Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Why Recording Lectures Requires a new Approach
Paul Newbury, Phil Watten, Patrick Holroyd and Clare Hardman
University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
P.Newbury@sussex.ac.uk
P.L.Watten@sussex.ac.uk
P.Holroyde@sussex.ac.uk
C.L.M.Hardman@sussex.ac.uk
Abstract: It is now commonplace for Universities to record lectures with video cameras. Indeed there are several
off-the-shelf systems, which Universities can purchase to provide this type of functionality, e.g. Echo360, Panopto
etc. There are also several distribution outlets available, such as iTunesU and YouTube EDU, which Universities
can use to distribute this recorded media to students. However, the capture of standard lecture material with
these systems can only provide partial support to learning. Material recorded in this way can be engaging for
students who attended the original lecture, but has less efficacy for students who are seeing the material for the
first time. To be truly effective learning mechanisms in their own right, these new recording systems need to
address two key issues. Firstly, current lecture material is overwhelmingly designed for the live lecture theatre
audience. Consideration is rarely given to how these materials will support learning when viewed as stand-alone
learning resources. Secondly, as lecture theatres are rarely designed for video capture, the off-the-shelf
recording systems are often severely limited by the environment, equipment and resources available. Lighting
and camera position are key considerations that have a big impact on the quality of the captured material, but are
generally restricted by the environment required for the live audience. This paper reviews these two key issues
and presents both a framework for the production of teaching material targeted at video capture, and the bespoke
recording system developed for online learning in the School of Informatics at the University of Sussex.
Additionally the paper covers analysis of download rates, qualitative staff and student feedback and lecture
attendance and shows that using this framework has a significant effect on the student interaction with recorded
material. Other types of online support such as providing copies of lecture slides are also discussed and a
tangible improvement in engagement over these techniques is shown.
Keywords: digital video, video streaming, multimedia, podcast, eLearning
1. Introduction
The majority of Universities now use some form of digital capture to record at least part of their lecture
provision and the recording of audio and slides (often referred to as podcasts, screencasts or
enhanced podcasts) has been around for several years. However, the use of mainstream video is a
fairly recent innovation (Copley 2007), with the vast majority of current higher education material
being produced from a single camera placed at the back of the lecture theatre with the possible
addition of a separate capture of the slides. There are several off-the-shelf systems that Universities
can use for this type of capture such as Echo360 (Echo360 2011), Panopto (Panopto 2011) etc. As
might be expected several studies have shown that this is generally advantageous to the students
(Woo 2008, Bradley 2009), however this type of material is often best used for students revisiting the
lecture (after attending) to refine their notes or for revision (Bongey 2006). There are several key
issues with this type of media when using it as a learning resource in its own right, for example when
the student has missed the original lecture or the material is being used in a distance learning context:
The material is generally designed for the live lecture, with little consideration to the constraints of
the recording or delivery mechanism used. For example the screen/board is often hard to read on
the recording. Text and diagrams are often too small to see when reproduced on video
The recorded material lacks focus, the presenter, audience and screen are all included in the
capture
Lighting is often an issue. It is hard to light both the presenter and the screen in a reasonable
manner
These problems (as can be seen in Figure 1) often combine to make the recorded lectures of limited
use as a teaching medium, and can undermine the additional learning that might be considered
implicit with this type of support material (Woo 2008, Bradley 2009).
The issue of the presentation being difficult to read is often addressed by the use of a screen capture
of the presentation slides provided along with the video recording (see figure 2), however this in itself
does not completely address the issue and can cause two additional problems. Firstly, it can reduce
the students’ view of the presenter’s interaction with the slides. The viewer has a choice of reading
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