Communications of the ACM
Classroom Capture Adds Flexibility for Faculty, Students
Credit: Boise State University
This fall semester marked a major step forward for the integration of teaching and technology at Boise State University with more than half of the university's general purpose classrooms equipped with classroom lecture capture technology.
It led to students accessing 2,556 individual classroom capture recordings 347,357 times via Blackboard through November. More than 50 classrooms now have this capability, compared with less than 20 a year ago.
Faculty member Jeff Anderson teaches several courses in the College of Health Sciences and uses classroom capture to provide students with numerous opportunities to review complex material, time shift their "attendance," and take courses that otherwise would not be possible.
"I have had students who are able to take my courses that are scheduled at the same time as other courses because of the ability to time shift," he says. "I have had several students who are out of state or from another country, and lecture capture helps to make them feel like they are literally in the class."
Students who have used classroom capture say it is a convenient way to access course materials, help them catch up if they had to miss a class, prepare for homework and exams, and clarify concepts discussed in class, according to Brian McDevitt, associate director, Office of Information Technology operations.
OIT collected student feedback through a survey sent to 5,219 students who used the service this fall. Of the 1,256 students who responded, about 82 percent of respondents said they used the videos to help them clarify or take further notes. Sixty-one percent said they like the use of classroom capture, and 69 percent said more instructors should use classroom capture for their lectures.
Student comments from the survey included:
• "I used it to fill in gaps where the instructor went just a little too fast."
• "Missed class and was able to make it up."
• "Professor was out of town and that was the way we watched his lecture for the day."
• "Classroom capture took stress out of note taking when [you] don't write fast enough."
• "I just liked it if he or she was going too fast, I could slow down or repeat it to make sure I got everything clearly."
• "I had a hard time listening to [the] lecture and taking notes. This way I can engage in the classroom and take notes later."
• "Classroom capture has clarified things I may have missed during the lecture."
• "Not only did it allow me to catch up but also to catch things I missed that were important during class."
• "Classroom capture helped me to form new questions and develop further ideas for my projects."
• "Used while traveling for soccer."
New software also has allowed faculty to offer "flipped classrooms" this fall, publishing lectures to Blackboard, iTunes, or YouTube, in some cases instantly. Faculty have made use of this technology to create 788 videos this fall.
With desktop capture, the instructor teaches to the camera and students can watch the lesson before they come to class as homework. Students can access the videos from Blackboard on their mobile devices, laptops, or home computers.
In addition to enhancing classroom capabilities, OIT provides seamless service to students, faculty, and staff at The Zone, and Academic Technologies provides direct support for faculty exploring the use of digital media through workshops, webinars, and one-on-one consultations.
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