Digital Learning Capture - FAQs

Digital Learning Capture has many pedagogic benefits and, in accordance with the University’s obligations under the Equality Act 2010, its use can help to facilitate an inclusive learning environment of benefit to all.

Digital Learning Capture is a valuable resource for students and can be beneficially used:

• To aid students who have accessibility requirements or educational needs.
• As an aid for revision or post-lecture review.
• To enable complex ideas or concepts to be revisited and reflected upon.
• To support students who are unable to attend a lecture (e.g., due to illness or a caring responsibility).
• To support students for whom English is not a first language.
• To provide the benefits and flexibility of blended and distance learning. 

Digital Learning Capture is often referred to as "lecture capture", but this is only one use case for this type of technology. While recording lectures is a valuable part of what Digital Learning Capture can provide for your students, recording other learning activities both inside and outside of the classroom is also possible, including those that take place online. You can also enable your learners to submit media they have made for assessment, as well as record content to share with their instructors and peers, if that provides some benefit to their education.

Numerous studies on the impact of Digital Learning Capture on student attendance have been carried out, and for every paper that suggests attendance will drop (e.g., Drouin, M.A., 2014. If You Record It, Some Won’t Come) there is another stating that there is no (or negligible) impact on attendance (e.g., Nordmann, E. et al., 2017. Turn up, tune in, don’t drop out: The relationship between lecture attendance, use of lecture recordings, and achievement at different levels of study).

Recordings are not a replacement for attendance in class. While a recording will provide a certain amount of understanding, this does not replace the full experience of engaging in class with your lecturer and fellow students. Digital Learning Capture recordings will not replace direct contact time between academics and students.

As von Konsky et al (2009) stated "if students perceive that something is of value to their learning, they will tend to use it". This applies both to the use of recordings and the use of the classroom. If the opportunity to engage with academic colleagues and peers in the classroom provides understandable benefit to the student and their learning, they will be more inclined to attend.

Teaching spaces on campus are set up as standard to record audio within the room and anything displayed on the projection screen, with webcams available in some spaces. The ReCap recording software (YuJa) is also available to download for free, enabling you to record on the go using personal devices such as laptops and tablets.

Once you have made your recording it will be uploaded to your personal ReCap ‘My Media’ space. At this point the recording is only visible to you. You will need to publish it to your Blackboard for students to access it. Guidance on how to do this is available via the TEL Knowledge Base for Staff.

There is a built-in editor within the ReCap system that will allow you to undertake a variety of editing options should you wish. Guidance is available for staff via the TEL Knowledge Base for Staff and for students via the Student TEL Knowledge Base.

Training on how to edit recordings is available, bookable via StaffSpace (search for “ReCap”).

Yes, captioning is included within the system. Transcripts of the recording are also available to be downloaded.

The accuracy of automatic captioning is dependent upon a range of factors, including microphone positioning and background noise. Whilst there is no expectation of staff to manually add/edit captions, staff should be mindful that erroneous or mis-transcribed captions may cause confusion for students. Staff concerned about the overall quality of auto-generated captions should contact their Digital Academic Developer. 

There is a difference between using material in class and recording that material, as far as copyright is concerned. Refer to detailed guidance on this on the Library & Learning Resources web site.

As standard, recordings will be retained for the period of the academic year within which the recording was made plus two additional academic years. This is to ensure that students on a typical three-year course retain access to recordings for the duration of their studies. 

LTE will undertake a housekeeping process each summer to highlight to staff which recordings will be deleted in line with Digital Learning Capture policy retention period. As part of this process, staff will be contacted and given the opportunity to retain their content ahead of any deletions taking place.

Within the ReCap system, it is possible to ‘tag’ recordings so that they are excluded from the annual housekeeping process. Staff should contact their Digital Academic Developer for further information.

As standard, access to recordings will be restricted to the cohort for whom the recording was originally made. 

The cohort for whom recordings were originally made are entitled to continued access in line with the retention policy noted above, therefore – in these circumstances - the University will be entitled to continue to use recorded lectures in which the former employee owns Performance Rights. Beyond this, the University will not be entitled to use any recordings in which the former employee owns Performance Rights, unless the written permission of the former employee has first been obtained.

Staff leaving the University are asked to contact their Digital Academic Developer so that relevant recordings can be retained. 

Where a student’s Learning Support Plan (LSP) requires the availability of a recording, the formal teaching session must be recorded, or – as noted in 8.1 of the Digital Learning Capture policy – the affected student(s) will be permitted to make a personal audio recording of the formal teaching session.