FOVEAL SYSTEMS
The Center of Vision
Press Release
For Immediate Release
FOVEAL SYSTEMS, LLC
190 Loantaka Way
Madison NJ 07940-1910
Date September 10, 2008 Contact Michael Bianchi Voice +1 973 822-2085 MBianchi@Foveal.com Foveal Home Page http://www.Foveal.com AutoAuditorium Home Page http://www.AutoAuditorium.com Foveal Press Releases http://www.Foveal.com/PressRelease This Press Release http://www.Foveal.com/PressRelease/PR_2008_09_10.html
AutoAuditorium Recordings Help Improve Student Performance
The AutoAuditorium™ System installed at the University of Michigan at Flint is a key component of their Cyber Classroom. A recent conference paper concludes that "student outcomes from classes taught in the Cyber Classroom show a one-half point mean grade improvement, a 36% increase in honors grades, and a 56% reduction in failures."
The paper by professors Stephen Turner and Michael E. Farmer was presented at the 2008 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering (FECS08) in July 2008.
www.AutoAuditorium.com/PressRelease/FECS08_StudentPerformance.pdfIt describes their Cyber Classroom as combining traditional classroom education with distance learning. Each student can decide to attend a class in-person or watch a video of it as daily circumstances require. The AutoAuditorium System installed in Murchie 104 produces the 3-camera programs of all the lectures which are recorded as internet videos made available to anyone. Since most of the students are commuters and many are employed, the ability to see a missed period is very valuable. Students may look at a lecture to clarify or reinforce a particular class, or watch it as a replacement for attending class. Many use the programs as study aids.
The paper focuses on student performance in a set of computer science courses, comparing grades before and after the adoption of the Cyber Classroom. The courses in the study were given by three faculty members who have taught them for a number of years. The study includes 16 course sections taught as traditional classroom lectures (448 lectures given to 176 students) and 11 course sections taught and simultaneously recorded in the Cyber Classroom (308 recorded lectures given to 173 students).
The authors credit the blending of on-line and in-class formats for the student performance improvements noted above. Students who used to "vanish" due to external problems now remain connected and pass. The ability to replay explainations of difficult concepts improves comprehension.
Foveal Systems' owner Mike Bianchi notes that "the AutoAuditorium System, by completely removing the need for an operator, and producing fully edited video in real time makes the production very economical and readily available. The result is that the cost of capturing the next lecture is very small. Michael Farmer tells me their AutoAuditorium System is in use 4 days a week from 9:30 am to 9 pm and each lecture is available for viewing 10 minutes after the class ends."
Foveal Systems LLC of Madison New Jersey develops and markets the AutoAuditorium System.
Where does the name FOVEAL come from?
The fovea is the most sensitive part of the eye, where we see with the greatest clarity.
Foveal Systems' products are based on computer vision technology, so . . .
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