Leeds University films lectures to help students revise

A new lecture capture system has been successfully rolled out at Leeds University following the new start of term.

Around 250 lecture halls and classrooms in the university have been equipped with the technology. The system, one of the largest in Europe, gives students access to video and audio recordings of many of their lectures and other teaching activities.

The university says students can use the system to return to previous lectures that may have been on a particularly complex topic or to simply use it to revise for exams.

Prof Neil Morris, director of digital learning at the university, said: “The new technology gives students the chance to learn and study at their own pace and will let them revisit course content at any point in the year.

“This campus-wide deployment of new digital tools has been rolled out to ensure that students can access and benefit from the new system from the beginning of term.”

Biology lecturer Dr Christopher Hassall said: “There is a lot of excitement about the new lecture capture system – the system is not just a simple and effective way of recording lectures, but opens up a whole new world of teaching techniques.

“For example, the traditional model of teaching would be to give a lecture during class and send the students away to read around the topic.

“With the new system we can share pre-recorded lectures with students before class and use contact time for discussions and other activities that help to develop learning from the recorded lectures.”

The investment has also been welcomed by the students’ union. Tom Dixon, education officer at Leeds University Union, said: “I’m incredibly excited by the new lecture capture technology and all that it will do to support students in their learning.

“I believe that the technology will help level the playing field for students with access issues and students who are learning in a second language. This is really important to me as the education officer; it’s both mine and the Union’s focus to make sure that lecture capture is being used to benefit all members of the university community.”