Back in September last year I wrote a post called “to lecture capture or not to lecture capture? That’s not really the question.” Possibly because of the timing (not long after ALT-C, near the start of the new academic year) it got quite a positive response from my network. In fact it was my top viewed post last year.
In the post I explained how I had been asked to prepare a discussion paper for our Senate around lecture capture and some of my thoughts going through that process. I wrote:
“whilst I see the benefits that lecture capture can bring – there are many – I am also acutely aware of the costs (not just hardware/software) but the staff resources, and the wider CPD issues for both staff and students. At at time when we are not awash with money for anything, I have to ask is it worth spending a substantial amount of money on lecture capture? Or should we not just do something because everyone else, but instead focus our resources and efforts around changing our expectations for both staff and students on the role of not lecture capture but learning capture – those key suggests/points of knowledge transfer that really make the difference to understanding. And in doing so, take another look at the tech we already have and see how we can extend its use.”
So I duly wrote the paper, and the notion of learning capture got a favourable response and my department were asked to lead an institution wide consultation exercise.
We have just finished the first 2 meeings with staff and students. Overall both groups seemed fairly positive about the idea of learning capture as opposed to lecture capture. Perhaps not unsurprisingly the default position of many when asked about the challenges and opportunities did seem to instantly revert to thinking about issues around video recording.
In the student session, I did one of my favourite tricks using mentimeter to generate word clouds. I ask them to share the first 3 words that came to their minds when I said lecture capture and then learning capture – subtle but interesting differences.
The other really salient point brought up by the students was who decided what to capture? A great question and one which we talked about for quite a while. I can see significant opportunities for extending co-creation opportunities.
Our next meeting will be a joint one with students and staff where we can begin to develop a shared definition of learning capture.