Lecture capture systems aren’t cheap. Sure you can do it cheaply, but not cheaply and well. If you want to do it right, you’re going to spend a fair amount of money. When you ask for hundreds of thousands of dollars, people are gonna ask questions.

• What value is added by having such a system?
• Are educational outcomes improved?
• Do grades and test scores go up?
• Can faculty be more innovative?
• Will students attend class less?
• Will students not participate in class discussions?
• Will being recorded change the way I teach?

These are all great questions. Important ones. The question about whether we should provide this service at all is a great one. I’m sure there are other changes, more pedagogical in nature, that could yield better results.

• Flipping the classroom.
• More group work.
• Shorter lectures.

I can’t control any of that. I’m just the IT guy. I’d like to make sure that lecture capture is effective and an appropriate tool for the job of improving student outcomes.

What amazes me is the lack of peer reviewed research data available on these topics. It seems to me that if I made a lecture capture product that purported to improve the student experience and enhanced learning, I’d have a lot of data and research to back that up. Instead, the best I have is some research done by peer institutions that they’ve shared with us. The lack of research is almost conspicuous in its absence.

Here’s where I flounder. Researchy stuff.

It seems that there should be some research that state: class A didn’t have the system and class B did. Class B scored X% higher on tests and received grades that were Y% better. Where is that data?

If one were so inclined, one could take a course where lecture capture was available and try to correlate grades with usage of the system. Unfortunately that’s a pretty poor test because correlation != causation. People that use the system more are more likely to be good students and be studying more, therefore such data may not be useful.

What I truly need is one professor teaching multiple sections of the same class in the same semester. Then I need to use lecture capture in 1/2 of the classes. I also need some sort of pre-assessment to determine how each class progresses. It’s far from perfect but it would be pretty informative.

Now here’s the deal. I’m not that smart. I’m not the first one to think of this. But has anyone actually ever done it?

If so, why doesn’t every manufacturer lead with it?

If not, why not?

I’m not somebody with a background in research and creating this sort of stuff. I’m just an AV/IT nerd who’s pretty curious. Help me out here?