Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Case Study
Classroom Recordings Augment Lectures at U of Alabama
4/4/2007
Products that can record a classroom lecture and make it available after the fact sometimes raise concerns that class attendance will drop off as a result. For the most part, that hasn't been the case for Geology Professor Dr. David Brommer, who uses a classroom capture product from Tegrity at the University of Alabama to record lectures in his Principals of Physical Geography course. The course, which focuses on weather and climate, includes PowerPoint lectures, video, and group discussion.The advantages and potential drawbacks of recorded lectures
Brommer's use of Tegrity Campus 2.0 means that if students miss a lecture, they can now rely on an additional resource--an online lecture that includes an audio recording of Brommer, along with the associated PowerPoint slides, and any internet pages or other visual elements shown on the computer during class--including any notes the instructor may have made.
Brommer, who just started using the product this semester, says he had initial concerns about Tegrity's impact on class attendance, but has since relaxed. While he says he does, in fact, believe that a few students have chosen not to attend some classes because they can view the lecture later, attendance has remained consistent throughout the semester.
"I don't believe students are going to use this as an excuse not to show up all the time," he says. "Those who are not showing up weren't going to show up anyway."
Students who are paying attention and coming to class use the Tegrity recordings to augment what they are learning in class, Brommer says. "I don't really believe a student is going to sit down and watch 10 to 12 hours of my lectures the night before a test."
He continues: "Anytime I have anything on the computer [in class], I'm using the Tegrity system to capture what's on my desktop, as well as what I'm talking about at that particular time." Tegrity is installed on the classroom computer, which is housed in the podium; a microphone in the podium records the lecture. Brommer simply clicks a button on screen to begin the recording, then another to end it.
Integration, implementation, preparation
Students view the captured class in a searchable database, later by clicking on a URL in WebCT, which the University of Alabama uses for course management. As long as they have an appropriately fast Internet connection, students can watch the class afterwards at any time.
Meanwhile, using Tegrity has proven to be simple. After an initial few weeks to get familiar with the program and set it up properly, it now takes Brommer "probably five minutes" at the end of each class to access his recorded lecture through a WebCT connection, rename it, handle any editing, and post it. His editing is limited to removing dead air at the beginning and end of lectures; he typically remembers to stop the recording during any moments in class that he doesn't want to record.
Recommended Reading
- Sun, Stanford Working To Archive History
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today.
- The Quilt Coalition Rolls Out XO Communications for High-Capacity Network Services
The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Cognos Releases BI Software for Linux-based IBM System z Mainframe
Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development.
- Facebook and Collegiality: A Serendipitous Social Niche
Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
