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Qatar U Rolls Out Lecture Capture in 4 Colleges

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/08/10

A major university in the small country of Qatar in the Middle East has begun recording course lectures using Echo360. Qatar University, which has about 8,000 students, is using the lecture recording technology in four of seven colleges, including Pharmacy, Education, Business, and Engineering, as well as the Foundation Program and Office of Faculty and Instructional Development.

Access to the recorded lectures is provided through Blackboard. Tracking usage patterns, the university has found high rates of viewing both immediately after a class and in the days leading up to final exams.

"Lecture capture eliminates barriers of location and time. It allows students to revisit the lectures at any place and time, as well as take advantage of accessing and critiquing their own presentations and those of fellow students," said Peter Jewesson, dean of the College of Pharmacy.

One of the earliest adopters of lecture capture, the pharmacy college is also using Echo360 in its continuing education program, which puts on classes for pharmacists and records and publishes them for public consumption. The recordings, which are served from the vendor's servers, show slides, share audio, and include video of the presentations (although frequently that is simply an image of the presentation screen at the front of the lecture room since the lecturer is situated off-screen).

The implementation was guided by International Turnkey Systems, an Echo360 reseller in the Middle East.

In other Echo360 news, the company will soon be announcing the winners in its second annual grants program. Four institutions examining the impact of lecture capture on teaching and learning will be awarded a total of $40,000 to fund their research efforts. Applications are being accepted until July 2, 2010. Recipients will be notified in mid-August.