Friday 08-02-2019 - 14:35

I’m back on rant- mode to tell you about something that’s been niggling on my nerves now since September. 

Back in September, the University brought in Lecture Capture to about 40 rooms. Having your lectures recorded and put up on Moodle is so useful for being able to revise and write up your notes. It’s also great if you are forced to miss a lecture, due to illness or work, and I’m not being funny but who’s never had to take a day off? Lecture Capture, in my eyes is just an absolute lifesaver. 

So why doesn’t everybody have it? I’ve had no end of students telling me their lecturer simply refuses to upload their lectures to Moodle (for a whole host of tinfoil hat reasons). I’ve heard some students tell me the room they have their lectures in doesn’t even have the equipment, and if I hear one more thing about a flashing light, I am going to lose my head!

Only 40 rooms have it at the minute, and that means that anyone on a small course can’t get their lectures recorded, and even if you are lucky enough to be in a big lecture hall, that doesn’t mean you’re getting your recordings. Did you know, if you’re in a lecture theatre that has lecture capture, the lecture is already being automatically recorded? It’s up to your Unit Leader to put them onto Moodle. But, if they happen to hate their own voice on recordings, some of them just don’t, because there’s zero rule at the university to say that they should. Relatable, but irritating AF when you need to revise.

I took my pitchfork to the University about this and it seems that the situation is more complicated than simply forcing lecturers to use it. I wanted to find out why some lecturers so against it, and stumbled across a steaming pile of crazy talk. I’ve heard some super paranoid rumours floating around, scaring lecturers away from letting students have the recordings. One of the staff’s unions (not naming any names here) was advising lecturers to withhold recordings, and generally scaring lecturers out of using it. People got scared that students would just not show up anymore if they posted the lectures on Moodle, WTF? 73% of you told us that the main reason you use lecture capture was to ‘understand content more clearly.’ To go over it again, rather than just skipping class. So that’s total crap, moving on. 

Rumour even started spreading that your lecturer’s manager was spying and listening in to your lectures and judging the quality of the lecture, so no wonder everyone started freaking out. The university clearly stated would not be allowed but still agreed that using Lecture Capture would be optional, mainly to keep everyone happy and to avoid a big old kick off with the staff union. This seemed fair enough at the time, but since then the whole situation just feels more and more ridiculous, and I think it is time to set something straight.      

Lecture Capture should not be optional simply because some lecturers are worried students will stop showing up, or that the Illuminati will start listening to them- because neither of these things are true. We had some myths to dispel and some true colours to expose, and in all honesty it wasn’t that hard at all. 

So we set about writing what felt like the most obvious report in the world. We asked all of you lovely lot to tell us exactly what you thought about the whole thing. We put out a survey about Lecture Capture, and we even gave away an iPad. 

You told us how you felt about Lecture Capture, and my goodness did you deliver! You told us it is good for students with dyslexia. You told us it is good for students who have children. You told us it is good for students who need to take time off to support their mental health. You told us it was making your lectures more interesting, because some lecturers were using less PowerPoint slides: FINALLY!

We wrote all of this into a report and this is what I recommended that overall students wanted to see. I presented the report to the University’s Education committee yesterday, I can’t wait to tell you all about what’s happening next! 

Big love to lecturers who use Lecture Capture, you absolute babes.