Universities Turning to Cloud-Based Lecture Capture

• By Tim Sohn
• 07/21/11

Cloud technologies are being increasingly tapped by some universities for use in lecture capture. According to lecture capture provider Tegrity, adoptions of its Tegrity Campus cloud-based system have increased 157 percent over the last year.

Usage of Tegrity's  lecture capture technology year-to-date rose 47 percent compared to last year, and students watched 1.16 million hours of instructor videos, the company said. In addition, 35 percent more students used Tegrity during the same period, and student views were up by 38 percent, from 1.45 million to 2.32 million.

Institutions using Tegrity lecture capture technology include Eastern Washington University, University of Washington, Washington State University, Saint Louis University, University of New Hampshire, University of South Alabama, College of Medicine, and University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Tegrity doesn't require any software or hardware locally. Its features include:

• Students can instantly bring up class clips for replay online, on iPods and mobile devices;
• Search capabilities;
• Students can log in through a university's course management system or from Facebook;
• Professors can give students the opportunity to record too; and
• Live Webcasting.

"As an early adopter of lecture capture technology, we've been studying its impact on our students' success over the years and know that it significantly increases depth of learning and results in greater satisfaction with our courses," said Sandra L. Miller, director of instruction and research technology at William Paterson University in New Jersey, a Tegrity customer since 2003. "Our most recent study revealed that 63 percent of our students felt that Tegrity had positively impacted their success in their courses, and over 90 percent of students would recommend it to their friends."

A survey released earlier this year of 9,000 college students using Tegrity's cloud-based lecture capture technology at more than 200 colleges and universities found that participants "revealed significant improvement in effectiveness of studying." Survey results were collected at the end of fall 2010 semester courses.

Seventy-eight percent of survey respondents said their lecture capture system contributed to their achievement, and 72 percent reported their grade increased as a direct result of using Tegrity. In addition, 95 percent of students indicated they want Tegrity to be used in other courses. Thirty-six percent of participants concluded that Tegrity should be offered in all of their courses.

Other conclusions of the study included:

• Depth of learning with the use of Tegrity lecture capture increased for 75 percent of users;
• Motivation to study by using Tegrity increased for 63 percent of students;
• Satisfaction with a course in which Tegrity was used increased for 81 percent of participants; and
• The amount of course material learned increased for 78 percent surveyed using Tegrity.