Today鈥檚 faculty and students are learning in a digitized world that鈥檚 transforming at an extraordinary rate. Post-secondary institutions everywhere are taking note, evolving their educational tools to suit the learning styles of increasingly digital-savvy students.
In 2013, AV俱乐部鈥檚 Faculty of Science began to introduce lecture capture to select introductory courses. Lecture capture is a digital classroom-recording system that offers students an engaging, efficient and flexible way to learn that enhance the in-class experience. It does this by capturing the presenter鈥檚 voice, and accompanying PowerPoint slideshow and, in some cases, the entire lecture using live action cameras.
Once recorded, students can access lectures on AV俱乐部's learning management system (currently Blackboard). They can watch mini tutorials or review a select part or all of the lecture. The online lectures are accessible all term long for repeated use, which can come in handy on the days or nights leading into a quiz or exam.聽
Accommodating student needs
One of the many appeals of lecture capture is its ability to provide support to a diverse student audience. The international student struggling to adapt the English language, the anxious student who cannot focus in a full room of students, the diligent scholar who is unable to get to class in bad weather 鈥� these are just a few examples of situations where lecture capture can be incredibly useful. It鈥檚 a teaching tool to supplement course content, not a replacement for class attendance.
鈥淏efore the program started, we conducted surveys and focus groups to measure student perceptions of lecture capture as a study tool,鈥� explains Doug Rogers with Dal鈥檚 Centre for Learning and Teaching, who originally served as research coordinator for the lecture capture pilot project. 鈥淭hose who spoke English as a second language focused on that as a major benefit.鈥�
Competitive paddler and Dal student Jason McCoombs found the program helped him maintain the school-life balance during his training in Florida for the 2012 Olympics.
鈥淭he recordings made me feel like I was right there in class,鈥� says McCoombs. 鈥淚 followed along and took down all the notes as if that were the case. This made understanding the material of that course a whole lot easier.鈥� (.)
And professors appreciate the program鈥檚 ability to assist a range of students in their class.
鈥淧roviding recordings of all first-year biology lectures, by a team of six professors during the year, has been a great way to support our students,鈥� says Gillian Gass, a senior instructor in the Department of Biology. 鈥淪tudents who made use of the recordings tended to see them as a really valuable resource.鈥�
Pilot success
The Faculty of Science saw the potential benefits of lecture capture for students and secured Strategic Initiative funding to roll out a pilot program in introductory Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Psychology courses. Due to the great success of the program and enthusiasm exhibited by students, the program was extended for another year.聽
Participation varied depending on the application of the technology. In cases where the tutorial videos were directly tied to particular assignments, like in Physics, upwards of 75-80 per cent of the class made use of the videos. In the case of first-year lectures, the use varied by program, but was typically more moderate by comparison.* Those who did use the system found having access to lectures decreased stress or anxiety associated with the course, and clarified concepts discussed in class.
Students were quick to praise their professors in their recorded classes: 鈥淭ed Monchesky provided me with all the help I could have asked for in my second year Electricity and Magnetism class. He recorded every lecture I would have otherwise missed completely,鈥� said McCoombs of his former Physics professor.
Part of the success is also due in part to the efficiency of the recording system, Echo360, purchased under trial during the programs pilot year. Akin to a digital video recorder (DVR), the program includes a digital storage box installed in Ondaatje Hall (the largest lecture hall on the AV俱乐部 campus, located in the McCain building).
Beyond its ability to upload large video files and automatically organize lectures into faculty, term and course, Echo360 spits out analytics of viewing habits, including views per week and 鈥渉eat spots.鈥� These are areas in the lecture recording that are visited most frequently by students, giving instructors a snapshot of possibly confusing topics in the course. 聽
鈥淭here was no added workload for faculty, the Echo360 software was included, and the students could access lectures almost immediately through Blackboard,鈥� says Rogers.
鈥淭he Centre for Teaching and Learning made lecture capture very easy for me,鈥� says Dr. Monchensky, who taught Jason and is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science. 鈥淩oger Brush and Spencer Cantley did a fantastic job of recording and editing the video, producing a very professional product that was uploaded on the Echo server by the next business day.鈥�
Fostering faculty collaboration
An unintended outcome of introducing lecture capture to Dal was the relationship-building that came naturally among the faculty and staff involved. It鈥檚 this collaboration that contributed in the success of the program. Professors in the Faculty of Science met throughout the term to discuss the progress of lecture capture in their respective subjects. This involved sharing statistics regarding student usage and perceptions of the digital system.
鈥淒uring this project, I鈥檝e enjoyed working together with colleagues from across the Faculty of Science and from CLT,鈥� says Dr. Gass. 鈥淢eetings about lecture capture resulted in some excellent and complex conversations about teaching, learning, and the role of new technologies in our classes.鈥�
Funding the program for the 2015-2016 academic term and beyond is still uncertain, but , working jointly with the pilot project鈥檚 Science instructors, envisions interest in lecture capture increasing at Dal. Its vision includes an increase in lecture-capture capable classrooms, a larger variety of course offerings that extend campus-wide, and, introduction of a web-based tool that would make online lectures accessible to all Dal students.
In the near future, such an innovative learning experience powered by lecture capture could be available to many more Dal students, allowing them to connect back to their classroom experience on demand.
*Editor's note, May 26: These numbers have been updated for clarity.