ob3 - online academic study

Media-rich Documents with Embedded Discussions™

Engage Learners. Empower Teachers.

OB3 is the app for online academic study. Within 60 minutes author and share meaningful independent and collaborative study documents, without support of an educational designer or technologist. Documents can take the form of curriculum content, essays, reflections, practice experience, and professional portfolios. Activities in OB3 promote the development of active learning communities, in study programmes using blended, flipped classroom, problem-based, or deeper learning approaches.

OB3 runs in the Cloud with options to integrate with your Institution's LMS.

Flyer: OB3 attributes and benefits
Publications: Gomez et al. at ASCILITE 2017 and Daellenbach et al. at ASCILITE 2014

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We are excited about the possibilities with OB3 and the richness of the experience for both student and teacher

- John Grigg, The University of Sydney

I describe it to others as a 'boutique' system that can be modified to meet practically all teaching requirements

- Gordon Sanderson, University of Otago

We expected the project to require programmers and designers, but with OB3 it can be completed by teachers

- Michael J Lew, University of Melbourne

The beauty of OB3 is students can create discussions in content, reducing isolation and giving lecturers a sense of how students are responding to teaching materials.

- Rea Daellenbach, ARA

Author content simply

OB3 is designed for time-starved staff and students, lowers the barrier to adoption and use, and reduces digital anxiety. If you know how to browse the web, copy and paste, use email and edit a Word doc you have all the skills needed. OB3 cleverly recognises the styling and formatting so your content will appear correctly after import.

Embedded discussions (unique OB3 attribute)

In OB3 discussions happen in context inside curriculum content, and can be created by students to ask questions or contribute ideas, while maintaining study flow. This approach is proven to enhance engagement, reduce isolation, and give teachers get a clearer picture of student understanding and how they are interacting with teaching materials.

Asynchronous collaboration (unique OB3 attribute)

OB3 supports individual, group and class asynchronous activities around co-authoring content, for example, enabling team-based curriculum development. Embedded discussions contextualise posts within curriculum content, and participants can also contribute by replying through email.

Simplifying video and audio

OB3 removes the complexity from incorporating video and audio into a document - simply drag and drop media files in OB3. Don't worry about the format or size - they will be automatically converted for correct playback on all platforms. Record audio narrations directly into a page or discussion without need for flash. OB3 supports uploads up to 1Gb.

Embed online content simply

Add online media from over 300 online sites including YouTube, SlideShare and many others. Simply a resource, copy its URL, and paste into OB3: the will be displayed automatically.

Student engagement and support

OB3 tracks study activity for each student creating learner profiles. These are used to provide just-in-time, automated and personalised learning support: Students posting a discussion message for the first time, or with flagged support needs (e.g. trouble logging in) receive automatic support - either in app, or via email.

Plans

Free

import and create content using the OB3 document editor
share your content with students
use OB3 discussions, receive discussion posts and respond via email
in-browser audio recording
add media from online sources such as YouTube
upload files (file size limit 20Mb per file with 2Gb total on free accounts)

Department

Everything in Free, plus:
LMS integration (Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas) using LTI
Unlimited file size uploads (with resumable uploading)
Video uploading, hosting and transcoding services
priority hosting (with data located in your part of the World)
email support (Mon-Fri, 24 business hours max turn around)
personal support via Skype to assist in getting the most out of OB3

Enterprise

Everything in Department, plus:
additional authentication options
OB3 running below your institutional domain
customising visual theming
development services and customisation using the OB3 API
ability to build enterprise workflows on OB3 content and analytics
priority support (phone and email)
enterprise SLA, hosting, custom data retention, and backup options

Services

Content

For clients with extensive collections of content we offer assistance in migrating to OB3. We also have tools to convert PowerPoint presentations to OB3 documents.

Development

For enterprise customers we provide customisation and development services that leverage the OB3 API. Please contact us for further information.

OceanBrowser Ltd (UK)
Edspace, Block D
Shoreditch Campus,
Falkirk St,
London NW1 6HQ
Tel: +44 20 37692599

OceanBrowser Ltd (NZ)
PO Box 2247
Dunedin 9044
New Zealand
Tel: +64 (0)3 4742102

Australian clients call direct on Sydney +61 2 82315746

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