Digital commons session - Lecture capture

UPDATE: We now have materials to support this session which can be found here. This includes the cards, which can be printed as needed, some instructions and the supporting slides. Any questions or feedback please let us know. We'd also be keen to know how the session went if you decide to run it.

As part of the Digital Commons session around lecture capture, following on from informative morning panel, Pete Mella and I facilitated a session around the benefits and concerns of lecture capture.

The aim of the session was to consider some of the points raised from the panel session, discuss these in teams and decide which were the most prominent points.

For this session we put participants into small groups and gave each table to pack of cards. These were coloured red and green.  

Red = Statements which were considered a concern around the use of lecture capture

Green = Statements which were seen as a benefit of lecture capture

In the activity we asked for each team to come up with the card that had the most important point  for each colour and have one backup, in case of duplication amongst teams. We also provided a blank “wildcard” which they could complete if they felt the issue wasn’t covered in the existing deck.

After a short discussion we brought the group back together to discuss our thoughts.

Some of the issues that were considered most prevalent were:

Concerns

Confidentiality (wildcard)

This concern was to do with how and where students may access lecture capture materials. Some of our courses contain particularly sensitive data which students could potentially show to a wider audience either knowingly or unknowingly (e.g. playing the recording in a public place).

This is indeed a valid concern and advice given was to be assured that the video is only available inside the MOLE course by default, with downloads disabled. You have the ability to pause the recording, so the session could be amended slightly to bring together the parts that needed not to be recorded.

Ultimately though it was agreed that not every session is right for lecture recording and some instances it is sensible not to record. Though in most instances minor ordering amendments can allow the session to recorded without affecting the quality of the lecture.

Technical issues

One issue which still concerns people is whether the technology will work on the day and will sessions be recorded successfully. Whilst there have been some instances of failed recordings identified, the service has been going well given its growth this academic year. It was highlighted that many of these issues are being resolved and staff were reminded that if they do identify any issues to contact either the AV or CiCS Helpdesk to help issues to be resolved more quickly.

As with all synchronous technology supported activities, ensuring you have a plan B in place where possible is good practice. This could be making lecture slides available on MOLE and providing any supporting material you can give to students. The system we have in place requires almost no intervention from the tutor and the only setup required is to turn on the microphone.

Benefits

Disabled students

The use of lecture capture was seen to be a huge benefit to students with a wide range of disabilities, and the benefits ranged from not needing to take verbatim notes to being able to access materials if a student is unable to attend in person.

International students

For international students where for many English is a second language, lecture capture can be used to positive effect, giving students another opportunity to view the lecture.

You are able to add subtitles/transcripts to help support the recording too, which was seen as something that could help both international and students with disabilities.

As part of the session we produced a series of slides looking at each topic and some of the research underpinning these, which you can find below.

We then passed over to Dan Courtney and James Slack who gave an overview of the system and gave people an opportunity to ask any questions about the technology supporting lecture capture.

If you have any questions about the session or are interested in running it in your area please contact tel@sheffield.ac.uk