Recording of Class Lectures by Students

Specialties Educators

Published

Hello All,

Was hoping to get some feedback. I currently teach Fundamentals at my school and as a practice I do not allow recording of lectures. Previously I had allowed recording, however I noticed that more times than not, those who recorded the class tended to "check out" in terms of engaging with the content of lecture. One student actually turned on their recorder then sat down, crossed their arms, and just proceeded to stare for a good portion of the lecture.

I understand that learners engage with information in a variety of ways and that some students, especially auditory learners, might find it more challenging if they are unable to record. Acknowledging this, at the start of the semester I do explain my policy of not allowing recording but do state that if a student feels strongly that being unable to record might hinder their learning, that they are allowed to speak to my privately to work out a solution. So far, no one has stepped forward to ask about recording and no one has complained (either publicly or via anonymous faculty eval).

One of my colleagues disagrees and called me out during a meeting saying that if my students are "checked out" then I must not be engaging them enough. She says the literature "clearly supports" that students who record their classes tend to do better.

Would any of you have any advice, experience, or even research to support or refute the practice of recording.

Thank you for any advice you could give!

D.L.

They may not plan to hurt the instructor ahead of time ... but if something sets them off, and they can cause trouble with their homemade recording, they might do it when stressed to their coping limits.

My schools used their legal departments judiciously as well as the nursing world grapevine to deal with troublemakers.

I would not have been as successful in nursing school if it wasn't for the recorded lectures. My school was very liberal with recordings and they also made podcasts of each lecture. I am a very strong auditory learner. I used to listen to the lectures whenever I was in the car and to this day, I can still hear some of the content in my head.

I would not have been as successful in nursing school if it wasn't for the recorded lectures. My school was very liberal with recordings and they also made podcasts of each lecture. I am a very strong auditory learner. I used to listen to the lectures whenever I was in the car and to this day, I can still hear some of the content in my head.

I listened to the recordings on the way home in my car during an hour and a half commute, or during that portion that I took the bus to the Park and Ride. Very useful use of 'dead' time.

We allow it in our nursing program. It is in our course manuals.

One anecdote though...a somewhat embarrassing one.

The teachers gave the class a break. A student left her recording device on unintentionally when she left the classroom. Unfortunately, one of the teachers started to gossip about another teacher. When the student listened to the recording later that day....oh dear.

In my school, it is really up to the faculty to allow the student to record or not. I do allow the students to record. I think they would find ways to record if I did not allow them to record. I do think auditory learners do need to hear it again and it is helpful. I also ask students to talk to me before recording.

I found a research article related to digital lectures. Johnston, A., Massa, H., & Burne, T. (2013). Digital lecture recording: A cautionary tale. Nurse Education in Practice 13(1), 40-47. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2012.07.004

I only teach clinicals but I believe my school leaves the decision up to the individual instructor. Many student say that recording the lectures is very helpful.

I do allow anyone to record my lectures. It is helpful to some students, and seems to ease anxiety about the amount of material the course covers. I make it clear that the recordings cannot be shared with anyone outside of the students in the class, and they especially cannot be uploaded to a website. I put that in the syllabus, too, to be clear and to have the policy in writing.

That said, sometimes I do a fully or partially recorded lecture, and I upload videos of the lecture to the class LMS website. Occasionally, I do a voiceover PowerPoint file, but that is not my preferred mode.

By default, the students who are recording lectures are going to be those who are seeking any way to improve their comprehension. I think the students who check out when recording would likely check out even if they didnt have a recording to fall back on.

Recording is great, I have ALL of my lectures recorded with video reference to the corresponding powerpoints. The recordings arent released until after the inital on-site lecture has been given. This allows any student to go back and listen to various concepts they are stuggling with. I typically teach around 35-40 students at a time and have them all engaged aside from a few. They pay for the education so if they choose not to engage its not my problem. No instruction will every get 100% engagement during a typical lecture so dont let anyone make you think that its your fault if a student is nodding off.

I am all for allowing recordings

1 Votes

Policies shouldn't be determined because of the actions of a few. The less rules you have the better. Good rule abiding students will respect your wishes and not record. Students without respect for the rules will record anyway and gain advantage. Recording of lectures are possible without the lecturer's knowledge. fyi

As a student, I also worked over 40 hours a week and was a single mom of two. I would not have had as much success if i had not had the opportunity to play back lectures while I folded laundry, washed dishes etc. I tried listening while driving but found both activities required my full attention and that did not work for me. I feel it really helped me to record lectures where allowed. Sometimes I was checked out in class due to complete exhaustion, but I really tried to give my full attention, and my ability to engage in class was more dependent on that week's work schedule outside of school than on if I was allowed to record or not.

My favorite instructor actually recorded her lectures herself and uploaded them to the blackboard website. No one else was allowed to record but that way there was a recording if the student needed it. She also didn't use power point and hand wrote notes on the board. Everyone was engaged b/c there was no power point to stare at/reprint at home and they had to write the notes if they wanted to have them. It worked really well!

My favorite instructor actually recorded her lectures herself and uploaded them to the blackboard website.

Yes, at my nursing school almost all lectures were available on Blackboard. I couldn't imagine doing as well as I did in school without being able to listen to those lectures over and over.

+ Add a Comment