Lecture capture technology has the potential to fundamentally alter the way instructors and students interact in the classroom. Recorded lectures can free up time that may be used for class discussions, group work, and other activities that engage students as active learners. The ability to access material at any time also allows students an opportunity to review difficult concepts, and supplement their learning experience with additional material provided by the instructor.
Some lecture capture products have been on the ISU campus for a few years. The industry is maturing, and at the same time Iowa State's license for its current lecture capture product will soon end. ITS is currently evaluating a number of lecture capture systems and will soon select one with the goal of implementing a program during the fall semester. Working with input from the Community of Educational Technology Support (ComETS) and in consultation with other Regents Institutions, ITS has prepared and let a Request for Proposal (RFP) that has attracted interest from a number of vendors. It is vital that as many stakeholders as possible provide input and that feature sets be clearly defined. Properly implanting a lecture capture initiative can require significant resources, not only in software, but also in networking and storage infrastructure.
Once the chosen system is in place, instructors will be able to not only record their in-class lectures, but will also be able to easily prepare material "off-line" for student review and discussion. Lecture capture, as a classroom technology, fits well with the expectations and needs of Millennial Students and by providing a consistent, portable, and easy-to-use system, we will be better able to meet the needs of both students and faculty.
July 02, 2010