Overview

The Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) is one Mexico’s most prestigious institutions of higher education. Widely characterized as an educational technology pioneer, ITESM focuses their efforts on remote and distance education projects.

In August 2006, ITESM was looking to continue this tradition by integrating online course delivery into their Virtual University. After a robust evaluation, ITESM selected the EchoSystem to deliver rich media lectures to their students.

"We were searching for way to streamline the publication of digital course sessions," said Eng. Ever Vazquez, Telecommunications Director of the Informatics Direction of the ITESM Virtual University "We selected the EchoSystem because it leveraged our existing video on demand distribution technologies, including Real Helix server, and generated podcast-ready versions of lectures for review on portable MP3 devices."

"The response to the EchoSystem has been favorable from both faculty and students at ITESM," Vazquez continues. "They consider access to course audio, video and presentation materials an innovation that improves learning."

Especially popular with students is the EchoSystem's flexible playback options. Students with low bandwidth internet connections can access audio-only versions of their classes, thereby preserving bandwidth requirements and providing equal access to all.

In the first six months of implementation, ITESM has captured and published 320 sessions totaling 500 class hours. With this success, the ITESM is offering Echo³⁶⁰ lecture capture in additional classrooms and Virtual University’s Guadalajara campus and plans to continue this expansion.