General FAQs about Lecture Capture at SLU

Lecture capture is just what it sounds like--a way to capture or record (full or partial) lectures or other lesson content. With most lecture capture tools, lectures can be pre-recorded and distributed to students ahead of time, or they can be captured during a live class session and made available for review afterward.

Panopto is the University-supported lecture capture tool used at SLU. For specific tips on how to use Panopto, go to https://sites.google.com/slu.edu/slu-atc/home/faculty-support/panopto. To talk with someone about how best to use a tool like Panopto for student learning and engagement, contact the Reinert Center.

Lecture capture (LC) has been shown to have multiple benefits for student learning. Having a recorded lecture offers students the ability to review material at their own pace for better understanding. (This can be particularly helpful for international and other multilingual students, students with disabilities, and others.) This self-paced attribute also provides flexibility in students’ note-taking. Recordings provide additional resources that complement (not replace) the classroom experience by giving opportunities to review demonstrations, previous lectures, and guest speaker presentations. The most obvious benefit is that students who miss the lecture during class have the opportunity to catch up on the material. Another option is for instructors to record lectures/lessons outside the classroom and assign the recordings as homework; in this model, class time can be used for hands-on work, student-instructor interaction, student peer mentoring, and other interactive problem-solving processes (Zhu, Bergom, 2010).

Lecture capture works best as a supplement to traditional instruction, not a replacement for it. Students generally use the lecture recordings to review material, complete homework, and review for exams and tests. This is especially useful for technical courses, like chemistry and biology, where significant amounts of detailed information are presented during each class lecture. (Fernandez, Simo, Sallian, 2009)

Faculty also benefit from lecture capture in a variety of ways. Here are just a few: faculty can save time by presenting a lecture only once, with the ability to use it multiple times; students can be directed back to the recorded lecture if they miss class or have clarification questions; and faculty can create mini-lectures on supplemental content, which can be accessed as a supplement for those students who need it.

There are no hard-and-fast rules about how instructors use lecture capture. In class, the usual approach is to use the classroom system to record the instructor's PowerPoint slides (or any other content displayed on the instructor's computer) and to record the lecture audio. Because most students use LC to review their notes and for exams, it can be useful for the instructor to add annotations and notes to a LC recording after it has been recorded if the software allows it. Outside of class, some instructors record their lectures at home or in their offices (using Panopto and a microphone), then require the students to view/listen to the recording as homework, in preparation for the next class meeting. In these cases, during class time students work problems and examples, while the instructor is present to help troubleshoot and re-teach key concepts. This increasingly more common approach is sometimes referred to as "classroom flipping," since the typical content of a class period is "flipped" to homework, and homework (e.g., applied problems, case studies, etc.) is “flipped” to the classroom. This option is particularly welcome for instructors who wish to build more interactive learning into their classes.

While recording and offering only audio versions of lectures are shown to be useful, the most benefit comes when instructors are able to record their presentation (PowerPoint, etc., or document camera) synced with the audio. One study showed that providing video of the instructor presenting the material, or having an image in its place, did not demonstrate any significant improvements in student performance or engagement (Petherbridge, 2010).

It depends on the situation. The same privacy considerations that would apply in a brick and mortar classroom, particularly to student work, apply when recording in-class lectures/lessons. Panopto is primarily intended to extend accessibility of the lecture experience to students who have registered for a specific course, for a specific period of time (e.g., semester). If Panopto is used to disseminate student presentations, small group discussions, or seminar classes beyond a defined course, instructors are responsible for obtaining student consent prior to distribution. Click here for a sample consent form. Faculty members are not required to obtain student consent when broadcasting their own image and content; when no student participation is recorded; or when incidental student participation is recorded and the broadcast is directed to a defined course. Note: instructors wishing to use any student material as part of a research project (including educational research) should consult with SLU’s Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Faculty, staff, and students are responsible for observing copyright law including educational fair use guidelines, obtaining appropriate permission from the copyright holder, and following University policies when incorporating third party content into a Panopto recording. Captured lectures/lessons that contain short excerpts from a third party may be eligible for dissemination without permission subject to educational fair use guidelines. For more guidance, please see these Copyright Guidelines from University Libraries.

No. In all cases, duplication or redistribution by students is prohibited. Students may not copy or redistribute lecture/lesson capture materials without the express, written permission of the course instructor. Unauthorized duplication or dissemination of lecture capture materials may violate federal or state law and University policy. Violation of University policy may result in disciplinary action.

Lectures recorded through Panopto are stored in the cloud but can be downloaded in multiple formats at the discretion of the instructor. Instructors and students can access these files either by going directly to Panopto, slu.hosted.panopto.com, by going into their courses through Blackboard Learn or Canvas (SOM).

Panopto is a cloud-based service. Recorded lectures are stored on Panopto’s secure servers. The default recording setting limits access of captured content to those individuals with appropriate access to the course in Blackboard Learn and Canvas. Faculty have the option of extending access.