Today is the first round of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, also known as March Madness.
If you’re a sports fan in the U.S., it’s the tournament to end all tournaments. It’s time to hunker down in front of multiple screens, place your bets and hope (pray?) you filled out your brackets correctly.
I don’t follow basketball closely enough to predict the winners. But I do follow schools that partner with Mediasite for lecture capture and video management. This year those teams make up more than half of the first round of 64. So while I can’t offer much in terms of great contenders on the court, I can make a few predictions about the success of these players in the classroom.
Based on data from fifteen years of lecture capture in 1,500+ colleges and universities, I predict that players in this year’s tournament:
- Rely on Mediasite to help them study
Competing in sports at the level these guys do is no joke. With around 30 games per season, daily practices and frequent workouts, leisurely study breaks in the library are non-existent. Video lectures and learning modules are ready when they are, and can be squeezed in on the bus, plane, or in late-night study sessions.
- Are more engaged in their classes
Knowing the lecture will be online and available to review complex materials frees the student athletes from strenuous note taking, allowing them to use class time to engage in discussion, ask questions and get clarification.
- Personalize their learning
Mediasite is the right tool if they need to attend a lecture in person and use the online version as a study guide; miss an in-person lecture to play a game in another state; or view lectures in short chunks. It gives students the ability to learn when, where and how they want to.
- Get better grades in their Mediasite classes
Student athletes compete on every level, which means on the court and in the classroom. Just like they would never miss a practice, Mediasite makes sure they never miss a class. And our research shows the more lectures they watch, the more success they’ll have as a student.
Good luck to our Mediasite partner schools who are playing their hearts out in this tournament. We’re rooting for you!