An increasing number of instructors at the University of Pittsburgh are recording their classroom lectures, guest speakers, or student presentations. Lecture capture is a generic term than can be as simple as audio-only recordings that students listen to on their mobile phones or iPods, or as sophisticated as video, chat, and on-screen content viewed as distance education webcasts. The most advanced technologies include audio, video, and the instructor’s computer screen with Microsoft PowerPoint, software, or webpages.

Lecture capture recordings offer students a flexible and convenient way to revisit complex course material presented in class. Students have the ability to target specific parts of a lecture that they do not understand or to clarify their class notes with missing details. Prior to major exams, students use the recordings to review important concepts. If students miss a class, they can access the recorded lecture. Several studies report that the lecture capture recordings do not impact students’ decision to attend class (Zhu & Bergom, 2010). Some faculty report that lecture capture frees classroom lecture time for active learning.

Deborah Wanamaker, Lecturer in the Department of Communication, uses the lecture capture technology Panopto for her course COMMRC 0520: Public Speaking. Students view their taped speeches and complete both self and peer evaluations. Wanamaker explains, “Once they get over the initial shock and fear of having to watch themselves, they find it is indeed the only way to truly see how they are doing. I stress to them that my comments as well as those of their peers will be more meaningful to them when they can actually see what we saw.” The technology has come a long way since the days when Wanamaker recorded speeches with VHS tape. Today, the CIDDE staff records the students and provides her with a web link to the speech, which students review at their convenience.

In a Georgia Tech Human Computer Interaction study where students viewed brief 15-25 minute web lectures prior to lectures, students in the experimental group scored an average final course grade nearly eight percentage points higher than the control group (Day & Foley, 2006). Overall, there is inclusive evidence that lecture capture recordings significantly impacted learning outcomes, but several studies indicated improved student access to a variety of study tools and relieved student stress in missing a class. Faculty who recorded their classroom lectures found that students were more likely to focus on part of the lecture recording rather than view the whole lecture. Not surprisingly, students viewed archived recordings most frequently before exams (Brotherson & Abould, 2004; Traphagan, 2005). Instructors used the recordings for self-evaluation and improving future lectures (San, 2000).

CIDDE’s Classroom Services provides free lecture capture services on a first come first served basis for scheduled University courses. A camera operator will come to your classroom, record the audio and/or video of the speaker, but does not capture the PowerPoint or computer desktop screen. The file can be given to you for posting on your server or can be posted on a CIDDE server with a hyperlink for your students. Faculty usually embed the link to the recording in an email or their Blackboard course. If they use Microsoft PowerPoint, they also provide the file for students to reference as they view the presentation. For more information, contact Classroom Services at mediareq@pitt.edu or 412-648-7240.

CIDDE’s Rich Media Production offers fee-based lecture capture services including MediaSite, Panopto, Web Ex, and video recording. A camera operator will come to your classroom, record both the speaker and presentation screen, store the file on a University server, and provide a link to your recording. If you are interested in this service for $56 per hour, contact Bill Johnston at billj@pitt.edu or 412-648-2615.

References
Brotherton, J. & Abowd, G. (2004) Lessons learned from eclass: Assessing automated capture and access in the classroom, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 11(2), 122.

Day, J. & Foley, J. (2006) Evaluating web lectures: A case study from HCI, CHI 2006 Experience Report, User-Centered Design for Learning and Education.

San, C.Y. (2000). NUSCast survey: Instructor perspective. Report from the The Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning at the National University of Singapore. Retrieved from https://team.nus.edu.sg/cdtl/staff/Research/CDTLMSNo_1.pdf

Traphagan, T. (2005). Class lecture webcasting, Fall 2004 and Spring 2005: A case study. Report from the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment at the University of Texas at Austin.

Zhu, E. & Bergom, I. (2010). Lecture capture: A guide for effective use. CRLT Occasional Papers, No. 27. University of Michigan, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/CRLT_no27.pdf