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Lecture Capture FAQs for SLU Faculty

Who owns my recorded lectures?

You do. As with all course materials you create for a class, the recorded lecture belongs to you. See the Intellectual Property section of the Faculty Manual for a statement of the policy. Click here to access the Faculty Manual.

Who has access to my recorded lectures?

By default, captured/recorded content is only available to students enrolled in the course where the content is available. Instructors can elect to extend access as appropriate. If the instructor chooses to make the captures for a course available in different downloadable formats, the content could then be shared with other users as well. Other access that is consistent with your department or college policies may apply. https://support.panopto.com/s/article/Download-a-Video-for-Offline-Viewing

What can the University do with my recorded lectures?

You (as instructor), not the University, make recorded lectures available to your students (and perhaps others). The University will not distribute your content to anyone else.

How do I decide whether or not to record my lectures?

In general, faculty decide when and how to record lectures, based on their own preferences, course goals, etc. In some cases a department or program may require the use of lecture capture (e.g., large, multi-section courses with standardized curricula). Such decisions are made at the unit level. If you think you may be required to use lecture capture, check with your department Chair or program Director. You also may want to talk with someone in the Reinert Center or consult these Tips for Teaching with Lecture Capture.

What formats are available for recording lectures?

The default recording format for Panopto at SLU is MP4, which can be streamed or downloaded, depending on your settings. If you choose, you may make lectures downloadable as videos or MP3s, which are audio only. This would give students the ability to download your lectures and listen to them on their smart phones or media players. Making files downloadable gives students the most flexibility for accessing and reviewing them. However, this option also means instructors cannot control who can view or access them later, since students would have the ability to re-post those files (even inadvertently) or share them elsewhere. Note: if you opt to make files downloadable, you must ensure that the files do not contain protected material, such as copyrighted images, audio files, etc.; see above for more information on copyrighted considerations for lecture capture.

What does it mean for students if I do not allow my recordings to be downloaded?
 It means they will only be able to access the recordings with a web browser by accessing Blackboard Learn, Canvas, or by logging directly into Panopto. They will not be able to download recordings to other audio/media devices. For instructors who wish to control access to recorded lectures -- or who include copyrighted images, etc. in their lecture slides -- this option is the best way to ensure that students cannot re-post or otherwise share the recordings.
What if students want lectures to be downloadable?
 Students often do prefer to have downloadable files, and this is perfectly fine, provided that you are comfortable sharing the materials in this way. However, if your recorded lectures contain copyrighted or other protected material, files should not be made available for downloading without permission. Without permission, faculty should only select the streaming file format (Panopto’s default setting).
How long are recordings stored?
 Videos are kept indefinitely in Panopto. Panopto recordings are stored in the cloud at Panopto until the content owner removes the content. It is up to the instructor to remove content as needed.
What is SLU's retention policy for maintaining previously recorded content in Panopto?
 

Videos are kept indefinitely in Panopto unless deleted by the faculty/content creator.

 

Can I keep recorded lectures for a future class?
 

Yes. Panopto is built specifically to accommodate the future re-use of course lecture materials, and this is one of the many virtues of lecture capture. However, there are many pedagogical considerations, as well as some student privacy considerations. Pedagogically speaking, simply re-using the same lectures over and over might not be possible, particularly if incidental student comments and questions are captured, as they may not be appropriate for future course contexts. For student privacy considerations, lectures that are captured live and include student presentations, small group discussions, and/or seminar classes, need student consent. (Click here for a consent form.) Faculty members are not required to obtain student consent when re-broadcasting their own image and content, or when incidental or no student participation is recorded during a lecture.

 What if I have captured student comments during a recorded lecture? Can I still use it in a future semester?
 Yes, but you may need student consent to do so. The same privacy considerations that apply in a brick and mortar classroom, particularly to student work, apply to lecture capture broadcasts. If Panopto is used to disseminate student presentations, small group discussions, or seminar classes in a course in a future semester, faculty members will be responsible for obtaining student consent prior to distribution. (Click here for a consent form.) Faculty members are not required to obtain student consent when broadcasting their own image and content, or when incidental or no student participation is recorded during a lecture and when the broadcast is directed to a defined course.
Should I just turn on the recorder and record everything?
 

How you use Panopto is largely a matter of pedagogical goals, so this decision should be made with teaching goals / learning outcomes in mind. However, there are also questions of student privacy that must be considered, as well. Whenever you plan to record live classes, you should be sure that students know the recording will be occurring. There are several ways to make this apparent, such as: announcing in class that you are turning on the recorder, and that students can request at any time to have it turned off, should the lecture or discussion involve sensitive topics; including a statement on your syllabus that in-class recordings may be made, so that students are aware of this from the beginning of the semester. (A recommended syllabus statement can be found below.)

What happens if I accidentally record a confidential conversation with a student?

Occasionally, before or after class, students may share information of a confidential nature with you while the Panopto recorder is still running. If this happens, you should remove that section of the recording, using the editing tools available within Panopto, before making the recording available to your students.

Will my students stop coming to class if I make lectures available?
The research varies on this question. In general, it has historically shown that there is little noticeable negative impact on students' class attendance. Despite a common assumption among instructors that students will stop coming to class if they have access to a recorded lecture, the research consistently has indicated that access to recorded lectures generally does not lead to students skipping classes (Petherbridge, 2010; Zhu, Bergom, 2010). However, much depends on how you have designed the class, what mechanisms of accountability have been built in, how you use class time, and numerous other things. To talk with someone about effective ways to incorporate lecture capture into teaching, talk to someone in the Reinert Center.
Do students actually listen to recorded lectures?
It varies and depends on a variety of factors. Most of the research studies are set up to observe the real and perceived usefulness of lecture capture systems and, therefore, focus information gathering on the students who actually use the systems, not the ones who opt not to do so. However, much depends on how you incorporate recorded lectures into your course design. To talk with someone about effective ways to incorporate lecture capture into teaching, talk to someone in the Reinert Center.
Can I review recorded lectures in order to assess students' participation and class contributions? Are there any privacy considerations with this?
If you were going to use Panopto for this purpose, students would obviously need to be told in advance, and recording equipment would need to be positioned in such a way as to record all your students. This may not be possible and/or you may not be in a position to fully document all students’ participation. If you are able to use Panopto in this way, recordings should not be made available to other students in future semesters without student consent.
If I want to include a statement on my syllabus about lecture capture, what should it say?

The following offers sample language you might import directly into your syllabus:

“Lectures/lessons may be recorded and made available to students registered for this class using the Panopto lecture capture system. Use of Panopto is intended to supplement the classroom experience. Duplication or redistribution of lecture capture recordings is prohibited without instructor consent. For technical assistance and for compliance issues (such as copyright and privacy considerations), please see the lecture capture guidelines available at https://slu.edu/provost/faculty-affairs/teaching-resources-for-faculty/lecture-capture/index.php.”


References

Fernandez, Vicenc, Pep Simo, and Jose M. Sallan.
Podcasting: A new technological tool to facilitate good practice in higher education.

Zhu, Erping and Inger Bergom. Lecture Capture: A Guide for Effective Use.

Petherbridge, Donna. Lecture Capture - Annotated Bibliography.