Recording lectures using personal capture

14 February 2014

It's really ridiculously easy

These were the words of Angie Raymond who met with us to share her experience of using the Q-Review lecture capture system. Angie is from the Centre for Commercial Law Studies and she uses the Q-Review personal capture software, which is installed on her laptop. She takes her laptop to class with her and records her live lectures, which she then publishes directly to the Q-Review server with the click of a button. 

“Students were using their own devices to record the lecture anyway...” Angie pointed out, and so this tool made it easier for both herself and for her students. Many of her students are studying Law in English even though English is not their first language, so they are able to review the lecture recording at their own pace. This allowed Angie to be more comfortable in delivering her lecture, as she did not have to spend extra time going over information in the classroom, as she knew that they could go back and listen to the recording. 

Angie also admitted that she was able to use the recordings for her own self-reflection in order to make improvements to her lectures… “I listen to the recording, and think about how I was delivering the material – did I go too fast, did I explain it properly?” 

She has recorded about 20 live sessions so far, for over 100 students. Angie emphasised that she takes attendance and it has remained very high throughout the year. She stressed that “most students know that attending a lecture live allows you to ask questions and be engaged…the capture service is used for review”. 

Hints and tips for recording

• “I was nervous at first. I was fearful that I would show up on YouTube or that students would make fun of the video – but none of these have happened.” 
• “It’s worked wonderfully to capture my lecture, but I’m not sure I would use it for my tutorials…”
• “Staff should think about if they want to do a video capture – I chose not to because I am an energetic lecturer and I scribble on the board, so the video was a bit strange to watch, as you fly in front of the camera. The audio and screen was very useful.” 
• “If I had to do it over, I would practice a bit more. The first few lectures you can tell that I am a bit conscious of the recording. It came across a bit unnatural. But now I don’t feel so focussed on the technology, I don’t even remember it’s there.”
• "In the future I might record intros to the class, give some basic/background information that I would like to use, but don’t want to go through it in class. I can do this at home on my laptop now.”

Watch the video to listen to the full interview.