How Oakland University Uses YuJa’s Robust Suite of Ed-Tech Tools to Enhance Instruction Across Live, Hybrid and Hyflex Courses

“YuJa got on our radar as part of the procurement process. A lot of vendors came in with use cases strictly on video conferencing that could be used in a way for lecture capture, but not distinct tools for video conferencing as well as lecture capture,” Arnold recalled. “We wanted a tool that could do both and we were pleasantly surprised when YuJa submitted a response to our RFP.” YuJa’s robust lecture capture and video conferencing capabilities made it the top choice for the selection committee.

“One of the best parts of working with YuJa has been how receptive YuJa is to our suggestions, the things our faculty want and need, and taking the initiative to make changes on their end and communicate those changes to us so we can pass them on to our faculty,” said Kate Huttenlocher, Assistant Manager of Support Services, e-Learning and Instructional Support. “This has been huge in helping us promote the tool and help our faculty use the tool. We can see how YuJa has grown over the years and how they have really taken into consideration our particular use cases and needs to make things happen.”

Arnold noted that the number of fully online courses has tripled since the start Covid “with no sign of slowing down.”

Huttenlocher noted that today, there’s a larger use case around lecture capture and media management, including by the instructional design team and instructors to create and manage media. Instructors can add YuJa directly into their Moodle courses, whether that’s a general link for students to get to the course channel or embedding videos and video quizzes to the course page. “One of the things we really enjoy is the video quizzes being able to directly sync grades into Moodle’s gradebook,” Huttenlocher remarked. “It’s really nice for the faculty to have so many options for how to incorporate YuJa into their courses.”

One unexpected use has been for SCORM activities, or creating content that is compatible with all eLearning tools, Arnold said. “The functionality of that is better than anything we had before,” he remarked. “That was a good surprise.”

“Instructors not having to worry about things like how to get captions – to know they’re just going to be there – is a huge thing,” Huttenlocher added.

Both Arnold and Huttenlocher noted that YuJa’s support team is top tier. “When you bring a concern forward, you know it has been heard,” Arnold said. “We do recommend YuJa, and our instructional design team does as well. YuJa has been an ideal partner in helping make sure the platform is a success at our campus for our faculty, students, and those who support it,” Arnold concluded.