Classroom-based lecture capture has gained wide acceptance and application in higher education globally, and is part of the mainstream in university teaching in Australia and New Zealand. This presentation will offer insights into the University of Newcastle’s use of Echo360’s lecture capture solutions, including how the technology is used to support blended and flipped styles of learning and teaching, and how students respond to the service provided. The presentation will also showcase Echo360’s Active Learning Platform, and discuss how the platform’s unique direction will enable institutions to further enhance and extend learning opportunities for their students. Delivered at Innovate and Educate: Teaching and Learning Conference by Blackboard. 24 -27 August 2015 in Adelaide, Australia.

1. Lecture capture and active learning
Rising to meet the needs of the changing
Australian university classroom and our
students

2. Presenters
Professor Carol A. Miles Tammy Robinson
University of Newcastle, Australia University of Newcastle, Australia
carol.miles@newcastle.edu.au tammy.robinson@newcastle.edu.au
Jocasta Williams
Echo360
jwilliams@echo360.com

3. University of Newcastle, Australia
38,000 Students across 4 campuses and online
• Major capital project in 2013 saw all 133 classrooms and lecture
theatres of 35 seats and over equipped with lecture capture
technology.
• Recorded lectures are made available through the UoNline Virtual
Learning Environment (via Blackboard Learn).
• Currently, have 156 active personal capture users (using their own
computers to capture content for their students) Over 10,000
lectures captured in 2013 and approximately 14,000 lectures
captured in 2014.

4. University of Newcastle Usage and Survey Response in the
Survey Period
During the 15 day survey period at UoN:
• 1162 lectures were captured (1368 hours of content recorded)
• 17,353 unique student users accessing the system (approximately half of all
UoN students)
• 33,364 total views.
• A total of 458 UoN students completed the survey.
(This is acknowledged as a very low response rate (< 1%), but findings were directly in
line with the overall student responses nationally, so seem to indicate that findings of
the national study can be generalized to the UoN student population).

5. Demographic results from student responses
in Echo360 national survey

6. StudentWorkPatterns
If you are employed, how many hours per week do you work?
Answer Options
Response
Percent
Response Count
Not employed 34.80% 1446
1-5 hours 8.90% 368
6-10 hours 13.40% 556
11-20 hours 20.20% 838
21-35 hours 9.90% 411
Full time 12.80% 533
answered question 4152
skipped question 16

7. Whydostudentswantlecturecapture?
 the ability to set the pace of their own learning
 the convenience of viewing lectures on their own schedule
 the ability to review difficult concepts multiple times and
pause and rewind as necessary
 the ability to manage distractions and view lectures as suited
their life circumstances

8. Why do you use classroom-based recordings? Tick all boxes that apply.
Answer Options
Response
Percent
Response Count
Helps me stay in a class I would otherwise have dropped 21.7% 684
Helps me balance my schedule/responsbilities 71.2% 2249
Reviewing classroom-based recordings as a substitute for attending class 48.5% 1530
I rely on classroom based recordings because English is not my first
language 6.8% 216
Help me better understand instructors with strong accents 29.1% 918
Help me use my time more efficiently 57.1% 1802
To learn at my own pace 62.6% 1976
To revisit and clarify complicated or confusing topics 74.5% 2351
To help prepare for exams 63.9% 2018
I believe classroom-based recordings help me to achieve higher grades 48.9% 1545
Classroom-based recordings improve my overall learning experience 11.3% 358
answered question 3157
skipped question 1011
Whydostudentswantlecturecapture?

9. SourcesofStudentDissatisfaction
Students were frustrated that they were unable to hear student
comments and questions that comprised part of the lecture. S
Students also indicated dissatisfaction that they were unable to see the
lecturers’ expressions and actions (unable to see writing on a white-
board or pointing to things off screen). This was particularly noted
when lecturers used any form of non-digital presentation tool.
Incomplete capture was a source of frustration for students, arising
from circumstances where the beginning and/or end of the lecture
were cut off on the recording

10. SourcesofStudentDissatisfaction
Some students indicated that distractions when viewing lectures
would require them to rewind and re-view several times, making
it more time-efficient to attend the actual lecture.
Comments were also made regarding the poor audio or video
quality of some lectures, indicating that students are becoming
discerning consumers of the technology.
Several students also commented that a disadvantage of viewing
lectures at home is the inability to ask questions as you think of
them.

11. n
Sources of Student
Dissatisfaction
SourcesofStudentDissatisfaction
All of these disadvantages arise from students using lecture capture as
a sole means of ‘attending’ a lecture.
Attendance at the face-to-face class would mitigate all of these issues,
and students utilizing the technology strictly as a review tool, or one
used sparingly for those circumstances when classroom attendance is
truly not possible, would not experience these problems to such a great
extent.
At the University of Newcastle, captured lectures are intended strictly
as an addition study/review tool, and are not presented as an
alternative means of study, or a legitimate/sole means of online
learning.

12. University Teachers’ Acceptance of Lecture Capture
Many university teachers have embraced the technology for a
decade now, and have voluntarily and even enthusiastically
provided captured recordings of their lectures.
Many of these are actively seeking technological enhancements
that will make the lecture viewing experience more interactive
for students and see the technology as an integral part of their
teaching.
12

13. UniversityTeachers’AcceptanceofLectureCapture
Many others react with suspicion, caution, and even
consternation when confronted with the concept that by policy,
all of their lectures will be recorded and made available to their
students.
A primary objection raised by many university teachers is the
impact of offering captured lectures on student attendance.

14. TheAttendanceIssue(alwaystheelephantintheroom)
Many others react with suspicion, caution, and even
consternation when confronted with the concept that by policy,
all of their lectures will be recorded and made available to their
students.
A primary objection raised by many university teachers is the
impact of offering captured lectures on student attendance.

15. The Attendance Issue
Von Konsky, et. al (2009) refuted this concern, reporting similar
attendance patterns for students whether or not captured
lectures were available for them to view.
In this survey, 48% of students admitted to using captured
lectures to replace class attendance.

16. The Attendance Issue
An argument can be made by those who are skeptical, however, that this is almost half of
their students admitting to reducing class attendance if the technology is available.
Holbrook and Dupont (2009) reported that available captured lectures are more likely to
cause early-year students to miss class than those in upper years. This may be related to a
maturity of study and learning strategies, but also reflects the more personal nature of
smaller upper-year classes, adding more value to face-to-face attendance.
This certainly places a greater onus on the university teacher to present a lecture experience
that is compelling enough to make students see the benefits of attending.
Some evidence that students with disabilities rely more heavily on lecture capture to
mediate their inability to attend classes.
The argument AGAINST lecture capture based on students’ poor attendance has been over
for a number of years. We must move on.

17. Some survey data also indicated that students with disabilities
are more inclined to benefit from captured lectures than other
students for a variety of reasons.

18. Why LectureTools?
Offered a trial - and we hoped it might….
– Address technological needs for ‘flipped classroom’ approaches
– Increase the use of technology in face-to-face courses.
– Provide a technological and pedagogical bridge between existing systems
within the current VLE and our physical teaching spaces.
And no IT involvement:
– No requirement to ‘go to market’ for an alternative as it integrated directly with
both Blackboard Learn and (soon) Echo360.
• Building block connects users & Grade Centre

19. Was it popular?
• Advertised the vendor benefits including:
– Presentation Tool
– Student Inquiry Tool
– Student Response System
– Student IPad App
– Assess Student Performance
(not a lot of take-up for these reasons)
• Changed our advertising strategy:
‘Looking for a way to enable student responses and note taking in class?’
= increased interest/usage

20. And next – the Active Learning Platform…
• Target existing LectureTools users and ask them to trial in T3 2015.
• Trial to use student engagement feature only (similar to LectureTools)
• Will they use it? The challenges…
– Totally different environment (change management)
– Scaled down license – not a scaled down environment
– No mobile app yet (popular with LectureTools)

21. www.echo360.com
ECHO360’S ACTIVE LEARNING PLATFORM

22. www.echo360.com
Echo360’S Active Learning Platform
Instructional
Content
Management
Learner
Analytics and
Dashboards
Capture and
Remote
Learning
Student
Engagement

23. www.echo360.com
Persistent
Learning
Easy
Adoption
 Before
 During
 After
 No instructor
change
required
 Flexibility of
teaching styles
 Intuitive for
learners
SaaS
Efficiencies
 Reliable
 Scalable
 Economical
 Redundant
 Seamless
upgrades
Actionable
Data
 Study
practices
 Note taking
 Highlighting
 Collaboration
 Testing
Strategic Goals

24. www.echo360.com
Record or stream the teaching experience
so students can learn anytime, anywhere
• Record classes and events for students to view
on-demand
• Capture anywhere with a PC or Mac
• Start recordings with a single click or automate
based on class schedule
• Achieve unrivaled performance and reliability
using optional capture appliance
• Live stream classes or events around the world
Capture and remote learning

25. www.echo360.com
Engage students inside and outside the
class with personalised & social learning
• Embed student response activities directly into
presentations and videos
• Students can take notes and annotate learning
materials live in class or during review
• Receive real-time feedback when students are
confused
• Discuss and debate ideas linked contextually to
course materials
• Automatically generate personalised study
guides combining all notes, questions and
discussions
Student Engagement

26. www.echo360.com
Easily manage and share all of your
educational materials from one place
• Automatic publishing and tagging of captured
media
• Drag & drop upload
• Seamless capture, storage, & delivery allows for
rich learning analytics
• Edit recordings online via web browser
• Search across all stored media using words,
tags, and metadata
• Use and re-use content with flexible options for
publishing to courses or sharing with individuals
Instructional Content Management

27. www.echo360.com
Explore actionable information on
academic performance with clear,
concise dashboards
• Measure student engagement and how it
relates to performance
• Identify at-risk students through
customisable metrics for early intervention
• See which teaching materials and
techniques are effective and which are
confusing
• Track academic performance across
courses, departments, and entire
institutions
Analytics and Dashboards

28. www.echo360.com
Instructors
• Increase communication
& collaboration
• Enhance your current
teaching style
• Identify at-risk students before
they fail
Students
• Use your own device to
engage with others
• Personalise your notes,
questions, and study guides
• Access instructional media
anytime, anywhere
Administrators
• Measure and proactively
improve learning outcomes
• Deliver superior education at
lower cost
• Increase student satisfaction
Active Learning Platform Benefits for Stakeholders

29. www.echo360.com
DEMONSTRATION