Mandatory lecture recording

EoghanIRL

Was talking to a friend about this today.
If you look at the lecture theaters in WGB or Brookfield some of them say equipped to record lectures.
After talking to international students I know it seems as if recording lecture audio and a video of the screen is normal practice outside of Ireland...England,Australia,Singapore etc..

Why is it not a thing here?
You pay for the lectures at the end of the day.
One could argue that it would affect attendance but the onus of checking attendance is not on the student and the university should have a more efficient sign in system if that would be their argument.

Even though some lecturers provide podcasts it's fair to say that the vast majority of people have to record the lectures themselves which leads to poor quality audio recordings.

Thoughts.

newacc2015

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Was talking to a friend about this today.
If you look at the lecture theaters in WGB or Brookfield some of them say equipped to record lectures.
After talking to international students I know it seems as if recording lecture audio and a video of the screen is normal practice outside of Ireland...England,Australia,Singapore etc..

Why is it not a thing here?
You pay for the lectures at the end of the day.
One could argue that it would affect attendance but the onus of checking attendance is not on the student and the university should have a more efficient sign in system if that would be their argument.

Even though some lectures provide podcasts it's fair to say that the vast majority of people have to record the lectures themselves which leads to poor quality audio recordings.

Thoughts.

I know all my lecturers in TCD generally refuse to be recorded. Some have literally lost it when someone tried to record a lecture. They want to freely say whatever they want without having to censor themselves due the possibility of a video ending up online. I have had lecturers freely talk about their encounters with former heads of state. They would not share that story if it was going to be up online.

Honestly you should be able to tell what is important in a lecture to write down. If you missed it, ask for it to be repeated.

EoghanIRL

Not good enough.
It doesn't seem to be a problem in other countries, why should it be a problem here.
We are just behind the curve.

If lecturers can't keep a lecture professional then that's their problem not ours.

convert

I agree with what newacc2015 has posted with regard to lecturers including info in a lecture that they wouldn't say if it was going to end up online. Also, some lecturers are often deliberately provocative in what they say so as to catch students' attention and to make them question why's been said.

Also: I'm pretty sure it's illegal to record someone without their permission.

newacc2015

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Not good enough.
It doesn't seem to be a problem in other countries, why should it be a problem here.
We are just behind the curve.

If lecturers can't keep a lecture professional then that's their problem not ours.

Considering Irish Universities have some of the best English, History and maths schools in the world without recording. I personally think we are setting the curve for others to follow. So of my lecturers are pros at powerpoint, but still use acetates on an overhead. I can personally say my education isnt suffering.

Its not about professionalism. Its about telling you is the norm and about the real world. Its info that cant put up online. ie one credit rating agency once down graded US bonds. Within a few days the Feds busted it offices and seized its files. If lecturers were critiquing the likes of US policy and it was online for the world to see. You might see our Universities locked out of US Student loan programmes etc. There is repercussions if you critique people of power in public

If you want we can ask lecturers to repeat the text books and keep lecturers conservative, so people have the privilege of watching their classes online. But Universities is about learning something different and learning skills for the real world. Dont forget their plenty of things textbooks cant say as they are defamation but maybe fact.There just doesnt have to be strong evidence as of yet. Your lecturer can mention this in person in class without fear of repercussions when it isnt recorded.

EoghanIRL

Yet other countries can manage it and we can't?

Luno

I don't feel that it is necessary. Some of my lecturers over the years have used Panopto but to be honest I've never really bothered listening as I feel my own notes have more value. In the cases where lecturers have used it I definitely feel there was a decline in attendance.

EoghanIRL

Luno that's fair enough , I mean what ever works for you.

I just know that in the college of medicine and health a lot of the people in different courses depend on recordings. Every lecture seems to have a massive amount of information which is often gone through quickly.
I never used to record lectures until I used one from a lecturer who makes podcasts.
It was so useful. It just isn't possible to write down all the info from a lot of the lectures because in my experience a) the amount of info in each lecture is very large b) lots of difficult concepts to understand c) talk very fast and they include info from what they say on exams. D) modules are compressed over a short period of time i.e lots of info , short period of time.
Recording is actually very important for several modules I take. If you look around 90% plus of the classes record the lectures anyway. It would be easier for them to just record them , producing a high quality audio recording. Especially when many of the rooms are equipped for it anyway..

And also the excuse of it affects attendance isn't valid. Like I said before that isn't my problem. The onus is on the university to check attendance and implement it properly. I mean from what I've heard it's mandatory in other international universities. You pay for university. As long as there aren't clinical lectures etc which require mandatory attendance then the choice is surely yours? The people who attend lectures would attend even with audio recording. The people who don't attend lectures anyway won't make a difference. If you miss a lecture or can't write down everything , you have a back up . Win win as far as I am concerned.

Peregrinus

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Yet other countries can manage it and we can't?

They manage it, but possibly, as already indicated, at some cost to the content of the lectures, or the informality with which they are delivered, or to the amount or nature of interaction with students.

And of course this may impact differently in different disciplines. You mention the massive amounts of information delivered in lectures in medical courses. Lectures in other courses are really not about delivering information at all, but about discussing material which the students (are supposed to) have already read. If there's a heavy data content to any lecture, I'd suggest the lecturer should be distributing a handout with the data, so that students can spend their time listening to what he has to say, rather than furiously writing it down.

Luno

I was thinking about this earlier on and I think that it should be more widely enforced. I pay a lot of money for my education, the facilities are there so there really isn't an excuse.

flo8s967qjh0nd

Sure if you're happy to watch a video of the lecture, why not go the whole hog and buy in your lectures from somewhere else. What's the point in attending lectures in the first place?
If you're not capable of making a good set of notes from attending your lectures, then you might need to question whether you really should be in college at all.
And finally, this idea that you've "paid for the lectures" and can have them any way you choose is a new low for higher education. It's not a tin of beans your buying.

challengemaster

EoghanIRL wrote: »

You pay for the lectures at the end of the day.

You pay for the education - It could very easily be argued that the lectures are intellectual property of the lecturer. As such there's loads of IP issues and copyright concerns to be addressed.

Do Me Good

EoghanIRL wrote: »

To be honest I don't think it's necessary to record them if you can take adequate notes and listen during lectures. Lecture slides are usually good quality anyway.

A change of heart?

I like that they're not recorded as it makes it a challenge. I like feeling that I have a competitive edge over the others this way, and that's a big part of what motivates me. Studying would be less stressful if they were recorded, BUT you'd probably end up studying more in total... think about it. If they were all recorded, it'd make me feel like as if; that not studying what's been spoon fed to you would be wasteful, and then I'd feel a compulsion to study them all... which would make me a reclusive nerd.

I don't seem to notice others recording with their phones at all. If it was assumed that others in the class were recording, you'd notice a change in behavior. Or maybe that's why students are too shy to ask any questions!!! You'd need an smart phone anyway. If you record them yourself, you'd never get around to listening to all of them. You'd really be recording just in case you might need to listen back. I think sitting through a lecture twice would drive you mad.

I've only come across 2 lecturers in my 3.5 yrs of study who record. One guy record in such a way that there's little video of him in the bottom corner of the podcast, so you can actually see him demonstrating.

On the opposite extreme to this, there another lecturer I have (who doesn't record) who mumbles in an Irish accent about the most complex chemical pathways. Interestingly, the attendance for him is only slightly lower. And all the erasmus students still attend even though they obviously can't understand a word!!