Hoylu Collaborative Features and Tools Empower Virtual Classrooms

Universities and K-12 educators alike are experiencing challenges in keeping students engaged and finding the right tools to digitally transform the classroom during distance learning. Students are faced with distractions, lack of motivation, technical issues along with a diminished social environment.

During the pandemic, 42% of students indicated staying motivated was a significant barrier to complete online coursework. COVID-19 exposed how the U.S. education system fails to adequately serve students due to the lack of personalized distance learning, immersive experiences and adoption of digital learning solutions.

With the abrupt transition to online learning, students were faced with frustration and were not adequately prepared for the new learning setting. However, distance learning also provides the opportunity to discover and implement new avenues for increased productivity and learning with the integration of digital solutions. Students are particularly adept to these tech solutions due to their familiarity with technology and social media interaction.

Educators have different teaching styles and assignment requirements. That’s why finding a digital solution that is flexible and offers a variety of customizable features are important considerations for selecting a digital collaboration solution.

Hoylu is transforming the way educators and students collaborate and learn. Hoylu is used by educators around the globe to facilitate distance learning with its collaborative online whiteboard, presentation tools, multimedia capabilities and integrations with tools like Microsoft Office:

• Collaborative Whiteboard: Lecture, share notes, and ask questions, live with all collaborators in the Hoylu Workspace. Hoylu’s collaborative whiteboard provides a natural whiteboard experience including a toolbox with the essential tools for drawing, writing and marking documents. Educators can facilitate exercises for students or collaborate with classmates from afar.
• Lead the Class: Lead the class by enabling “Presenter Mode” a feature that brings all users in the Workspace to the same page. Presenter Mode allows educators to take control of the Workspace for lectures or for individual student or team presentations.
• Resource Hub: Keep lesson plans, lectures, notes and homework all in one Workspace. Keep a record of all external resources by adding links to your content.
• Microsoft Office Integration: Upload existing Powerpoints, Word Docs, PDFs, images and more directly to your Workspace to lecture and annotate. Simply use the uploader or drag and drop from your file explorer.

Hoylu’s instant synchronous connections provide immediate sharing of information, even in poor network conditions. Hoylu’s software allows for many different devices and input types including projection walls, installed applications, standard browsers, and Smart TVs. Natural pen input also allows for immediate analog to digital transformation.

For example, Hoylu has been working closely with the University of Washington to provide an easy-to-use yet powerful solution to bridge the gap in distance learning. University of Washington professors need to record their sessions and post the videos online. This does not make the classes very interactive for students as students require a live, interactive relationship between their educators. The University of Washington understood that basic video conferencing systems are not sufficient for complex course lessons and that students move at different speeds requiring complex document management. The University of Washington wanted to make online courses more interactive and found its solution with Hoylu.

Additionally, Ithaca College, ranked #13 in the nation for student engagement by The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, selected the HoyluWall for its Innovation Lab which provides students with immersive collaborative learning. HoyluWall is a classroom sized interactive display equipped with the Hoylu Inspiration Suite software and digital paper, allowing students to collaborate and learn together. The large size and intuitive user interface let larger groups of students interact simultaneously, while Hoylu’s digitally enabled pen and paper allow for break-out sessions in smaller groups as well as interaction with the HoyluWall.

“As Ithaca College looks to explore ways to enhance the teaching and learning process by providing collaborative tools for our faculty and students, the HoyluWall jumped out at us as offering a unique way to have multiple people simultaneously interact and collaborate,” said David Weil, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Ithaca College.

Education faculties are discovering new ways to digitally transform distance learning through the use of collaboration technology. Connecting classrooms and instructors through digital collaboration solutions provides an answer to previously impossible remote learning opportunities. Hoylu is ideal for distance learning scenarios. Using Hoylu’s infinite canvas, instructors can create over 40,000 lesson pages and worksheets that can be shared with students around the world.

To learn more about Hoylu, please visit: https://www.hoylu.com/hoylu-for-education/.