This presentation reports on a 4-year study of lecture capture at the University of York (UK), focusing on the student learning experience of accessing and using recordings of lectures to support out-of- class learning. The presentation summarises the headline findings and discusses what this all means for institutional support to students and academic staff in teaching and learning activities.

1. How are students
engaging with
lecture recordings
as a study
resource?
Key findings from
a 4-year research
study at the
University of York
Richard Walker &
James Youdale
E-Learning Development Team
University of York, UK

2. Session Outline
 Overview of Lecture Capture at The University of York
 Timeline and Methodology of Service Evaluation
 Key Findings
 So What?
– Implications for Service Ethos
– Implications for Staff Development
 Where next?

3. Service Overview
Replay has grown in a fairly organic manner since first
introduced in 2012.
No central, top-down implementation.
Departments govern their own policy on recordings *
* As of June 2018, roughly 60% operate 'opt-out' policies. Few departments with no engagement: Music, History of Art, Centre for Women's Studies. The
latest to move to ‘Opt-out’ Sociology (Jan 2018)

4. Service Timeline
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Pilot Roll-Out Migration

5. The University of York Context – Scale, Stats & Figures
End-to-end Timetabled Lecture Capture Service
S+ & Blackboard Learn Integration (Recordings Published to VLE)
200+ Rooms Equipped Across Campus
7 Rooms Equipped for Chalkboard Capture (13 by the start of the 2018/19 Academic Year)
Service owned by the central E-Learning Development Team
Service Management post co-ordinates between Time-Tabling, IT Services & AV Team
Booking Recording Publication

6. The University of York Context – Scale, Stats & Figures
Service delivers circa 600 recordings per week*
An increase of 26% on of the previous year
UoY students view around 6000 hours per week*
Downloads not disabled centrally**
* During Term Time: Typical of Autumn, Spring
** Barring Department Policy: History, Sociology

7. 2017/18 Student Survey
2018 Focus Group
2014/15 VLE Survey
Timeline of Service Evaluation
 Key Areas of Investigation
– How students have been making use of Lecture Capture
– Impact upon studies, in-class/out of class habits
2012/13 Replay Survey
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2016/17 Student & Staff
Surveys
2015 Student Diaries &
Interviews
2013/14 Replay Survey
2013/14 VLE Survey

8. Methods Used
Survey Monkey TEL Survey via VLE
Qualtrics Via Student Union Reps
Google Forms via Panopto
Focus Groups & Interviews
Student Study Logging Diaries

10. Key Findings – How students see the resource
Lecture Capture is very helpful. I do not agree with the view that some
lecturers have where they see replay lecture capture
as a substitute. The overwhelming majority of students recognise that
both are required to achieve well..
University of York Economics Student- 2017/18 Replay Survey
“
”
Thanks for letting me lie in
University of York Biology Student- 2017/18 Replay Survey
“
”
– 92%​ of students agreed that Replay was an important part of their studies
– 90%​ of students agreed that they believe that the service has helped them to supplement the notes that they take in class.
2016/17 Replay Survey

11. Key Findings – Transformative Effects on Learning?
For most lectures, I prefer not writing notes but listening because
otherwise I won't focus. Hence, I use lecture capture to go back over the
lecture and make notes properly and neatly. I am also able to pause and
rewind the lectures to help with my understanding.
Politics Student- 2017-18 Replay Survey
“
”
Less than 41% of students ‘regularly’ watched the whole recording
Students:
• ‘skipped to the parts of the video where they wanted’ to focus (19%)
• watched back the recording at an increased speed. (40%)
2017 – 18 Replay Survey

12. Key Findings – Transformative Effects on Learning?
Of the 41% of students who reported that they ‘regularly’ watched the
whole recording
• 56% did so exclusively during ‘During Revision Periods’ or ‘To Prepare
For Assignments’
Whereas..
• 19% did so exclusively ‘On the same day of the Lecture/Seminar’ or ‘To
Prepare for the next Lecture/Seminar”
Are students missing key frames of reference when
viewing months after the pedagogic encounter?
Top 5 Departments
Represented in this
Dataset
%
Biology 24
Psychology 12
Economics 10
Chemistry 7
Computer Science 6
Does this demonstrate non-attendance, poor search
layout of recordings, or just ill-informed revision habits?

13. Key Findings – Choice of Study Environment
If I’m re-watching a lecture for revision or notes for an essay, then yeah, you do
watch it in a ‘work environment’, like my bedroom or the library.
University of York Student- 2018 Focus Group
“
”
Most students preferred home study environments to ‘on-the-go’
96%​ mostly watched in ‘personal environments’ either at home or student accommodation (2017-18 Survey)
Up from 77% in 2016 - 17
41% Reported to playing back recordings on Campus (2017-18 Survey)
Down from 53% in 2016 - 17
Strong preference towards desktop viewership
50% of students reported that downloading a recording was important to them (2016 – 17 Survey)
But only 13.7%​ claimed to have consumed recordings ‘on the go’ or in transit. (2017-18 Survey)
At home - I think it’s more accessible. I can link my laptop to the TV so I can see
it bigger and I can also have another screen where I can write down notes.
University of York Student- 2018 Focus Group
”
“

14. Key Findings – Are we making assumptions again about students’ technical skills?
Lecture Captures are wonderful, but I can't help but feel like we could all make
better use of them if we had a brief description of how to make best use
of it. The layout seems hectic at first but eventually
becomes intuitive- a single session introducing us to the feature
would be helpful to myself at least.
Mathematics Student - 2017-18 Replay Survey
“
”

15. Key Findings – Are we making assumptions again about students’ technical skills?
I feel like I’ve been here for a year and half before I realised that I could
download the lectures, but I like, travel quite a lot, and when I realised I could
watch them on the train, it was like this big breakthrough
for me!And if someone had just said that in freshers week, I could have got
so much more work done
University of York Student - 2018 Replay Focus Group
“
”

16. What do we currently offer students?
Technical Guidance
Videos
Documents
VLE Community Sites
Study Guidance & Workflows

17. Key Findings – But is that sufficient?
I know there’s like the Tutorial Videos on there - but it’s like,
you’re never really going to watch them, you
just think ‘I’ll figure it out, I know what I’m
doing’. Those first couple of talks in first-year, it’s really
tedious because you’ve just got like 8 lectures in a row, but
because everyone goes because it’s first week, and everyone
still has good intentions.
University of York Student - 2018 Replay Focus Group
“
”

18. Key Findings – Students don’t see Lecture Capture as a discussion platform
I have group chats and like, friends, where you can ask where it’s more
informal, so I don’t think it’s needed, really.
University of York Student – 2018 Focus Group
“
”
Only 4%​ of those surveyed reported to having used Panopto Discussion
59%​ reported that they ‘didn’t want to be the first person to make a discussion
post’, but ‘may use it more if their peers did’
2017 – 18 Replay Survey
I think it could be a lot more successful if it was anonymous - no matter
how confident you are, you’re always thinking like: ‘um, well what if I’m
wrong?.
University of York Student – 2018 Focus Group

19. Key Findings – Students don’t see Lecture Capture as a discussion platform
We have a course-wide group chat on Facebook - 70 plus people, and
whenever there’s like a deadline day, a week in advance, everyone is throwing
questions in there - people say ‘check on the Replay’, do this, do that - but no
one will ever use the Replay to actually discuss
University of York Student – 2018 Focus Group
“
”
I won’t be using it, as I’d be asking stupid questions. If I have a question and I
want to post it publically, I’ll just go on the VLE discussion board for the topic.
And I think that lecturers often check that as well, so you can get confirmation
from the actual lecturer.
University of York Student – 2018 Focus Group”
“

20. Key Findings – Understanding the scope of the commercial platforms
But what about our Learner Analytics?!
Outwith formal activities, students aren’t minded to use ‘your’ chosen
domains for informal discussion
They can and will use their own
 To assume that discussions between students isn’t going on is naïve
 Vendors claiming that they can monitor and report on peer interaction through
analytics is problematic - assumption that discussion is situated within formal spaces.

22. So what? The Disconnect
The hard sell for senior management:
The Ethos: “the provision of lecture recordings is purely a supplement”
…Student perceptions show otherwise!
The Ethos: Lecture Capture is badged as a process that will not compromise
teaching methods…
… But in reality, for it to be used effectively, it does require academics to buy in

23. An Unpalatable Truth?
What can academics do differently?
And I’ve found quite a lot that our lecturers play up on the fact that we use
Replay, because they just put links in the PowerPoints and expect us to follow the
links for further study. They link to maps and sources from bibliographies and stuff
like that - so they really expect us to be going back to it
University of York Student - 2018 Replay Focus Group
“
”
Students have identified positive changes to their learning with Lecture Capture where
affordances/adaptations have been made.
…but this requires compromises & upskilling by academics

24. An Unpalatable Truth?
Awareness of slide design for
the recorded medium
Incorporation of:
Shortened URLs (e.g. Bit.ly)
Augmented Reality (QR Codes)
Embedding hyperlinks via Web Editor

25. An Unpalatable Truth?
What can academics do differently?
My lecturer said: ‘instead of writing down what I’m saying or what’s on the
PowerPoint, write down the things that it makes you think about’
University of York Student - 2018 Replay Focus Group
“
”
Embedded guidance for optimising approaches to note-taking
Using Lecture Capture to facilitate a ‘heads-up’ approach in class;
e.g: ‘Write what you think, not what I say.’
Clearer guidance to students on lecture review and revision strategies

26. An Unpalatable Truth?
Changing teaching practice in classrooms
Designing in more in-class interaction
• Electronic Voting Systems to facilitate: Peer Instruction & Think-Pair-Share
Building in added value for class attendance
• Withholding in-class discussions from recordings

27. Our Current Staff Development Provision
Replay ‘Room’ Briefings Before Term
Contextualised Online Guidance
Ad-Hoc Training Sessions for Departments
Programme of Staff-Development Webinars

28. Recommendations
 Formal induction to Lecture Capture is needed for students at a point when
they are most receptive
– Built into study/skills and guidance
– Ideally contextualised by academics, rather than delivered ‘in the abstract’
 Support changes in academic practice, informed by user evidence
– Upskill academics to see a continuum in the out-of-class / in-class learning experiences
– Present Lecture Capture as an enabling medium to support both in-class active learning
& out-of-class reflective learning & guided further study
 Disseminate adapted academic practice – feed into the York Pedagogy
– Show and tell of case studies of adapted lecture recordings

29. Questions?