Mandhu College┃Case Study
Mandhu College created a virtual campus based on TrueConf Server to digitalize the educational process.
About organization
Mandhu College was established as a private institution aimed at offering educational opportunities to students who are unable to attend classes in person, thereby expanding its role in the Maldives' higher education sector. The college also offers a diverse range of programs and flexible learning options, which cater to both traditional students and working professionals seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge.
Problem
Over the past decade, the founder of Mandhu College recognized the need for a reliable online learning platform due to accelerated digitalization and the growing demand for flexible degree options. However, cloud solutions were incapable of delivering high-quality video content, since not all students and teachers had a durable internet connection to engage in online classes and meetings.
Alongside connectivity and adaptation challenges, security emerged as a critical concern for Mandhu College's administration due to the increased risk of cyber threats such as data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Solution
Due to geographical features and the necessity to control traffic, the college opted to build an on-premises distance learning platform. After testing various video conferencing solutions, the IT specialists at the college chose TrueConf Server that ensured complete autonomy and independence from external service providers, as well as eliminated the possibility of blocks or cyber attacks.
During the remote learning, both teachers and students use personal devices, namely PCs and smartphones, with the installed TrueConf client apps for all popular OS. Additionally, video conferences can be joined via a browser, which is convenient for meetings, webinars, and workshops organized in collaboration with other universities.
Students often connect to classes from home, and TrueConf's AI features, such as virtual backgrounds and noise suppression, make the learning process more convenient by enhancing privacy and reducing any external sounds. Face-tracking technology centers users in the frame for a more flawless layout, while the intelligent assistant promptly addresses any technical issues, ensuring a seamless learning experience.
For comprehensive remote interaction, students and teachers use collaboration features like slideshow, remote desktop control, as well as annotations over the shared content. TrueConf Server offers an address book where students are organised into groups, making it easier to schedule video conferences for specific users. Besides, any online class can be recorded for reviewing the lesson content later.
To facilitate coordination and communication in both group and individual chats, an integrated messenger is used to share announcements, documents, and other files. Furthermore, any chat can be easily escalated into a video conference.
Along with traditional All on screen and Moderated role-based modes, TrueConf provides a Video lecture mode ideal for sessions where the teacher delivers new material without needing active student participation. Thanks to the Smart Meeting mode, the conference layout is automatically filled with active speakers and displayed content, which simplifies the conference management process.
With waiting rooms, teachers are able to manage virtual classes making all conferences private by controlling when students can join the meeting, or by using them as a staging area where participants can wait until it's their turn to present or join the discussion.
“One of the key objectives of the college was to digitalize the learning process, and we finally managed to launch a virtual campus of Mandhu College with the help of TrueConf. Implemented in the local network, it meets all of our requirements and offers reliable video conferencing and team messaging capabilities for our online classes, since the students are located all over the Maldives and can now seamlessly be a part of the distant learning process,”
– Muhamed Mufaris, Head of IT Department.
Results
With TrueConf Server, Mandhu College formed a virtual studying platform for hundreds of students across 200 islands. TrueConf platform facilitates remote and hybrid learning for students, online events, and webinars, and enables asynchronous communication among teachers through a built-in messenger.