it picked up by one of eight batch processes. We have the software, installed across 8 instances. This then extracts the media and pushes it through the Newrow, from Kaltura transcoding which will give us different flavours of video output files. It isn't very good for upscaling and really needs dedicated resource. It also doesn't upscale content.

Incentivized

• The Whiteboard feature is perfect for tutoring. We use it to write out formulas, draw diagrams, etc while in video chat to enhance explanations.
• The file attachment feature is also very handy. This means we don't have to do a follow-up with a student using their email to send files of handouts, etc.
• It's great that we only have to share a classroom access link for a student to enter a session. With other products, they had to set up a username and log-in with an account. Link access means 1 less hassle.
• We are currently beginning to use the "record session" feature video sessions to use as training for new employees.

Incentivized

• consistent video environment.
• share videos across platforms and also have a Netfilx style of content.
• Asynchronus recording feature over MS stream.

Incentivized

• Some of the newest computer high resolution screens are not as compatible with the interface. The font and windows are much smaller and the user is not able to increase the size of the windows to make it easier to read/navigate.
• The audio can sometimes be inconsistent and tune in and out when someone is speaking. This is not every time though and many times the audio is clear.
• The login process takes a bit longer to get into the program. You have to go through a few step process and loading time to get into the application.

Incentivized

• More authentication options
• containerisation
• more output formats
• Faster processing

Incentivized

It is a tool that faculty likes to use. It has so much flexibility to allow students to see a class even if they happen to not be available in the classroom.

Incentivized

Blackboard Collaborate is reliable and feature-rich. It's a great web conferencing tool for teaching & learning, offering polls, chat, video and audio, whiteboard, content sharing, and breakout rooms. Blackboard Collaborate can be used for virtual office hours, lectures, guest speakers, training, professional development, conferences, technical support, academic advising, and so much more. Blackboard Collaborate can be used separately from the learning management system or it can be integrated for a single sign-on experience. It supports recordings, playbacks, private sharing, and MP4 downloads. Overall, it's a solid tool and very reliable.

Incentivized

The availability of the software is quite impressive. You can access it at any time that you want and from anywhere that you want, but that depends on how the software is set up by the University. There might be sudden outages due to not having enough space on your database, which we had that very issue happen recently here at our University. During that time, you could not access their blackboard at all until it was brought up online again.

Incentivized

The performance of the software is remarkable. The loading speed of the pages is more than satisfying, it all depends on the users internet package. So far, there wasn't any issue of Blackboard slowing down other software or systems when integrated with them

Incentivized

Sometimes they do planned maintenance. Depending on the time zone you’re in, this may be in the middle of the night. That’s great. Sometimes this maintenance isn’t completed overnight however, and you need to use the platform and it is down. I’ve never been able to successfully contact them to report an outage or get assistance when it is down. I just have to wait until it comes back up to go to class, review sessions, etc.

Incentivized

Nearpod does not allow for the same type of synchronous environment that Blackboard collaborate does. Further, Nearpod, as the name suggests is best suited for a face-to-face classroom that is, preferably, one-to-one. While it has some of the same functions as Nearpod, Blackboard collaborate is best suited for remote transmission rather than face-to-face

Incentivized

Not evaluated anything else

Incentivized

The reason for this rating is that the software is a pretty good tool that can be utilized for use in all of the Universities around the world. It has the capability to fulfill the needs of various different education systems. Although, there are slight improvements that are needed, therefore the rating is at 8.

Incentivized

• Because faculty can schedule sessions on-the-fly without IT involvement, they are able to accomplish goals that they plan for weeks in advance as well as impromptu goals that come up at a moments notice.
• Integration with the campus Learning Management Systems provides quick and easy scheduling of sessions that can be joined easily by students in those courses.
• Scheduling of meetings can also be done through the web interface directly which enables administrative departments not associated with courses in the learning management system to also schedule meetings not affiliated with courses.
• On-campus users can schedule meetings without outside participants by sending an open "guest link" URL that allows users to participate despite not having an account within the system iteself.

Incentivized

• Internal end user experience increased.
• Less reliance on our internal custom solutions.
• Out sourced implementation and execution of tool.

Incentivized