'Lecture recording: a new norm' by Michael J. Draper, Simon Gibbon and Jane Thomas in (2018) 52(3) The Law Teacher 316-334 comments
Classroom recording systems (systems that capture audio or video footage of a taught session) are being adopted in universities globally in part encouraged by studies that suggest that use of recording technology is associated with enhanced student engagement and perceptions of a course. Notwithstanding increased adoption as a result of perceived benefits, approximately only 10% of higher education institutions have adopted comprehensive lecture recording systems. This study considered the benefits and advantages of classroom recording systems. Academic concerns over student attendance and use of recordings are discussed with the implications for teachers, cognisant of the synergistic relationship between teachers, students and their learning.The authors go on
Swansea University is a dual campus institution with 17,445 students (2015/16), with approximately 5000 students at a new Bay campus. Lecture recording was introduced at Swansea in September 2015 on the Bay campus in the Colleges of Engineering and Management, extending to full implementation in 2016/17. Implementation on the original Park campus was piloted as part of this study in September 2015 to explore the potential to extend recording in areas not STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related. The study sought to explore the potential for use by staff on this campus, student use, the value of recording for them, and impact on attendance.
The Law Trial ran within the College of Law and Criminology at Swansea University over the academic years 2015 to 2017. The Law School was selected on account of its size and lack of exposure to lecture recording previously. This research is focused on a University sanctioned trial of the use of lecture recording within a programme of the College of Law and Criminology, for which the usage results, student and staff feedback would inform the University Learning and Teaching Committee to recommend, or not, a wider rollout of lecture recording at the University. This piece offers a two-year perspective as part of the wider literature rather than a definitive perspective. That said, the size of the study does not detract from the potential value of exploring the wider pedagogic impact of learning support and how best to respond to it. ...
Students may benefit from classroom recording systems in a number of ways;
- they are able to: revisit concepts or topics and reinforce understanding in preparation for or as part of independent study and other class contact;
- students themselves believe that having access to recording lectures helps learning;
- review discussion and material prior to in-course or end of module assessments;
- participate in blended, flipped classroom and online course delivery, view missed content and accommodate different learning styles;
- manage the essential processing required to learn concepts – processing demands decrease when multimedia messages are presented in self-paced segments rather than as a continuous flow of information;
They conclude
- view missed content due to illness, timetable clashes, external factors.
A key issue in concluding this account is to consider what teachers can and should know about lecture recording from a pedagogic perspective in terms of the evidence, their own involvement and how to improve their practice. We may need to look beyond the flipped classroom approach to a wider pedagogic perspective on planning and pedagogic practice/methodology but still focused on learner-centred classroom activity and the value of recorded lectures.
For the more experienced teacher, while lecture recording has been available for some time, the sector has responded variably to enable teachers to keep pace with the pedagogic impact and potential issues within the process. For example, addressing course design to harness lecture recording to better effect and ensuring that learning outcomes reflect the common use of recording may be issues to explore. There may also be broader resource issues that institutions will have to address.
As our use of recording advances, we need to be developing other more sophisticated means of ensuring the integrity and dynamism of the teacher–student relationship, individually and collectively, and the discriminating use of policy.
The study demonstrates useful outcomes in relation to the non-STEM use of lecture recording, applicable more widely institutionally. This reinforces the positive conclusions of other recent studies and provides a context for flexible policy development.
Future research could include:
- wider institutional perspective;
- proactive staff engagement to explore and deal with concerns which persist in the face of growing evidence to support and promote lecture recording;
- impact on attendance – still mixed perspectives;
- detailed comparison with STEM;
- investigation of how students can use note-taking, revision and language support;
- exploration of the visual components and the potential for wider contribution.
The key outcome is that institutions need to work to create conducive learning environments where staff and students can make best use of lecture recording across disciplines to enhance student experience. The apparent trend to substitution of recording in place of attendance and participation could be an artefact of the lessening familiarity with regularised attendance and structured learning, as previously delivered in higher education. Familiarity with technology may also contribute to a changed mode of learning, in these times of digital availability of range and depth. These developments can be seen as part of a progressive shift towards using the recordings in a surface way and acknowledging this enables pedagogic adaptation. While this is a small study, this slight trend may prove to be an issue reflected in subsequent investigation.
This contribution extends the existing perspective and adds to the body of evidence supporting the pedagogic use of lecture recording for teachers and students in times when student expectations are high. Students value such resources and inclusivity necessitates their widespread adoption.
