Lecture capture

Campus-wide lecture capture technology – a way to record lectures – is a major investment for universities, but is hugely popular among students.

I started recording my lectures seven years ago with a digital voice recorder with lapel microphone and distributed the MP3 file. Students found this format challenging as it was not clear how the audio linked to my lecture slides. I then started to use Camtasia on a tablet PC to record the slides and annotations I made. I continued to capture the audio using the digital voice recorder.

At Keele University we are now piloting a lecture capture system that automatically creates recordings of projected content and audio and publishes them directly on our VLE.

Why are some academics reluctant to record their lectures, and how might this practice impact student performance?