Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 9 | Page 6

6 | JADE
EDITORIAL | 7
EDITORIAL
existing practices: our notions of accepted pedagogy for an entire
subject area; the introduction of a cloud-hosted system, contrary
to the existing IT infrastructure; and our models for technical
support. Our response to these challenges set a precedent for many
of the digital transformation projects that were to come at the
University of Wolverhampton, and the Rosalind Franklin project set
the foundations for our institutional philosophy for using Capture
Technologies. The ‘Lecture Capture Project’ had become so much
more than making a video replica of a live lecture. Suddenly, it had
become a lot more interesting!
Gemma Witton | Educational Developer
College of Learning and Teaching, University of Wolverhampton
O
riginally a developer of web solutions for industry, I began working in education
fourteen years ago with the development of eLearning resources to support
secondary-level education. I moved into the higher education sector after
successfully completing a MA in Online and Distance Education with the
Open University Institute of Educational Technology. I subsequently gained Certified
Membership of the Association for Learning Technology, completed a Postgraduate
Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Education and was awarded Senior Fellowship
of the Higher Education Academy.
The pilot study took place during the 2015–16 academic year and
the findings are reported in Witton (2017). The output of the report
was a model that considers the value of different approaches
to using capture technology. The model recommends a shift in
focus away from conventional use of the technology for capturing
lectures toward the purposeful use of capture technologies to create
content that adds value to student learning and engagement (such
as assessment unpacking, supplementary materials and flipped
classroom materials) and which may ultimately lead to a more
positive impact on student attainment.
My main area of interest is multimedia-supported learning and I lead the University
of Wolverhampton’s Capture Technologies (Panopto) Project. I design and run staff
development activities in the use of Panopto and engage in pedagogic research on
the impact of capture technologies on student experience, attainment, retention and
progression. I believe the term ‘lecture capture’ is misrepresentative of the potential
applications for such a versatile technology, and that its purposeful use could be
transformative for learning and teaching diverse groups of students.
EDITORIAL
When I started working in my current role in 2013, I was given a leading
role on what was then known as the ‘Lecture Capture Project’. When
I was told of my new area of responsibility I struggled to hide my
disappointment. With a background in the design and development of
educational multimedia, the concept of ‘lecture capture’ went against
everything that I believed created a great educational experience for
learners. What I could not have predicted was that this would become
something of an all-consuming and career-defining project for me.
Later that year, colleagues from IT Services, the Faculty of Science and
Engineering and I were puzzling over the design and implementation of
a video capture and broadcast system to facilitate learning in a state-
of-the-art space for the teaching and learning of practical science. Now
known as the Rosalind Franklin building, the science centre was designed
without any traditional teaching spaces such as classrooms or lecture
theatres, and no “front of the class” teachers desk, lectern or projectors.
This was a ‘Flipped Building’ and the project challenged many of our
I find myself
asking what our
measures of
success should
really look like
Two years on from that initial pilot, Panopto is installed in over 70
teaching rooms across the University. Unlike a growing number of
institutions, we continue to operate an opt-in policy for capturing
lectures and we currently only have automated scheduling in our
largest lecture theatre (and recording is scheduled on request). The
project is trying to promote thoughtful capture of teaching and
learning activities that will enhance the student experience rather
than duplicate it. Of course, there is a reasonable amount of traditional
lecture capture taking place and we expect that this will increase
as Panopto becomes available in more learning spaces; however,
as a project team we are trying to focus on creative installations
of Panopto in discipline-specific spaces where it will enhance
the learning experience and add real value. We are advocates for
‘Personal Capture’; with academics choosing what they want to
record, when they choose to record it, and what device they wish
to use for the recording. The resulting innovation and impact on
student learning within engaged subject areas is impressive. The
work of colleagues that I have observed leads me to believe that
the long term success of capture technologies requires us to retain
a level of academic autonomy in its use. Even with our opt-in policy
we have still encountered pockets of resistance. There is, however,
increasing pressure on the project to deliver a blanket capture-all
policy, despite the conflicting pedagogical evidence on the impact
of lecture capture availability (Bos et al., 2015; Marchand et al., 2014;
Powers & Carrol, 2016) and the potential negative fallout from some
of our academic colleagues. Still, in an increasingly competitive