Educational Technology Blog

Recording Lectures & Student Attendance

March 31st, 2009

“Does recording lectures and publishing them on the web reduce student attendance at lectures?”

Recently, there has been a lively discussion of this perennial topic on the ALT listserv.  Studies from the University of Leeds, the Royal Veterinary College and Carnegie Mellon University have found that the provision of podcasts or lecture recordings seemed to have little effect on lecture attendance.  For example, in a survey of Politics students in Leeds, Lightfoot et al (2008) found that only 7% of the students surveyed would choose to listen to podcasts rather than attend lectures.

Some of the points raised in the discussions:

• Resource: Podcasts can serve as a useful resource for revision after the class or preparation in the class. This is particularly beneficial for students with an aural learning style. Students can choose where and when to listen just as they can choose where and when to read. This can be particularly beneficial for overseas students who have difficulties with English and part-time students with many other commitments.
• Integration: Podcasts should be integrated into the course structure not just be a ‘nice to have’ add-on. For example, in the Leicester IMPALA project podcasts are used to summarise key points. This frees class time to be used for activities and discussion. To help develop their summarizing skills students can create their own podcasts which may be shared with their classmates.
• Third-party: Podcasts from a wide range of reputable sources are available through iTunes and other aggregators and can be used as source materials

Some of the potential disadvantages of podcasting mentioned were:

• Listening to podcasts is a form of passive learning
• Students may lose listening and note-taking skills
• Not all students are familiar with new technology
• Hearing-impaired students are disadvantaged

On lecture attendance:

• A poor lecture makes a poor podcast. Podcasting is a method that won’t overcome inherent weaknesses in a lecture
• Keen students will benefit from the podcasts and attend classes. Weaker, uninterested students won’t listen to the podcasts or attend class

Finally, turn the question the other way around:

“What it is about attending lectures that cannot be captured using a podcast? If lecturers can’t answer that question, then maybe they need to think about what it is they’re doing in their teaching? Put another way, if all they do in lectures is transfer information in the same way that a podcast can, then why indeed should students come to their lectures?”

- (McElearney in ALT listserv)

Entry Filed under: podcast,research