Teaching with lecture capture

Teaching with
lecture capture

leonie.sloman@kcl.ac.uk
@leonie_learning

@leonie_learning

Contents
1. Background: project scope, aims, previous studies & data sources.
2. Lecturers’ general levels of enthusiasm for lecture capture
3. Issues that may affect their enthusiasm: exploring contrasting
attitudes, system introduction & management, university's motivation,
perceived driving factors

4. Common concerns: (1) System reliability & student complaints,
(2) Pressure not to opt-out, (3) Changes to teaching practice & experience,
(4) Copyright material, (5) Permanence of recordings and access to them,
(6) Confusion and control, (7) Recordings replacing live lectures

5. Technical features lecturers value
6. Using lecture capture to support staff development

@leonie_learning

Project scope
• Research undertaken as part of King’s College
London, Technology-Enhanced Learning funded project

• Focused on recordings of lectures for Year 1 and 2
Medicine, and for Year 1 Biomedical Sciences, approx
400 students in each cohort

• 122 members of staff involved in lectures (excluding
those involved in the project committee)

@leonie_learning

Project aims
• To understand how Year 1 & 2 medical students and
Year 1 biomedical science students are using recorded

lectures to support their studying and revision.

• To understand how lecture capture affects lecturers’
teaching practice and experience

@leonie_learning

Previous studies
Relatively few studies have focused on lecturers’ experience
Particularly recommended:
• Gosper et al. (2008): large study including survey of 155
lectures across four Australian universities (Macquarie, Murdoch,
Flinders, Newcastle)

• Bond & Grussendorf: interviewed 23 lecturers at London
School of Economics in 2010

• Bramble & Singh (2011) / McDonnell (2011) : survey of 83
lecturers at Queen Mary University London, 20 of whom were
using lecture capture.

@leonie_learning

Data sources (2012-13)
Nov

Dec

mini
poll

Lecturer
self-report

Jan

Feb

Mar

focus groups

Apr

May
survey

Student logs
(medicine)

survey
1

Student
self-report

1 week pop up survey

focus groups

survey
2

@leonie_learning

What are lecturers’
general attitudes
to lecture capture?

@leonie_learning

Lecturers’ general enthusiasm
Please rate your general feelings about
lectures being recorded on a scale of 0 to 10*
* 84 respondents (mini-poll, Nov 2012)

25

20
15
10
5
0
0

1

2

very unenthusiastic

3

4

5

neutral

6

7

8

9

10

very enthusiastic

@leonie_learning

•

39% enthusiastic (rated 7 to 10)

•

45% neutral (rated 4 to 6)

•

16% unenthusiastic (rated 0 to 3)

i.e. sizeable minority & half of those strongly negative

@leonie_learning

Similar findings to previous studies: lecturer opinion is
typically more varied than student opinion.
Gosper et al. (2008) surveyed 155 Australian lecturers:
• 54% reported frequently/always having positive experiences
• 26% reported rarely/sometimes having positive experiences
McDonnell (2011) surveyed 83 QMUL lecturers:
• 70% agreed there is value in recording lectures
• 13% were opposed
• Some vehemently opposed: reports of absences, interfering with
recording devices, disabling microphones & union boycotts

@leonie_learning

Which issues may
affect enthusiasm?

@leonie_learning

Contrasting attitudes: focus groups
Group 1: Unenthusiastic (7 participants)
Group 2: Enthusiastic

(9 participants)

Other initial poll respondents

25
20
15
10
5
0
0
1
2
very unenthusiastic

3

4

5
neutral

6

7

8

9
10
very enthusiastic

@leonie_learning

Contrasting attitudes: survey
Survey respondents (35 lecturers, 29% response rate)
Other initial poll respondents

25
20
15
10
5
0
0
1
2
very unenthusiastic

3

4

5
neutral

6

7

8

9
10
very enthusiastic

@leonie_learning

System introduction & management
This is where the strongest differences between the two focus
groups were apparent:
• More enthusiastic group: perceptions of the system as having been
implemented for the benefit of students and still in a trial phase.

• Less enthusiastic group: perceptions of the system as having largely been
implemented to follow trends, imposed as a ‘diktat’ from above which denied
them control over their lectures, and without adequate financial investment
to run efficiently.

@leonie_learning

University’s motivation
Anticipating or driving student expectations?
“…the perception was, that students knew that
this facility was available at other universities and
because of that we were behind the curve.”

“There was a big expectation pushed out for the students
that all your lectures are going to be videoed, they‟ll be on the
web within minutes — and it was a complete disaster.”

@leonie_learning

Perceived driving factors
To what extent do you think the decision
to record lectures in your subject was
influenced by each of the following?*

* 34 respondents
(survey, May 2013)

% lecturers perceiving influence

60
50
40
30

No influence
Small influence

20

Moderate influence

10

Large influence

0

Direct requests from
students

Senior management

Other teaching
colleagues

@leonie_learning

Valued benefits of lecture capture
Which of these possible effects
would justify lecture capture? *

* 32 respondents (survey, May 2013)

% respondents

100
80
60
40
20
0

improving
student
satisfaction

offering
flexibility

supporting
special needs

matching
competitors

improving
student exam
scores

@leonie_learning

Comparison to other studies:
Gosper et al. (2008) surveyed 155 Australian lecturers on reasons for use:
• 82% to support students who can’t attend *NB longer travel distances+
• 65% to provide another study tool
• About half to support students with disabilities or English second language
Bond & Grussendorf (unpublished) interviewed 23 LSE lecturers:
• Broad support for recordings lectures in extreme situations, e.g.
snow, swine flu, major travel disruptions, lecturer unable to come.
• Willing to make allowances for those students with special needs, but not
accepted as justification for general availability

Chang (2007) interviewed 11 lecturers at University of Melbourne
• Perceived the benefits to be supporting students, especially part-time or
English second language; and revision resource.

@leonie_learning

Recommendations for introducing
lecture capture


Emphasize that the main aim for lecture capture is to improve
student satisfaction and allow students to study in more flexible ways
(and measure whether this occurs)

 Increase staff awareness that lecture capture is rapidly becoming
widespread across UK universities, which will inevitably drive student
expectations

 Stress that it's in a trial phase and allow further opportunities for
feedback and suggestions

@leonie_learning

What common issues
need addressing?

@leonie_learning

Issues that concern lecturers
What issues would you particularly
like to see addressed in this study*

•

Impact on students: Reduced attendance? Less value than

face-to-face? Educational benefits? Students’ usage?

•

Impact on lecturers: Increased workload? Restricted

lecture delivery/content? Confusion/discomfort/irritation?

• Technical aspects of the system: Reliability;
Control/flexibility.

* 70 respondents (mini-poll, Nov 2012)

@leonie_learning

Issues affecting lecturers
1. System reliability (student complaints)
2. Pressure not to opt out

3. Changes to teaching practice & experience
4. Copyright material
5. Permanence of recordings & who can access them
6. Confusion and lack of control
7. Recordings potentially replacing live lectures

@leonie_learning

Similar findings to previous study:
Bramble & Singh (2011) surveyed 83 QMUL lecturers. Key concerns
about recording lectures were:
• 61% Students will not attend class
• 33% Recordings being accessed by non-QMUL students
• 23% Lack of control over lecture delivery
• 22% Recordings being used for performance management
McDonnell (2011) also reported significant impact of technical
problems in causing whole departments at QMUL to opt out.

@leonie_learning

1. System reliability (student complaints)
“Already the students have ceased to regard the recordings
as a plus point but rather, as a potential source of criticism
(too slow to appear, incomplete etc).
So by providing better facilities we might end up
creating more dissatisfaction.”

“On my course only about 50% of the lectures (if that)
have been recorded and posted… leading to me having
to field many more complaints from students
than I had when lectures were not recorded at all!!”

@leonie_learning

Recommendations for system reliability
 Employ one person with overall responsibility for lecture
capture who can coordinate all the different people involved in running
the system, and be an initial contact to handle problems.

Benefits expected:

•

Diverting student complaints from lecturers will reduce a major source of

lecturer opposition to the system

•

Giving one person responsibility should result in problems being detected

and anticipated faster, helping improve reliability

@leonie_learning

2. Perceived freedom to opt out
Yes, it is my free decision
Yes, but I would have to justify my decision
to other staff/students
Maybe, if the module/course leader agreed
to my request
No, I feel strongly pressured to agree
No, it is departmental policy that all
lectures must be recorded
0

*Based on 32 survey responses

10

20
% respondents

30

40

50

@leonie_learning

Opting out
“And then this year, there was sort of a diktat from
above, decided, everything‟s going to be videoed, whether
you like it or not. And that was it.”

“If it‟s being rolled out and the default is that everybody opts
in, then one would kind of stand alone by opting out. …I
feel that I wouldn’t be able to say no, because students
would say, „Why aren‟t you being captured?‟ so I‟m not sure if it
really is a free choice, I think there‟s lots of unseen—”

@leonie_learning

Perceived pressure from students
• Survey respondents were more likely to feel pressure not to
opt-out from students than from staff

• However, 80% of students surveyed accepted at least one
reason for lectures not being recorded

• Students are more sympathetic to some reasons that others

@leonie_learning

Students’ sympathy to typical
opt-out reasons
Copyright material
Sensitive material

Attendance: students may fall behind
Jokes & mistakes held against lecturers
Lecturers self-conscious
Attendance: harder to understand recordings
Students' study skills weaker
Attendance: less interaction opportunities

Attendance: can't tell if students confused…
Students too reliant on recordings
None selected
0%

5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

*200 respondents, but percentages given for 253 who reached previous question

@leonie_learning

Students’ perceptions of why lecturers
opt out
• 64% believe it is to encourage attendance
• 28% think lecturers are protecting content, either because of copyright or
intellectual property – some confusion about these terms

• 21% to avoid a permanent record, especially of their mistakes or
inappropriate/ non-PC material/jokes

•
•
•
•
•
•

12% to promote students’ study skills
12% because they’re self-conscious: shy, private or lack confidence
10% think they’ve misunderstood students
6% because recordings are a poorer educational experience for students
5% think they’re being selfish
5% were unsure why

@leonie_learning

Similarities to other studies:
• Also felt student pressure despite an opt-in policy
Chang (2007) interviewed 11 lecturers at University of Melbourne:
• Most felt pressure from students; opting out affected teaching quality
ratings.

Differences to other studies:
Gosper et al. (2008) surveyed 155 Australian lecturers:
• Only 12% selected student pressure as a reason they recorded lectures
•

17% said it was required by their department

@leonie_learning

Recommendations for opt-out
 Emphasize that staff are free to opt out of being recorded and
provide them with pros and cons to consider

 Issue a general statement to students from the course or
module leader that not all lectures are videoed for varying
reasons, including examples – don’t leave it to individual
lecturers to defend their decision.

 Include information on which lectures will be recorded clearly
marked in students' timetables

 Convey to lecturers that the majority of students will respect
this decision, depending on the reasons given.

@leonie_learning

3. Changes to teaching practice
Does being recorded affect these
aspects of your teaching? *

* 34 respondents (survey, May 2013)
% minor change

50
40
30
20
10
0

% major change

@leonie_learning

Typical changes
• More restrained presentation style
• Less movement around the room

• Anxiety about or removal of copyright material.
• Anxiety or discomfort about being recorded

@leonie_learning

Students’ requests
• Use the mouse cursor instead of a laser pointer
• Make it clear what slide you’re talking about (for audio only)
• Speak clearly with the microphone located close enough
• Keep to the allocated time (or final material not recorded)
• Repeat any students’ questions
“I wouldn‟t want the feedback to be that lecturers must
stay very statically next to the microphone, „cause some of
the best lecturers are the ones who wander round.”

@leonie_learning

Comparison to previous studies:
Gosper et al. (2008) surveyed 139 Australian lecturers on teaching:
• 39% made no substantial changes to lecturing style [ie 61% have]
• 45% more self-aware of spontaneous comments & 23% scripting
their lectures more
• 29% reduced movement around the lecture theatre
• 27% reduced multimedia because of copyright concerns
• 23% listened to recordings and adjusted own performance
McNeil , Woo & Gosper (2007) surveyed 815 Australian students about
what advice they’d give lecturers:
• Similarly concerns about clear cues for where to attend to in
slides, clear sound quality & pronunciation, and keeping to time.

@leonie_learning

Recommendations for presenting
 Avoid using pointers: either describe diagrams more fully or use the
mouse cursor on the lectern

 Repeat students' questions
 Continue presenting in normal style, including humour, gestures and
demonstrations or whatever else usually engages the audience

 Continue walking around the room if preferred style, but ensure that
the lapel microphone is fixed high enough on the torso and won't
rustle against clothing.

 If concerned that comments may be too 'politically incorrect' to be
recorded on video, consider whether they may also be offensive to
anyone in the lecture theatre

@leonie_learning

4. Copyright material
“For me, there is one massive, massive issue which is copyright
and for me that would dramatically change the content
of my lectures, and what I do. And I did some quite
interesting, fun things that I know the students really like that I
would have to completely delete, edit out or simply
withdraw from the whole thing. So for me, that it‟s the big
number one issue.”

“We‟re trying to teach the students how to interpret research papers
and look at data, but nobody is going to show any of their own data if
it is going to be recorded and put up on a public place.”

@leonie_learning

Recommendations for copyright
 Wherever possible, specific copyright/sensitive material or pre-published
data should be deleted from the recording rather than withholding the
whole lecture.

 Clarification and guidance (from the university’s legal department) should
be provided when lecturers sign to give their permission for recordings.

 Some material can be presented for educational purposes, but not
distributed (in printed/electronic handouts or included in video).

 If third-party material is included on presentation slides, then its copyright
status should already have been considered. It may not be more difficult to
get permission to include material in videos (if access is restricted) than in
distributed handouts.

See JISC (2010) Recording Lectures: Legal Considerations

@leonie_learning

5. Permanence and access
Concerns are around:

• Mistakes, jokes or off-the-record comments being used against them
• Extracts being ‘remixed’ for ridicule

• Colleagues or superiors watching, or use for performance monitoring
“I think there‟s a different thing when something has
been and gone, and where something is up there:
potentially downloadable, potentially
manipulated, potentially taken out of context.”

@leonie_learning

“I have no objections to present students looking back over them for
revision, but would hate to think my peers or seniors are
scrutinizing my lectures behind closed door..”

“I think there‟s also a suspicion from some staff that once their
beautifully honed lecture has been videoed and
captured, then it makes their position here somewhat
jeopardized. …„cause lectures, especially at the lower
level, have got quite a long shelf life. So there‟s a certain amount
of suspicion and paranoia.”

@leonie_learning

Similar findings to previous study:
• Also found ‘permanence’ of recordings inhibited some from using
jokes, informal language and sensitive /controversial examples.
• Worried that mistakes included in a ‘quotable’ record.
• Some worried about material leaking onto YouTube, but others
happy to support open education or promote LSE externally

@leonie_learning

Recommendations on permanence
While recordings are a permanent record, they are actually
editable while live presentations are not:
 Any necessary deletions should be made (or requested)
immediately after the lecture

 Annotations can be added at any time to correct mistakes, provide
additional explanation or link to other material

Recordings can equally be positive ‘evidence’ that lecturer did
cover something if a student questions it.
Keep sense of humour – unless really offensive!

@leonie_learning

Recommendations on access
Students should have to sign an agreement explaining key information
and their obligations:

• Permission only to use recordings to support their studies; prohibited
from altering them or distributing any part to students not on the course.

• All audio or video of a lecture remains the lecturers' copyright even if
made on student’s devices; lectures may also contain third-party
material, pre-published data, patient data or other sensitive material.

• Students' questions and participation in demonstrations will be included
in recordings, therefore agreement protects student privacy too.

• Recordings are an additional resource. Not all lectures can be recorded
and students still expected to attend and develop good note-taking skills.

@leonie_learning

6. Confusion and control
Confusion: What exactly is recorded? When do recordings
start and stop? Who has access to the recordings? How long
they are kept?
Frustration: Why can’t I control timing of recordings?
Why don’t I ‘own’ my own lectures?

@leonie_learning

Recommendations
 Provide a link to online information about lecture capture in all
related correspondence so that FAQs can be addressed in one place.

 Lecturers may own the copyright in their 'performance' even though
lecturing is part of their normal terms of employment.
See JISC (2010) Recording Lectures: Legal Considerations

 Ask staff to sign an agreement giving permission for their lectures to
be recorded, that clarifies both their and the university’s obligations.

@leonie_learning

Staff-University agreement
Recommended it would clarify:

• What exactly is recorded i.e. audio, screen & video [non-video option?]
• Which students have (password-protected) access to the recordings and
the terms of access, i.e. summary of the student-university agreement

•
•
•
•
•

How long recording will be stored & accessible, e.g. 2 academic years
What would happen if they left university’s employment within that time
Recordings will not be used for performance monitoring
Their permission would be sought for any additional usage

They should ask colleagues' permission before viewing each others'
lectures, just as they would ask before sitting in on a live lecture

• Guidance on using copyright material

@leonie_learning

7. Replacing live lectures
Several members of both focus groups perceived a direct
polarization between what’s required for a back up / revision
aid vs students’ primary source of information.
If videos were to be the primary source of information for
students, they want them to be redesigned and filmed
professionally.

@leonie_learning

“One either gives a live lecture and students attend and I
ask questions and interact to some extent… or you
have the pristine prepared lecture… lecture capture is
sort of a halfway house, which doesn‟t tick either box.”

“Well, you can’t do both, though. You either just use it as a
minor revision aid, after you‟ve done the lecture, which is
handy for the students to go to occasionally, Or you decide right
we‟re gonna teach by video and therefore you design the courses and
you design our teaching approach around it. …It would be
incredibly different. We‟d become Open University.”

@leonie_learning

A younger member of the more enthusiastic focus group saw
things differently:

“There’s going to be a balance.
There‟ll be the live lectures.
There‟ll be the lecture capture of the live lectures.
There‟ll be the formally online lectures, for which
you spend half a day doing your one hour slot and
you get paid to do that as a one off.
And there‟ll also be the webinars and the podcasts —
all of this.”

@leonie_learning

Recommendations
 Pledge that there would be staff consultation before considering
different purposes in the future.

 Share study findings that students mainly use recordings as a
supplement to consolidate material they found difficult or where they
want to expand their notes, and as an occasional back up when they
miss lectures. Most would oppose recordings being used as a
replacement for live lectures.

 Students also have access to purpose-made narrated slides, which some
students find more focused, easier to navigate and better quality.
However, purpose-made material is not necessary for general revision
and consolidation — most students are content to use recorded
lectures, which don't require extra time from lecturers.

@leonie_learning

What technical
features would
lecturers value?

@leonie_learning

System improvements
very useful

a bit useful

Sound signal
Recording signal
Analytics
Flexible recording…

Short clips
Minor cuts service
Own minor edits
Annotations
0

20

* Based on 35 respondents (survey, May 2013)

40

60

% respondents

80

100

@leonie_learning

Comparison to previous study:
Germany (2012) surveyed 96 lecturers at the University of Swinbourne
(Australia) to obtain value ratings for 30 technical features:
• 80% would also find an ‘on-air’ light very important
• 77% felt it’s very important to be able to pause and resume recording
(not suggested in KCL survey)
• 52% felt it’s very important to be able to edit recordings
• Divided on whether automatic pre-scheduled recordings or
ad hoc lecture-controlled recording is preferable
• 44% felt usage statistics are very important

@leonie_learning

Recommended technical features/services
Many already available but need promoting
 Signals (e.g. lights) to show when recording is active and whether the
microphone is working.







Higher quality lapel microphones so lecturers can walk around.

Extend recording periods from X.05 – X.55 to X.01 – X.59
Flexible recording: option not to record/share video
Echo360 analytics - promote to lecturers at the end of terms.
Step-by-step guides on adding annotations in Echoplayer and editing out
sensitive/copyright material before upload

 Bookmarks allow lecturers to refer students to a specific point of the lecture
 A search function in recordings would support their use as revision aids

@leonie_learning

Could lecture capture
support staff development?

@leonie_learning

Potential staff development schemes
1. Good practice examples: watching extracts from recordings
of lectures that students have rated highly (with the lecturer's
permission)
2. Private reflection: watching recordings of their own
lectures, using structured guidance to help them identify their
strengths and weaknesses
3. Peer feedback: allowing a colleague (of their choice) to watch
one of their lecture recordings and provide feedback &
suggestions

@leonie_learning

Perceived usefulness of schemes
Now

When first lecturing

80

70

% respondents

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Good practice examples

Private reflection

* Based on 33 respondents (survey, May 2013)

Peer feedback

@leonie_learning

•

82% felt at least one of these activities would
still be of benefit to themselves

•

93% would be willing to help colleagues
with one of the schemes

Teaching with lecture capture

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to Teaching with lecture capture (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Teaching with lecture capture

Editor's Notes