Accessibility statement

Information for departments

The Replay Timetabled Lecture Capture service provides automated recording of projection screens and audio in over 230 rooms. Replay can also be used for student presentations, video feedback and creating at-desk recordings to target specific knowledge gaps or as part of a flipped-classroom approach. Answers to common questions are covered in our guidelines:

University Policy for the Recording of Lectures

A university-wide policy for the recording of lectures was approved by University Senate on July 10th 2018, has been in effect since the start of the 2018-19 Academic Year.

In brief, the policy stipulates that:

  • Where a timetabled ‘Lecture’ occurs within a supported room, it is expected that an automatic recording will be scheduled.
  • Recordings should be published to students studying on the module within a maximum of 3 working days. Departments or individuals may choose to adopt a more immediate release model within this time-frame.
  • Departments must outline their recording itinerary to timetabling@york.ac.uk prior to the start of teaching.
  • Each Department will determine which teaching encounters are not pedagogically suitable for recording (guided by the criteria set out in the lecture capture policy document), and will communicate their recording itinerary to students via a brief statement. This statement should, as appropriate, include a rationale for when particular activities will not be scheduled for recording, outlining what equivalent alternative learning resources will be made available to them.
  • In cases where approval is given for a teaching encounter not to be recorded, the intended presenter or module convenor should provide an alternative and equivalent learning resource.

Departments have been provided with guidance on how they may communicate their recording and publishing itinerary to the relevant service teams.

Any questions about the implementation of the policy may be directed to  vle-support@york.ac.uk

Why adopt lecture capture

The decision to establish an institutional lecture capture service was prompted by a strong level of student support which emerged through trials of Digital Recording of Lectures (DRoL) in 2010-11.

The Replay service was announced as part of the Senior Management Group Briefing Note on Investment in the Student Experience in January 2012. We continue to evaluate the service and feedback from staff and students in our surveys underlines the positive reception of Replay in supporting teaching and learning activities.

At York we are also leading critical research into the way lecture captures form a part of students' independent study practice. Our headline findings indicate that students are adopting individual and creative approaches to using captures, supplementing their notes and valuing the face-to-face contact of the lecture experience. As a result of the research, student study guidance is available and we encourage departments to embed this within their induction programme.

Key benefits of lecture capture

Lecture capture does not replicate the teaching session, but offers a different learning experience that allows students to recap parts of the lecture they did not understand or ideas they want to explore further. Lecture capture:

  • Allows students to recap and revise complex or new ideas better explained visually or verbally.
  • Helps to overcome language barriers, allowing students to replay sections to understand contexts and terminology.
  • As part of inclusive teaching practice, offers an additional learning resource for disabled students, including those who choose not to declare their disability, enabling them to control the volume, pace and screen size of presentations.
  • Ensures students who are unable to attend lectures, for example due to illness, are able to review key parts of their course and not get left behind.

As a lecturer, you are also able to monitor which parts of your recordings are most viewed. This can be a useful tool to help you identify where further explanation or guidance may be required.