Use of Lecture Capture in Higher Education - Lessons from the Trenches

Lecture capture, defined here as the capturing of some or all elements of a live lecture in digital format, is becoming increasingly popular in higher education. Despite this increase in popularity, fewer than 10% of institutes of higher education globally have adopted comprehensive lecture capture systems. So, the majority of instructors wanting to use lecture capture technology will find themselves having to acquire their own technology and do the capture themselves. There are several factors that influence the use of lecture capture, including the instructor’s level of comfort with technology, their budget, and the context in which they will be using the tool. Using case studies of our own experiences, we hope to illustrate a variety of ways in which lecture capture can be appropriately used in higher education in this way. Following this, we outline several challenges that we faced and provide recommendations for how to overcome these. Lastly, we describe some issues that should be considered and addressed before getting started using lecture capture technology in a way that is customized to suit the needs of both professor and student. We hope that by following the guidelines outlined in this paper, and by seeing practical examples of how lecture capture can be used in a variety of contexts, the transition from idea to implementation will be an easier one.