Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide definitions and guidelines for using lecture capture and classroom capture practices within teaching practice. The policy is designed to preserve a balance between the intellectual property rights of faculty members, the privacy rights of students, and the educational goals of Lindenwood University.

Applications

To meet educational goals, faculty can choose from an array of instructional tools and technology to assist with delivering content to or facilitating learning with students. From this menu of available resources, Lecture Capture and Classroom Capture can be appropriate options.  When public health, community, or market conditions necessitate, the university administration reserves the right to shift expectations to universal classroom capture to avoid disruptions to the learning environment and to preserve equitable opportunities for students to access instruction.

Scope

This policy applies to all employees, staff, students, and other individuals using information technology resources for instruction through credit bearing or non-credit courses.

Definitions

4.1 Lecture Capture is the recording of pre-recorded webinars, short instructional videos, and recordings of live lectures and is usually limited to the instructor and those assisting the instructor with the demonstration or discussion.

4.2 Classroom Capture is the video and audio recording of a whole-classroom including the students attending the class either virtually or in person.

4.3 Participants are any faculty, staff, students, or guest speakers who are present and identifiable in a lecture capture or classroom capture recording.

5.0 Guide to Effective Use

There are benefits to each approach. Identify clear goals for your lectures/class time and consider the ways you want students to use the recordings.

Lecture capture works well because it affords the faculty member the ability to:

• easily create a high-quality video/audio recordings
• record brief videos covering one or a few ideas at a time
  • Determine whether you have the time to prepare recordings consistently throughout the semester
  • Consider that these mini-lectures could be useful for various reasons:
    • they are much faster to upload to the LMS than an hour-long video
    • an instructor can assign several of these to be viewed in a sequence to create a longer, connected lecture broken into segments. The instructor breaks up content intentionally, where it makes sense rather than a student pausing 18 minutes into a 50 minute video lecture where there is no logical break in content, for example.
    • an instructor might find use for one mini-lecture in multiple courses (for example, you might cover persuasive strategies in both Public Speaking and Advertising and be able to use your videos addressing those in various courses)
  • engage with one audience at a time, using the tools that work for a given audience
    • Consider that when students view a classroom capture video after the fact, they are unlikely to experience the instructor as “talking to them” as the instructors eye contact and attention is focused on students who are in the room or participating synchronously from a distance.
    • Instructors have to consider how what they are presenting or discussing in the classroom translates to an asynchronous video viewing. For example, if the instructor writes on the board, this might not be visible on the video, so an annotation tool on the computer or tablet might be necessary to use while in the classroom. Another example is that the instructor might need to repeat a student’s question either because it could be too quiet to hear on the audio recording or because it was contained in the chat (if there are students joining synchronously at a distance).
  • Use the videos as a means for “flipping the classroom.” If the instructor require students to listen to recordings before class, then the class time can be used for discussion, problem-solving, interactive activities, application exercises, etc.

Lecture capture works well for students because:

• they are more likely to feel engaged if they view a video wherein the instructor is close to the camera, simulating eye contact by looking into the camera, appearing side-by-side with any content presented via slides or annotation tool, and directing attention to the video viewer rather than to an audience in a classroom
• they can watch in short spurts or all at once without having to pause a video where it might not make sense to have a break in content
• they can easily find what idea they’re looking for if they want to re-watch to ensure understanding or while they are studying

Therefore, if the goal of the recording is to engage asynchronous students as much as possible by providing a learning experience that seems to be created specifically for the asynchronous format or student, lecture capture is likely the best choice.

Classroom capture works well because it affords the faculty member the ability to:

• provide a lecture/learning activity only once and make it available to any students who were not present for it
• include in the video questions and comments from other students, which can benefit student learning and save faculty time in answering the same questions from different student audiences
• include in the asynchronous learning at least a glimpse into (if not participation in) activities that occurred in the classroom that the asynchronous student might otherwise miss out on completely
  • Consider that if faculty use lecture capture, they might want to simulate similar or the same activities in an asynchronous way

Classroom capture works well for students because:

• they may feel that they are getting roughly the same experience/content as students who were present synchronously
• they can hear what their peers were thinking as they learned the content
• it might motivate students to attend synchronously so that they can be a part of the class rather than observing the class afterward

Therefore, if the goal of the recording is to ensure that all students hear and see the same content delivery and conversation about that content, classroom capture is likely the best choice. 

6.0 Accessibility

To meet the needs of a students with disabilities who have a signed accommodation letter from the Accessibility Officer, faculty can provide the lecture / classroom capture, or they may permit the student to record the lecture / class meeting. See the Information for Students with Accommodations.

7.0 Privacy

When utilizing classroom capture faculty, staff, students, and guest speakers must comply with FERPA and the University’s privacy policies. All participants should be made aware that the session is being recorded.  Any lecture capture or classroom capture recordings made by faculty, staff, or students may not be disseminated to anyone not enrolled in the course without the express written permission of the all participants who are recognizable in the recording.

8.0 Copyright and Fair Use

Anyone recording, using, or accessing lecture / classroom capture content must comply with all applicable copyright laws and the University’s Copyright policy and the University’s Information Technology Acceptable Use policy. 

9.0 Ownership and Intellectual Property

Ownership of lecture / classroom capture content shall be determined in accordance with the University’s Intellectual Property policy, which states “If faculty or staff produce materials for courses at the direction of Lindenwood University or in the ordinary course of employment with the institution, Lindenwood University retains a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to those materials. This means that LU may use the material, without collecting any royalty or fees from the material, for an unlimited period of time.  Faculty or Staff who produced these course materials are also free to continue to use them for their own purposes.”  To protect lecture / classroom capture content, the instructor should inform students in the syllabus that the instructor has granted students access to the material for limited purpose of participating in the course  and the instructor requires written consent for students to duplicate or share, in any fashion, lecture / classroom capture content. 

10.0 Guest Speakers

Recordings of course guest speakers made in advance or in real-time may be used to supplement spoken or posted course information.  Guest speaker recordings are subject to copyright laws and may only be used with the consent of the speaker for a duration outlined in an agreement between the speaker and member of the university.

11.0 Storage

All recordings made with Canvas Conferences can be stored within the Canvas shell indefinitely and can be deleted at the faculty member’s discretion. Faculty members may also download recordings and provide them to students via the Canvas “Files” function. Students may not distribute recordings to anyone who is not enrolled in the specific course and section for which the recording was produced—in other words, recordings must remain within the Canvas shell of the course. This requirement protects the privacy of recorded students and the intellectual property of the instructor.

12.0 Procedures

Technical Support – for questions about how to use the OWL cameras and the Big Blue Button, please contact the Lindenwood Help Desk at Helpdesk@lindenwood.edu

Instructional Support – For questions about how to use Canvas, please contact Lindenwood Online at lindenwoodonline@lindenwood.edu. For consultation on teaching strategies, please contact the Lindenwood Learning Academy at learningacademy@lindenwood.edu or Lindenwood Online.

13.0 Questions / Waivers

Please direct inquiries about this policy to academicaffairs@lindenwood.edu.

14.0 Policy Violation

The university is very concerned about the privacy and property rights of all employees and students and takes violations of any of these policies very seriously.  All employees and students are subject to the university’s disciplinary policies as stated in the employee guidebook and the student handbook and should consider violations of these policies grounds for the maximum discipline allowed under these guidelines up to and including termination / dismissal.

Approved by Faculty Council 9/9/2021
Approved by Deans Council 9/14/2021
Approved by University Curriculum Committee 1/19/2022
Approved by Provost and VP for Academic Affairs 3/15/2022