Filming or recording lectures creates valuable opportunities for student review and can increase accessibility of course content via captions or transcripts. The practice commonly referred to as “lecture capture” gives instructors the ability to record their lectures or presentations for viewing via Canvas or through any web browser. Typical recordings include video of the instructor, a screen capture, and audio – all played back simultaneously. Lecture capture can be a one-time event, or scheduled on a recurring basis with content automatically delivered to students through the Canvas course site. A March 2021 survey from the Student Voices Project suggests a majority of undergraduates would like instructors to continue making lectures available online for review when they return to primarily in-person learning.

Faculty members concerned about a potential drop in classroom attendance once lecture recordings are available can contact the Poorvu Center for recommendations on differentiating the benefits of in-person attendance from those of lecture capture. For example, the incorporation of quick small-group conversations, the use of Poll Everywhere, and short in-class reflective writing exercises are ways to ensure that students who come to the classroom receive unique, interactive learning opportunities that are not available through a class recording. It is also important for instructors to set expectations for the students about the value and recommended use of lecture capture as a review tool and not an in-class lecture replacement..

Lecture capture can be configured automatically in rooms with installed hardware, utilizing a classroom PC or a personal laptop. Contact our team at medialibrary@yale.edu to find the best option available to you, or learn more by accessing these resources:

• FAS classrooms with an automated capture system installed 
• Information about using desktop capture.

During the period of remote instruction, you may have recorded your lectures delivered through Zoom or created instructional videos to share with your students asynchronously. These can be valuable teaching resources as you transition back to primarily in-person learning. For certain subjects, it is possible the recordings you already have will greatly benefit the students enrolled in your course for fall 2021. The Poorvu Center can work with you to ensure the videos are transferred to the current course correctly and we can discuss methods for integrating the content of the videos into classroom discussions and exercises. 

The Poorvu Center recommends enabling the automated closed captioning options available through Media Library even if you’re not aware of any students in your class who require them for documented disabilities. (Student Accessibility Services will inform you when human-produced captions should be produced to accommodate particular students.) Please see our recommendations for video captioning elsewhere on this site.