Meaningful lesson recordings

For some of the students, using lesson recordings better suits their learning style (Chapin, 2018) or personal situation (e.g. combining work with studying). It allows them to study efficiently which promotes their well-being. Or it makes them less anxious or stressed and thus may contribute to better learning outcomes (Danielson et al., 2014; Topale, 2016). Lesson recordings can also be valuable tools for students with dyslexia or for students who speak a native language other than the language of instruction (Leadbeater et al., 2013). By providing lesson recordings, you allow students to make their own choices based on their needs and the learning style that best suits them (Doggrell, 2020).

Most studies have shown that such fears are unjustified (Topale, 2016; Witton, 2017; Chapin, 2018; Nordmann et al., 2019). Lesson recordings can even have a positive effect (Danielson et al., 2014; Topale, 2016), especially if students use them in an active way. Encourage them to use a recording as a supplement rather than a substitute for attending class (Aldamen et al., 2015). You can advise students who cannot attend your class to pause or delay a recording so they can take notes or look up additional information in their course materials or on the internet. Few students watch a recording completely passively (Topale, 2016). Nevertheless, make sense students aware of possible negative effects in terms of efficient time allocation.

Even though students are the ones asking for lesson recordings and lesson recordings can optimise their learning, it is not always advisable to provide recordings for every programme component. Considerations about the usefulness and feasibility of lesson recordings can in part be made by each individual lecturer. However, each programme component is part of a larger whole and the wider context can also play a role in these considerations, so it is best to coordinate with your colleagues of the relevant education or programme committee. 

Specify in the ECTS sheet/course information of your programme component if you provide lesson recordings and, if so, when they will be accessible (e.g. immediately after class or only in the preparation period before the exams, for a limited period or for the rest of the semester).

Not every lesson is suited to being recorded. Consider, for example, lessons in which sensitive or political issues are discussed. When making lesson recordings, please do not change your teaching style or content for the sake of the recording. If necessary, pause the recording during certain parts of your lesson or edit the recording afterwards by cutting out parts. Another option is to not include lessons covering such topics at all and to include all other lessons of the programme component. Communicate this to students and explain your choice clearly (Nordmann et al., 2022).

Don’t like teaching in front of an empty lecture hall? Do you think students will stop coming to your classes if you provide recordings? Studies have found that there is little evidence that lesson recordings have a systematic negative impact on student attendance during class (O’Callaghan et al., 2017; Nordmann & McGeorge, 2018). For the vast majority of students, its availability does not determine whether they attend your class (Topale, 2016). It is important, however, that students are not just ‘given the course content’ during class. Make sure there are other good reasons to attend your classes. Encourage students to feel it’s best to ‘attend class live’, for example by interacting with them or by having students do group work on the course content (Danielson et al., 2014; Topale, 2016).

Explain to your students how they can best use lesson recordings specifically for your programme component. Also make them aware that when recording, certain visual and auditory information (such as your body language and expression, your notes on the board and/or student input) may be lost. The activating parts of a lesson do not always translate well to a recording. So let your students know in advance when you will be using teaching methods such as group work or debate. This gives them extra motivation to come to class or they know that the recording (or a part thereof) will be less valuable (Nordmann et al., 2022). But make sure to not leave out students that cannot attend the class in question (e.g. due to work or illness) and provide alternative ways for them to catch up with the course content.

Lesson recordings are used by different students in different ways. Lecturers’ concerns about the use of lesson recordings are often related to concerns about their students’ study method and self-direction. Since most students have no experience with lesson recordings when they start university, they often lack the competences needed to use it meaningfully (Nordmann et al., 2022). They often have not yet developed a learning style suited to their needs and are more susceptible to inefficient use of lesson recordings (Drouin, 2014). So give students (especially first-years) the necessary tips. Nordmann et al. (2022) has created a clear guide to visualise the tips.

For example, in preparation for upcoming practicals, have students watch your demonstration of lab skills, as recorded during class the year before. Recording a knowledge clip demonstrating skills once and then making it available every year is, of course, also possible. Or might there be high-quality videos on the World Wide Web that you can easily refer to? See also the ECHO teaching tips Flipped classroom (2019) and Online practicals: why, what and how (2021). 

Learning materials developed specifically to be viewed online – if embedded into the design of your programme component – usually have a more beneficial learning effect than merely making a recording of your lesson available afterwards (Williams et al., 2016). As a lecturer, the development and/or sourcing of such learning materials may initially take some extra time; however, if you make sure that the materials are sustainably usable, you will more than recoup this time afterwards (Witton, 2017). See also ECHO teaching tips (2017) How to make a screencast effective and enjoyable and Didactic considerations for screencasts (both tips in Dutch).

Raupach et al. (2015) selected the ten best lesson recordings from the previous academic year for their programme component. Prior to a new live lecture, the relevant recording was made available to students each time along with an open question on its core content. Students could answer this question through email. The correct answer was then discussed during the live lecture. Students who performed the two-part preparation (i.e. watch the recording and try to answer the question) scored significantly better on both a short-term and long-term retention test than students who only attended the live lectures.

​UAntwerp’s vision text on Blended learning – Section 4.3. Lesson recordings (available to UAntwerp staff after logging in)

Aldamen, H., Al-Esmail, R., & Hollindale, J. (2015). Does lecture capturing impact student performance and attendance in an introductory accounting course? Accounting Education, 24(4), 291–317.

Chapin, L.A. (2018). Australian university students’ access to web-based lecture recordings and the relationship with lecture attendance and academic performance. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 34(5).

Danielson, J., Preast, V., Bender, H., & Hassall, L. (2014). Is the effectiveness of lecture capture related to teaching approach or content type? Computers & Education, 72, 121–131.

Doggrell, S.A. (2020). No apparent association between lecture attendance or accessing lecture recordings and academic outcomes in a medical laboratory science course. BMC Medical Education, 20, 207. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02066-9

Drouin, M.J., Gibbon, S., & Thomas, J. (2018). Lecture recording: A new norm. The Law Teacher, 52, 1–19.

Leadbeater, W., Shuttleworth, T., Couperthwaite, J., & Nightingale, K.P. (2013). Evaluating the use and impact of lecture recording in undergraduates: Evidence for distinct approaches by different groups of students. Computers & Education, 61, 185–192.

Marchand, J., Pearson, M., & Albon, S. (2014). Student and faculty member perspectives on lecture capture in pharmacy education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 78(4), 74.

Nordmann, E., Küpper-Tetzel, C.E., Robson, L., Phillipson, S., Lipan, G.I., & McGeorge, P. (2022). Lecture capture: Practical recommendations for students and instructors. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 8(3), 174–193.

Nordmann, E., & McGeorge, P. (2018). Lecture capture in higher education: Time to learn from the learners. PsyArxiv. http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ux29v

O’Callaghan, F.V., Neumann, D.L., Jones, L., & Creed, P.A. (2017). The use of lecture recordings in higher education: A review of institutional, student, and lecturer issues. Education and Information Technologies, 22, 399-415. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s10639-015-9451-z

Raupach, T., Grefe, C., Brown, J., Meyer, K., Schuelper, N., & Anders, S. (2015). Moving knowledge acquisition from the lecture hall to the student home: A prospective intervention study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 17(9), e223. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3814

Topale, L. (2016). The strategic use of lecture recordings to facilitate an active and self-directed learning approach. BMC Medical Education, 16, 201. DOI 10.1186/s12909-016-0723-0

Williams, A.E., Aguilar-Roca, N.M., & O’Dowd, D.K. (2016). Lecture capture podcasts: differential student use and performance in a large introductory course. Education Tech Research Dev, 64, 1–12. DOI 10.1007/s11423-015-9406-5

Witton, G. (2017). The value of capture: Taking an alternative approach to using lecture capture technologies for increased impact on student learning and engagement. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(4), 1010–1019.

Zureick, A.H., Burk-Rafel, J., Purkiss, J.A., & Hortsch, M. (2018). The interrupted learner: How distractions during live and video lectures influence learning outcomes. Anatomical Sciences Education, 11, 366–376.