Graduate students balance school and life with online lectures

(Dulles, VA — August 13, 2008) - Echo³⁶⁰, higher education’s first choice for reliving the classroom experience on demand, today announced that The George Washington University has expanded its use of the EchoSystem platform for campus-wide lecture capture to include the Master of Science in Project Management program within the School of Business.

The MSPM program enrolls 350 students, with about half on campus and half in distance mode. At an average age of 35, these students face work-life challenges while completing their degrees. “Today’s business graduate student wants to have it all: a family, successful career and the first-rate education that GW provides regardless of where they may study,” said Phyllis Tutora, director of the George Washington University School of Business Project Management program. “Lecture capture from Echo³⁶⁰ allows us to reach all of our distance students on their schedules, in their time zones.”

As one of only a few project management graduate-level programs in the United States, a MSPM degree from GW carries with it an excellent reputation. Despite increasing demand, GW has chosen to keep the program at current enrollment levels to attract the best and brightest students from around the world. Lecture capture was one way GW updated their course delivery method to cater to the distance population.

“The EchoSystem provides unmatched functionality to our Project Management program with its automated lecture capture system, podcasting capabilities and virtual lectures, all while keeping it effortless for our faculty,” Tutora continued. “Using the EchoSystem, our online and remote students have an educational experience equivalent to their on-campus counterparts.”

The demand for lecture capture is not new to the GW campus. Undergraduate students have accessed lecture podcasts created by Echo360 through iTunes U since 2007. The initiative was quickly embraced by students with more than 1,800 visits in the first three weeks alone, paving the path for expansion within the university.

“Lecture capture simply can’t be contained to a single department or program – once students experience the academic and lifestyle benefits created with 24/7 lecture replay, they ask for more,” said Fred Singer, CEO of Echo³⁶⁰. “The growth pattern we’re seeing at GW is mirrored at institutions around the world. We designed the EchoSystem platform to scale, making it the preferred technology for institutions deciding to expand lecture capture to meet skyrocketing student requests.”

About Echo³⁶⁰

Echo³⁶⁰ envisions an opportunity for every student to be freed from traditional barriers to learning with an on-demand education experience.  Full-time, part-time, distance, continuing, and online all describe today’s student living in a 24/7 world.  On-demand media and education converge at the newly-formed  Echo³⁶⁰, helping colleges and universities engage students on the students’ terms with full and unbounded access to classroom-based content via multiplatform replay.  Developed in partnership with the University of Western Australia, Echo³⁶⁰ means scalable and affordable lecture capture solutions that can provide institutions of all sizes with universal availability of lecture content. For more information, log on to www.echo360.com.

###