UMGC Adopts Virtual Community Platform for Students

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), an offshoot of the University System of Maryland that focuses on hybrid and virtual courses for adult and military students, has committed to a university-wide rollout of InScribe's virtual community platform.

Previously, UMGC was only test driving InScribe, whose flagship platform acts as a knowledgebase, support dashboard, and private social network for students.

The InScribe pilot had been limited to UMGC's Program and Career Exploration (PACE) module, an entry-level course series aimed at teaching students basic interpersonal and professional skills. Though entry-level, PACE has 8,000 enrolled students from around the world.

Those who used the InScribe platform had a completion rate that was 24% higher than those who didn't use the platform, InScribe said in its announcement.

Given its positive impact on students during the pilot, UMGC has greenlit the global rollout of InScibe's platform, extending its access to all 90,000 students.

UMGC will also use InScribe to collect data on student performance and engagement. "The data UMGC receives from InScribe will also help inform institutional decisions to enhance student success," InScribe said. "Key metrics such as high-priority topics, popular questions and conversations, and patterns of student participation will allow UMGC to identify new ways to support students throughout their learning journey."

For more information, visit the InScribe site.

About the Author

Gladys Rama (@GladysRama3) is the editorial director of Converge360.

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