Video Pedagogy: Lecture Capture

Posted by Janne Länsitie

"How many pages do I have to write?"

As a teacher and teacher trainer this questions shows up to me really often.

In the past ten years my repeated answer has been: "Would you rather make a video?"

The answer is often silence... and then "...I'm not sure how that would work..."

We need to learn how to write and express ourselves with text but should we be able to that with videos as well? We can use the grammar, vocabulary - the language of video to create and deliver a message. We are not stuck in the world of text, still images or "show and tell". Videos are available online, made by loads of different people both professional and amateurs. The technology has become faster and cheaper, year after year. It's really about us people, professionals, educators and students to make the best out of it. How can we use the videos in a most efficient way for the learning?

In Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oulu, Finland) we categorized the different ways we use videos in a learning process in university of applied sciences and in the local vocational college. We came up with five distinct categories that can be applied to various contexts. Since the technology is developing , different learning models and practices are emerging, these categories are also naturally evolving.

First category is lecture capture. Lecture capture seems to be the most common way to implement video into learning process. The rise of moocs has created a huge need for video based lectures. With screen capture videos are effortless to make and more and more teacher allow their lectures to be recorded and shared for students. Lecture capture can help learner to access study material that udes to be only available for those who were physically present. Students can pace themselves by pausing and rewatching as much as they need to. The latest development of interactive videos and hypervideos can further extend the learning experience into more interactive direction. There is also big business around implementing the lecture capture technology in the buildings and rooms.

Will the students show up in the classroom if all the study material will end up published online? Hopefully not. Video cannot replicate all the elements that face to face communication has, but it a powerful tool and good addition to the learning process.

To be continued in the next post....