Last year Professor Hinson used the Q-Review lecture capture service for the first time to record her live lectures in the Drapers and Perrin Lecture Theatres. She received twenty minutes of training, from the E-Learning Unit, on how to edit her recordings and has since recorded over twenty of her lectures and made them available via the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Blackboard. Professor Hinson commented that she was already being recorded by her students own devices, but with Q-Review she now has more control over the recordings as she “can choose what is included in the recordings and what is not”.

Professor Hinson decided to record her lectures because she feels it is important to support students’ learning as much as possible. She emphasised that students should not be penalised by not having the ability to review a lecture that they were unable to attend for circumstances beyond their control. The technology exists at Queen Mary to facilitate this type of review, and staff should be willing to engage with it.

When asked if her recordings have had an effect on students’ attendance, Professor Hinson emphatically professed that “recording her lectures has not made a scrap of difference to students’ attendance”. She explained that students used recordings to revise and fill in any missed concepts, not to skip class.

You can listen to Professor Hinson’s interview as she shares her experience of getting her lectures recorded and offers tips of what she has found works best for her, including what she does to encourage students to continue to attend.

To learn more about Q-Review lecture capture at Queen Mary – please visit our support pages here: http://www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/elearning/support/qreview/getting-started/ or get in touch.

Professor Hinson is also available to answer any questions. Please contact us via our online helpdesk if you have any questions or would like to view a sample of a Q-Review recording.

In this section, Mike explains that students already record using their own personal devices, so he thought it would be best to provide them with a good quality recording rather than making them struggle.

Mike also tells us how he distributed his recordings via the Virtual Learning Environment, and how he was able to edit his recordings to remove parts that he was not happy with.

You may also be interested in:

• Part 1 – Why everyone should give Q-Review a try
• How to edit a Q-Review Recording

Mike stated that he feels everyone should give Q-Review a try. Apart from its ease of use, Mike explained that he feels Q-Review gives students extra support, and allows him to give a better quality lecture to his students.

This five minute video clip highlights some of the added benefits that Mike found while using the technology and includes Mike’s experience on students use of the recordings and its impact on their attendance.

If you are interested in using Q-Review Personal Capture to record your lectures please submit a request by logging into our online helpdesk at https://helpdesk.its.qmul.ac.uk – click on the ‘Request’ button and then select ‘Q-Review – Lecture Capture’.

More video clips from the interview with Mike Noon coming soon:

Part 1 – Mike explains why everyone should give Q-Review a try
Part 2 – Using Q-Review to record lectures, make edits and distribute to students

Launched in the summer of 2010, the E-Learning Production Service provides funding for members of Queen Mary staff embarking on e-learning activities that benefit students.  We appreciate that academic and other staff don’t always have the time or technical skills to bring good e-learning ideas to fruition and whilst we don’t have the resource to complete projects ourselves, we were keen to plug this apparent “production gap”.

The resource we provide is in the form of dedicated E-Learning Assistants.  These are Queen Mary students recruited for specific projects and given the necessary technical training.  Given that all students will graduate into an increasingly competitive employment market, we are delighted to provide an opportunity for them to develop their professional skills, work closely with academic staff and earn money.  We pay the students well, expect them to work to a high standard and support them throughout their work with a mentor from the E-Learning Unit.

Since its launch, the production service has funded seven projects in five departments – both academic and professional services – and there are more proposals due to start during 2011/12.  E-Learning Assistants were recruited from all three faculties and worked on a wide range of initiatives, including:

• supporting lecture capture on a distance learning programme in post-graduate medicine
• an online course to improve students’ awareness of what makes an effective job application
• a learning resource to support Medical students in their preparation for “Short-Answer-Question” (SAQ) exams
• audio recordings in the VLE to supplement teaching on a Czech History module

So far, staff and student response to the service has been overwhelmingly positive.  In 2010, Dr Hoda Wassif had been making significant enhancements to the way clinical skills are taught in Paediatric Dentistry.  We recruited PhD student Hanadi Lingawi as an e-learning assistant to work with her to develop electronic flash cards as part of this project.  Talking about the project, Dr Wassif says:

I had the idea to use a “Question Box” that included various points, questions and scenarios on index cards – students pick a card at random and we discuss its content.   With the e-learning assistant, we were able to have the resource available for students online. The format was the same; however, students were offered hints and key points at the end of each case… the aim is not to answer a simple question at the end of each case, rather think about the topic, the patient and the management in general…

Each project we fund enables a student to gain technical skills and enhance their employability as they are presented with the challenge of working with professionals in an area which is new to them.  Alice Middleton is a 4^th year dental student who worked as an e-learning assistant during the summer of 2011, developing a short online module on Clinical Governance.  She found the experience particularly rewarding, working with a subject she was due to study in her final year:

I’m really proud of the e learning tutorial we produced and learnt a lot whilst doing it.

I think the scheme is brilliant and I’m now going to try and convince another tutor at the dental school to apply for a project to help students understand oral pathology!

To find out more and to apply for resource for a project of your own, please see:

www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/elearning/service/production

Photo Credit

GrowWear on Flickr

An easy option is to use a Flip camera. Recordings can be edited then uploaded to a media hosting website, such as YouTube, and then embedded into a webpage or within a VLE course area. This is all quite easy to do and the E-Learning Unit has everything that you need – Flip cameras, with tripods; video editing software in our bookable Studio; and helpful staff.

We met with Debra Hills from the Language and Learning Unit who borrowed our Flip Cameras recently. She wanted to build a video resource for international students and used the Flip cams to record current students sharing their experience. She then booked our E-Learning Studio and used the iMovie software to make edits and publish them to YouTube. Before uploading to YouTube, Debra used http://collect.qmul.ac.uk to share the video with members of her team for their approval. http://collect.qmul.ac.uk is a free service for all QMUL members to be able to share files with others, especially files which may be too big to email, such as videos.

We interviewed Debra to find out how this project went and what tips she could share – this interview is available to view below.

 
 
The video of the interview also demonstrates what can be done with a Flip camera. Debra’s interview was recorded using our Flip camera –> edits were made in iMovie –> the edited version was uploaded to YouTube –> and finally, the YouTube video was embedded into this blogpost.

If you would like to “give it a go”, as Debra suggests, then contact us at elearning@qmul.ac.uk

 
If you are unable to view the embedded video on this page, please view the movie directly in YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E41o_pzEqss

Photo Credit
Nick J Webb on Flickr

“Students were using their own devices to record the lecture anyway…” Angie pointed out, and so this tool made it easier for both herself and for her students. Many of her students are studying Law in English even though English is not their first language, so they are able to review the lecture recording at their own pace. This allowed Angie to be more comfortable in delivering her lecture, as she did not have to spend extra time going over information in the classroom, as she knew that they could go back and listen to the recording.

Angie also admitted that she was able to use the recordings for her own self-reflection in order to make improvements to her lectures… “I listen to the recording, and think about how I was delivering the material – did I go too fast, did I explain it properly?”

She has recorded about 20 live sessions so far, for over 100 students. Angie emphasised that she takes attendance and it has remained very high throughout the year. She stressed that “most students know that attending a lecture live allows you to ask questions and be engaged…the capture service is used for review”.

Some of Angie’s Hints and Tips:

“I was nervous at first. I was fearful that I would show up on YouTube or that students would make fun of the video – but none of these have happened.”

“It’s worked wonderfully to capture my lecture, but I’m not sure I would use it for my tutorials…”

“Staff should think about if they want to do a video capture – I chose not to because I am an energetic lecturer and I scribble on the board, so the video was a bit strange to watch, as you fly in front of the camera. The audio and screen was very useful.”

“If I had to do it over, I would practice a bit more. The first few lectures you can tell that I am a bit conscious of the recording. It came across a bit unnatural. But now I don’t feel so focussed on the technology, I don’t even remember it’s there.”

“In the future I might record intros to the class, give some basic/background information that I would like to use, but don’t want to go through it in class. I can do this at home on my laptop now.”

Please click on the video below to listen to the full interview.

If you are interested in using Q-Review Personal Capture to record your lectures please submit a request by logging into our online helpdesk at https://helpdesk.its.qmul.ac.uk – click on the ‘Request’ button and then select ‘Q-Review – Lecture Capture’.

If you are unable to log into our helpdesk, please send an email to vle-support@qmul.ac.uk

1. Case Study: Physics lecturer shares his experience of recording his lecture
2. Case Study: Stephen Bishop turns his lecture material into podcasts

Mr. Bishop felt conscious over the years that too much of his class time was being spent giving basic content, leaving little time to explain the material to his students. So he decided to turn this basic content into podcasts which his students could listen to before class, take necessary notes, and then he could use class time for explanatory information, allowing more time to answer questions. Thus class time would be more interactive and hopefully more enjoyable for both him and the students. Mr. Bishop brought his already prepared class notes and made ten 45 minute podcasts for his students to be able to listen to before class.

Mr. Bishop plans to make these podcasts available to his students via Blackboard. Although Q-Review can automatically publish to Blackboard, Mr. Bishop prefers to have more control of his recordings, such as being able to make minor top and tail edits, and so he will be adding links to the recordings in his Blackboard course areas manually.

I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Bishop when he had finished making these podcasts, to find out what he thought of the whole podcasting experience. I will meet with Mr. Bishop again at the end of the term to find out what his students thought of his new way of delivering the lecture content.

If you are unable to see the player below, please visit this webpage to listen to the interview.

If you would like to find out more information about Q-Review, podcasting or ways to capture your lectures, please contact us at qreview-admin@qmul.ac.uk

Link to Interview with Stephen Bishop

Students are embracing this progression of learning and especially like the fact that they can rewind and replay the lecture at their own pace. One student commented that a revision lecture capture was “the most useful and informative revision materials that [he] had ever recieved [sic]“. Many students remarked that they wish more teachers would use this facility.

While some lecturers record a live lecture or event, others use the technology to record their lesson(s) without an audience. This seems to be a good starting point for lecturers, and gets them used to the idea of being recorded and more familiar with the process.

Dr. Eram Rizvi, from the Physics department, did just that when he came to our E-Learning Studio and recorded a revision lesson for his students, using material that he had covered in a previous live class. He wanted to record the already taught lesson so that his students could review the content at their own pace.

We asked Dr. Rizvi to share his experience with us, and below is an excerpt of Dr. Rizvi’s interview, followed by some noteworthy feedback from his students.

———————————————————————-

ELU: Have you previously recorded a lecture?
Dr. Rizvi: No, this was the first time I had tried to record a lecture

ELU: How did you find out about Q-Review?
Dr. Rizvi: After speaking with Eoin some time ago he mentioned the existence of this ESD facility

ELU: How did you prepare to use the system? Did you need training?
Dr. Rizvi: Very little training was needed. I had prepared the lectures in any case, and just needed about 1hr of time to learn how to operate the [Q-Review] system

ELU: What did you record?
Dr. Rizvi: I recorded two revision lectures given using prepared powerpoint slides

ELU: How long did you spend recording?
Dr. Rizvi: The total lecture time was about 2 hrs, I needed an extra hour initially to learn the system from you, and I needed another 30mins in total to do the final edit for the first lecture, but the edit for the second lecture then took only 2 mins.

(Dr. Rizvi wanted more control over his recording and needed the time to learn about the system. For live recordings, staff just need to let the E-Learning Q-Review team know and they will schedule the system to automatically record.)

ELU: What did you think of the Q-Review system? Was it easy to use?
Dr. Rizvi: For recording the system is very easy to use. For editing the software can be improved. One difficulty I had was in using the time-slider to find a specific moment in the video to edit out. It would be better if I could use the slider in 1s intervals, or insert an exact time into a text-box.

ELU: How did you make your recordings available to your students?
Dr. Rizvi: I made available the audio only and video podcasts as downloads plus links to the Q-Review page for the enhanced video with slides. The powerpoint slides were also provided as a separate PDF file. You can see the info here:
http://www.ph.qmul.ac.uk/~phy302/ExamHelp.htm

ELU: What did your students think of it? Have they been able to access it?
Dr. Rizvi: Most students used it and all thought it was a very good idea and would recommend its wider usage. The real benefit was in being able to replay sections of the podcast and to go at their own pace. Two students mentioned that the podcasts are good for reviewing concepts, but not good for going through detailed mathematics where 1-2-1 teaching is more appropriate.

ELU: Would you use Q-Review again?
Dr. Rizvi: Definitely

ELU: Would you recommend Q-Review to others?
Dr. Rizvi: I already have done. I have asked this be raised at the next Teaching Committee meeting in the physics dept on 23rd June.

ELU: How might you use Q-Review in the future? (E.g. would you record a live lecture?)
Dr. Rizvi: Yes, I would use it to record a live lecture to provide additional revision material before the exam period. I would not make the videos immediately available for fear of students not attending.

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Student Feedback

Dr. Rizvi shared some feedback from his students regarding the usage of podcasts for revision lectures. He initially asked students if they wanted to have podcasts. He got 16 responses, of which 13 wanted the podcast as opposed to an actual revision lecture.

One student who had not wanted the podcasts in the first place later remarked:

” felt that the podcasts were better than I had expected them to be……mathematical stuff, I think is better explained face to face……Personally, I would still perfer to have normal revison sessions because when I dont understand something I like to ask then and there.”

Other students left the following comments:

“Overall I was very impressed and would enjoy the prospect of lecturer’s making this a standard in study material. A big thanks to you for the time spent creating these videos for us.”

“I have finished watching the video revision lectures and found them far more useful then the revision lectures. Although the revision lectures provide us a chance to ask the lecturer any problems we have, I believe that’s better off done on a one to one basis with the lecturer.”

“I thought they were some of the most useful and informative revision materials that I have ever recieved, I found the ability to listen to the lectures and take notes at my own pace enabled me to get alot more from the podcasts given than I would have done in a normal lecture with the same material . I would appreciate it if all lecturers followed suit!”

“I personally found the podcasts to be massively useful, mostly because they provided a very good means of refreshing my core knowledge of NPA [Nuclear, Physics and Astrophysics] without sifting through vast sets of notes”

” I sometimes forget things or am not able to catch everything you say if Im copying down notes at the same time. It is also much more convenient as sometimes planned revision lectures can cut into peoples personalized revision schedules, if they are revising different subjects. I do hope you continue these in future courses and maybe suggest the idea to other lecturers as I thought it would have been much more helpful in other subjects as well”

“The material was well presented with the slides along the bottom so you could quickly get a sense of the over all content that was being covered. I prefered having the video of the lecture since although this didn’t fulfill any particular function it was easier to concentrate on watching someone give a lecture than just listening to the audio.”

“I would definitely recomend other members of staff trying out something similar in future.”

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If you would like to schedule a Q-Review recording, or get more information on lecture capture, please contact us at qreview-admin@qmul.ac.uk or visit this webpage for more information.

In this project, the model which was used to support students was that of peer mentoring. Students in final year in modern languages (and, in 2009-10, law) were given training in mentoring and moderating online discussions, and they then used a Facebook group to mentor students in earlier years, providing them with practical information about different countries, universities and cultures. An additional benefit was the creation of a wiki – WikAbroadia – for gathering together all the information on the different parts of the Facebook group into one place. The wiki is still under construction but can be viewed here.

There will also be papers given on the project at two conferences later this year: Digital Humanities 2010 and Languages in Higher Education 2010, the conference of the HEA Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies.

There’s more detail at the project website, including a link to the presentation and also a literature review and bibliography on the use of social network sites within higher education.

Photo Credit

benstein on Flickr

The subject this year was Online Resources, and the students present concentrated very much on online learning as a whole, and on the VLE in particular.

I found the day extremely interesting.  The video in particular showed me that what we’ve been working on here for the last (now 8!) years does have such an impact and effect on the daily lives of our students.

I was also heartened that the message was that the students want more – better organised, more timely, more consistent – e-learning and that, where once upon a time one might have expected to encounter some resistence to the idea of non face-to-face learning and course management, here there was a real thirst for it.

I was also pleased that almost all of what the students said they wanted is actually being done in some areas of the College, and that – though I take well the messages about back buttons and so forth – the interactivity they crave and functionality they want is mostly possible within the current VLE.  I had the sense that we were getting there, but there’s much further to go.

In any case, not to shroud the objects in further context, you can download the SU video about online learning from our intranet here: http://qm-web.esd.qmul.ac.uk/podcasts/SUonlinelearningvideo.wmv (QM members will need to log in from off campus).

Note that it’s a large file though shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to download to your computer over the College network.

You can find the accompanying PowerPoint presentation here: http://qm-web.esd.qmul.ac.uk/docs/SUonlinelearning.ppt

You can also view this as a Flash file if you’d prefer, here: http://qm-web.esd.qmul.ac.uk/docs/SUOnlineLearning.swf