Saba Fallstudie: University of Tennessee Nearing a Decade of Distance Education Using Saba Centra Live

case study University of Tennessee University of Tennessee Nearing a Decade of A few years ago, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) professor got Distance Education Using Saba Centra Live the opportunity to spend an entire semester in Germany. The professor was very excited; he had been looking forward to conducting additional Solution Overview research in his field of study, while having the chance to live abroad and travel. The problem was that he was scheduled to teach an engineering Industry — Higher Education class that same semester. Challenge Offer the dynamic interaction and Fortunately, the University of Tennessee was one of the early adopters collaborative learning of a classroom of Saba Centra Live, a solution that facilitates distance education in environment while expanding academic innovative ways. Since 1999, Centra Live has enabled UT students outreach to growing numbers of living hundreds of miles from the Knoxville campus to enroll in a variety traditional students and adult learners in a range of programs of classes and fully participate in discussions, share information, and “raise their hands” in real time using Web-based tools — without Benefits leaving home. In addition, it provides UT professors the freedom to • Replicates a physical classroom travel — even overseas — and still teach courses. environment, allowing for real-time interaction and sharing of information “ online, regardless of the geographic Most people who use Centra Live really like it. If it makes their ” distance of students life easier and more convenient, they’re all for it. • Accommodates guest lecturers and enables professors to lead classes Andi Damewood, Saba Centra Program Coordinator from different locations — anywhere University of Tennessee in the world • Supports more effective informal collaboration and social interaction So with Centra Live’s help, the professor used his desktop computer to among students effectively teach his class to students thousands of miles away over the • Allows students to easily catch up on Internet. “As Web connection speeds have increased, professors can coursework from classes missed, or re-play lectures or discussions with no travel for a week or for an entire semester, and not have to miss class,” extra effort by the professor said Andi Damewood, program coordinator for Saba Centra at the University of Tennessee. “Centra Live effectively replicates a physical Solution classroom setting for online students. It’s very exciting.” Saba Centra Live Reaching Out to Adult Learners One of the biggest benefits of implementing Centra Live at UT has been to simplify the lives of nontraditional students such as adult learners. According to Damewood, the earliest proponents of Centra Live were departments looking to reach out to more nontraditional students. In some cases, the results have been dramatic. “Programs in the College of Business and in the School of Information Science have become so popular the schools have had to limit the size case study | University of Tennessee of the cohorts,” Damewood remarked. “We started with Making Students’ Lives Easier one nontraditional MBA program, and now we’ve added Parking has long been a vexing issue on the Knoxville three more. Centra Live has certainly played a role in the campus. Finding an available space can be a challenge programs’ growing popularity.” after hours, and is virtually impossible if a UT football or basketball game is being played at the same time. Centra One of UT’s highly successful nontraditional MBA programs Live has helped both commuter students and adult learners is its Physician Executive MBA (PEMBA). Since 1998, to eliminate parking concerns from the equation. approximately 50 physicians from 38 states and a number of foreign countries have graduated from the program “Honestly, parking at this campus is one of the biggest with needed skills ranging from business plan creation to nuisances we have for evening and weekend classes,” managing organizational change. For the past three years, Damewood explained. “The fact that students can stay Modern Physician and Modern Healthcare magazines have at home and not have to drive to campus has been a dubbed UT’s PEMBA “the #1 MBA program exclusively for real positive.” physicians.” The vast majority of online interactive learning for the program is supported by Centra Live. Sweeping the Campus “ As Web connection speeds have increased, professors can travel for a week or for an entire Today, UT has approximately 750 students and 50 faculty semester, and not have to miss class. Centra Live members representing a dozen schools and programs that effectively replicates a physical classroom setting regularly use classes taught using Centra Live. There are 50 nontraditional classes a week, representing hundreds for online students. ” Andi Damewood, Saba Centra Program Coordinator of hours of online instruction. Damewood’s group provides University of Tennessee help-desk support 13 hours per day, plus on weekends. Because all Centra Live classes are recorded, students can Facilitating Department Meetings and Collaboration easily review a professor’s lecture before exams, or go back The University of Tennessee is also taking advantage of the and “attend” any classes they may have missed. This is Centra Live for E-Meetings solution to streamline regular very valuable for traditional and nontraditional students, and meetings within departments and university extension saves considerable time for professors as well. groups. UT has even used Centra Live for E-Meetings to UT also has an initiative called “Ready for the World,” which host meetings for statewide nonacademic groups. promotes faculty and student learning and collaboration not UT also encourages students to use Centra Live for E- only across the nation, but also around the globe. Centra Meetings any time to collaborate efficiently on school Live is playing a key role in supporting this — easily allowing projects or conduct research without the obstacles of guest lecturers to provide input from anywhere, and helping distance. “The capabilities are just great for any small students and faculty work together in real time, regardless group collaboration,” Damewood commented. of where they are located. In the near future, UT researchers are even planning to use the solution to collaborate on projects with researchers at other UT sites as well as at other colleges and universities.  case study | University of Tennessee Reaping the Benefits Considering that Centra Live was initially deployed as an alternative to videoconferencing, the solution has been a substantial cost saver for the university, according to Damewood. With Centra Live, students and faculty members use their own PCs, so there’s not as much special equipment for UT to purchase. The solution has added support for a range of popular PC operating systems such as Windows — including Vista — and the Apple Macintosh platform, which has a big following in some educational circles. UT also has strong anecdotal evidence that Centra Live is helping prepare students for real-world challenges they will face in the future.