Are lecture recordings beneficial to students?

According to our Q-Review student survey, 95% of the respondents said yes. Some of the benefits described by students are that they can…

• go back and listen to them more than once if you dont understand a point
• listen to them in your own time
• make more thorough notes from them by pausing and playing them
• catch up on any missed lectures
• use it to refresh their memory during exam time

One student commented “I find it difficult to absorb the entire lecture whilst sat taking notes. The recorded lectures have been invaluable to my current high grades.” There were nearly 500 additional comments on this question, please see: All student responses to Question 6.

 

Why should I record my lectures?

As a lecturer you can record your lectures to –

• reflect on your teaching methodology, even if you don’t release your recordings to students you can still watch them and assess your teaching style.
• develop your portfolio by adding your selected (edited) lectures and release them to a certain group of users
• create Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) using your recordings that can be used again and again saving your time
• allow students with learning difficulties to watch a lecture again and again

 

Will students still attend if the lectures are recorded?

A recent literature review by colleagues at LSE and survey results from QMUL and UCL show that students value attending live lectures over recorded lectures as they find them more engaging and have the opportunity to ask questions.  That said, some studies have shown a slight positive correlation between a greater use of recorded lectures and a decline in attendance, whilst others show no significant correlation at all (Karnad, 2013).  The reality is that the factors affecting student attendance are so complex it is difficult to attribute fluctuations to any one cause.  However, there is evidence to suggest that students will attend lectures where they anticipate them to be of value and the availability of a recording might affect the way they engage with that lecture – taking fewer notes for instance.  Here at QMUL, the majority of recorded lectures have been used for review purposes and students see them as a supplement to live lectures not as replacement.

For the full LSE literature review, see Karnad A 2013. Student Use of Recorded Lectures: A report reviewing recent research into the use of lecture capture technology in higher education, and its impact on teaching methods and attendance.  Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50929/

Click here to see more on student attendance and lecture recording at QMUL.

 

Who ‘owns’ the recording? Will I be able to remove the recording if I don’t like it?

You as a presenter will have the full ownership of the recordings you create and, you can either delete or make your recordings unavailable anytime.

 

Will recordings be used for performance management or quality control?

By offering Q-Review, the E-Learning Unit aims to encourage innovative teaching methods by producing flexible learning resources for students. It is not a tool to monitor academic staff. Your recordings are accessible only to those who have the unique URL or who are enrolled in your QMplus course area (if you have chosen to make your recordings available via QMplus).

 

Will my lectures be recorded automatically without my knowledge?

No, Q-Review is currently an opt-in service for staff to use if they want to record their own lectures. Some schools have gone for an opt-out policy but all the lecturers/presenters must be informed well in advance.  In any case, all presenters must be made aware and/or written permission must be obtained before a capture is scheduled.

 

Will recordings replace the lecturer?

No.  Q-Review recordings only remain live and accessible for one year at which point they are archived.  At the end of the second year all recordings are deleted unless the presenter wants to retain their recordings in the system. In addition, note that presenters can make their recordings unavailable or delete them at any time. Click here to see our Archiving and Deletion (Rollover) process.

 

Can I edit my recording before releasing it to students? Is this difficult?

You will have access to edit all your recordings that you are ‘presenter’ for.   Q-Review has a user-friendly interface which allows you to easily remove sections of a recording.  Note that the edit window is just 14 days, so please make any cuts as soon as possible after the event. See the tutorial video.

 

What do I need to do get my lectures recorded? I don’t have time to learn how to record.

No training is necessary. Request a recording by clicking here after you have booked your session in a Q-Review equipped room (this can be arranged with AV Bookings). The system automatically records and sends a link to you when it’s done. That’s it.

 

Will my recordings will be made available to students immediately, giving me no time to make edits or decide if I want to use it?

When you book a Q-Review lecture capture, you can choose to either:

• release your recordings immediately to students
• release them after you have made the necessary edits
• not release them at all if you are unhappy with the recording

 

Who will see my recordings?

It’s entirely up to you to decide who has access to your recordings. You can choose not to release your recordings at all or release it to certain students (such as students with disabilities) or release it before the exams.

Aren’t lecture recordings for distance learning institutions?  We are not a distance learning institution and want to teach face-to-face

Various studies show that lecture recordings enhance students’ learning experience and help certain students to achieve better grades. Several major universities across the world whether face-to-face or distance learning use lecture capture as an integral part of learning and teaching.

 

I don’t want to record my video, I only want to record  my computer screen and audio, can I still use Q-Review?

Yes.  When you request a recording, you can choose to only record your computer screen and audio. Even if a recording has already taken place you can still request us to permanently remove your video from the recording.

 

Are my recordings secure?

Q-Review generates random links for every recording in the system, so that only people with these links can access the recordings.  It is possible for students to share this link with others outside QMUL, but it would not be possible for someone to guess the link to your recording, or to find it via a google search.  We are now working towards adding proper authentication to access Q-Review which will require students to enter their college username and password to watch lecture recordings.

 

What about copyright?

Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Basic and Comprehensive HE licences allow universities to scan (limits to fair amount, appropriate acknowledgement) text and images from published original work and release it securely to students on a particular course (JISClegal 2010). However, at QMUL we do not have this licence at present but we are planning to get this licence before the beginning of the new academic year.