durham bb conf 2009 lecture and event capture

Lecture and Event Capture at Newcastle University

Carol Summerside and Ashley Wright

What is ReCap?

ReCap is an automated event recording and delivery system enabling the audio and visual material from events such as lectures to be made available online.

The recording can be made available in a range of formats – streaming files, downloads and podcasts.

It is intended to capture live events as they happened – warts and all.

ReCap is not…..

a TV production facility

a replacement for live lectures

a replacement for live lecturers

What is captured?

The system is capable of recording from the following input sources: Audio Visualiser (Document Camera) Screen Capture

Not “talking head” Scalability, storage and resource issues Academic staff preference

History

March 2007 Lectopia wins tender and is licensed by Newcastle University and CETL4HealthNE.

6 locations identified within Newcastle University. Set up Project and Education Steering Groups. Semester 2 07/08 – 6 venues enabled and

recordings start in January 2008. Target set for 20 locations enabled by October 2008.

Where we are - Current operational status

Active Project and Educational Steering Groups. 28 installs across the region – (8 CETL + 20 Ncl Uni). ReCap branding and Web site established

(http://www.ncl.ac.uk/recap). Technical support network – internal and external. Error reporting fully automated into helpdesk system. Authentication - recordings protected with granularity. Main objective – demonstrate impact on student

experience and confirm Institutional commitment.

Practical Implementation

Made it opt-in for staff. Booking –

Online Booking form – amended to include: Integration with Corporate Helpdesk Software Integration with microphone booking process Pilot of devolved scheduling to local admin units rather than

centralised support Audio trigger

Radio lapel microphones Audio quality Academic freedom of movement

Link to processed recording emailed to speaker – ‘Bb 10 Tips’

Feedback and Evaluation

Evaluation is being conducted by the ReCap Education Steering Group.

Phase 1 (Semester 2 07/08) – usage statistics were obtained, feedback from students and staff gathered.

Phase 2 (Semesters 1 and 2 08/09) – will use same methods of data collection but will focus more on the educational impact of the system.

Benefits to Students

Enhances learning by accommodating different learning styles.

Students can review lectures, particularly points they may initially have had trouble grasping.

Because audio and visuals are synchronized, students can fast forward and rewind lectures. (This is particularly useful for students for whom English is a second language or students with dyslexia.)

Allows students to catch up on missed lectures. Provides revision materials for exams.

Benefits to Staff

Lecturers can: Make sure all students have access to material delivered in

lectures. Disseminate lectures post-class to reinforce important

points. Improve classroom productivity by giving students lectures

to review pre-class, allowing more time for discussion. Make more effective use of time because students can

review lecture content for clarity online, before — or rather than — meeting with an academic.

Use it to provide additional teaching material Help to improve student satisfaction.

Uses at Newcastle University

Lectures (live and pre/post). Change of teaching style - Jelly babies demo Supplementary information. Group feedback. Processing of existing support materials. IT training tutorials. Conferences. Public lectures. Promotional material.

Usage statistics 2008

So far

Significant growth in usage – expected to continue. Awareness raising with staff. Law School from 2009.

Date Locations Recordings Hits Presenters

Jan – May

(5 months)

6 173 5090 45

Sept – Dec

(4 months)

20 489 25086 100+

Staff Feedback

“I was really impressed with the quality of it. The colours of the drawings that I did using the visualiser came across better than they looked when projected on a screen. ”

“I did also do a solo recording which seems to have been received very well, which was to explain a concept further and provide some revision material for them.”

“the attendance was constant across the whole course and so I didn’t see any tail off. The students who would come, will come and all the people that told me this at the start and I didn’t believe them, I do believe them now.”

Student Feedback

94% of students stated that the availability of recorded lectures had not changed their lecture attendance.

Student Quote: “I don't think it has changed my attendance at

all as I, and most others agree, think you learn a lot more by attending lectures.”

Student Feedback

Why did you use the recordings? To revisit difficult concept(s) – 157 (73%) To make additional notes – 109 (50.7%) Because I didn’t understand/follow the lecture

the first time – 103 (47.9%) To catch-up on a missed lecture – 99 (46%) Other reason – 15 (7%)

Student Quotes

“ReCap is a very good system, particularly when particular topics are dealt with quickly by the lecture, resulting in notes being missed, etc.”

“It is very useful, especially when going through lectures which involve difficult concepts.”

“Without a doubt the best resource made available to me in my time at university.”

“I suffer from impaired hearing and find it useful to

go back to lectures that were particularly busy or noisy

where notes where difficult to keep up with”

Five year vision

Ubiquitous – location and staff use Increased ease of use Devolved control and editing – recording and upload

part of all lecturers toolkit Integration with corporate systems (Blackboard,

Timetable, Helpdesk software) Desktop Recording access Capture appliances for distant/minor locations Searchability of recordings (captioning/transcription)

The Team Here Today……

Mark AgarTechnical Project Manager, ISS

Mark.Agar@ncl.ac.uk

Carol SummersideDevelopment Officer,

QuILTcarol.summerside@ncl.ac.u

k

Ashley Wright Development Officer, QuILT

ashley.wright@ncl.ac.uk

For further information, please contact us on:E-mail: recap@ncl.ac.ukWebsite: www.ncl.ac.uk/recap