Lecture capture and peer working: exploring study practices through staff–student partnerships

Geraint Evans,Karl Luke

doi:10.25304/rlt.v28.2314

Abstract

As lecture capture technology and practice become ever more widespread in UK universities there is a growing body of literature that assesses the impact of these changes. However, there is still much to be understood about lecture capture and the full impact on student learning, especially in different institutional and subject contexts. This article describes two projects from a UK Russell Group University that worked in partnership with students to gain insights into the student experience regarding lecture capture. The article highlights insights gained in terms of how and why students use lecture recordings. This article focuses on one area in particular which has been less reported and warrants further investigation – students’ use of lecture recordings in collaborative settings. The article considers some practical implications of such insights and argues that a nuanced understanding regarding the way students use lecture recordings for learning is required. The article also highlights how educationists can harness student partnerships to further our understanding of the complex interplays between technology and student learning.

Highlights

The provision of educational recordings, the recordings of teaching events such as lectures, is fast becoming an established practice within UK higher education
Lecture capture operated on an opt-in basis, before a University policy at the start of the 2018/19 academic year mandated that all timetabled lecture activities would be automatically recorded unless the presenter had ‘opted out’ in advance
Our analysis of the data supports many findings reported in current lecture capture literature, echoing the emerging consensus about the value students attach to lecture recordings and the ways in which they use them to support their learning (Nordmann and McGeorge 2018)

Summary

Introduction

The provision of educational recordings, the recordings of teaching events such as lectures (commonly known as lecture capture), is fast becoming an established practice within UK higher education. The Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) 2018 survey on Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) (Walker et al 2018) reports that 75% of responding higher education institutions (HEIs) utilise lecture capture technologies. Such solutions typically produce digital video and/or audio recording of lectures, usually synchronised with displayed lecture materials and published online via an institutional virtual learning environment (VLE). The move towards an opt-out model was in direct response to student demand and was part of the University’s strategic commitment to support flexible, digital, and independent learning (Cardiff University 2018) Both projects described in this article were undertaken before an opt-out model was implemented

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