Lecture recording policy and procedures

Most lectures given in lecture theatre recording-enabled rooms will be recorded and released to students. Many lecture theatres are also streaming-enabled.

Proposed update to the Lecture Capture and Release Policy and Procedures

Lecture recording has been standard practice at the University since 2018 and requires all lectures to be recorded and made available to students on Canvas.

The proposed update to the Policy and Procedures is under consideration by the Teaching and Learning Quality Committee.

The current policy may be viewed at: Lecture Capture and Release Policy and Procedures

Please contact the Academic Quality Office if you have any comments or queries about this policy: quality@auckland.ac.nz 

How does it work?

Teachers with lectures scheduled in a recording-enabled room do not have to do anything. Lectures will be recorded and released to enrolled students 24 hours following the lecture. 

Teachers might like to review the timeframe and release the recording earlier than 24 hours - see: 'How do staff manage recordings within Canvas' to access instructions.

How do students access recordings?

Students may access lectures that have been recorded via the 'Recordings' tab in Canvas. Released lectures may be streamed or downloaded.

What is included in a lecture recording?

Lecture recordings capture:

  • Teacher's voice (if they are using a microphone)
  • Whatever is being displayed via the nominated projector in the lecture theatre (eg PowerPoint presentation, document camera item, etc)
  • DVD or CD presentations (video and audio)
  • Captions are automatically added to recordings by Panopto - the University's recording app

See Guidelines to the use of electronic lecterns

If you require more than just a screen recording, and would prefer to have your class or event filmed, you may be interested in the services offered by University Media Productions.

Which lecture theatres are recording-enabled?

Campus maps can also assist users to understand which assets are available in each room.  Campus maps

Which lecture theatres are streaming-enabled?

The Excel spreadsheet below indicates which teaching rooms are enabled for streaming.

Z1 = Webcam only; 

Z2 = content capture card and room audio capture plus camera (this allows for document camera, annotation tablet, guest laptop content to be shared along with total room audio whether lapel mic, gooseneck mic or handheld mic); 

Z3 = All of Z2 but includes a Video Conferencing Codec or separate stand alone PC for Zoom/Zoom Room functionality.

How do staff manage recordings within Canvas?

The lecture recording system is integrated with Panopto so that recordings automatically appear within your Canvas course, via the Panopto Video menu, after the lecture (there will be a slight delay while Panopto processes the video). Edits should be made to the video within 24 hours, before it is released to students.

Click here for instructions on using the Panopto video editor.

To ensure that you receive an email when the video has finished processing, see the instruction to turn on email notifications within Panopto.

For detailed instructions on the use of Panopto for managing lecture theatre recordings, and other course videos, see the Panopto guides on the TeachWell website.

The TeachWell website also has suggestions for recording lectures and streaming live lectures via Zoom.

What about copyright?

Teachers can use the pause function on the lectern while lecturing or can edit the lecture prior to releasing it in order to manage copyright obligations. It is important to note that just because everything can be recorded, this does not mean everything should show up in the final version of the recordings. 

Students have a responsibility to use lecture recordings appropriately. Students must not make a further copy, sell, alter or further reproduce or further distribute released lectures.  

To understand copyright obligations for teachers and students, see Copyright at Auckland

If you are still unsure, please contact Anna Rennie, the Copyright Officer at the University,  Anna.Rennie@auckland.ac.nz or extension 83286.

How are staff notified when a recording is ready to edit?

Following the completion of a lecture, the recording takes a short time to process. Teachers will be sent an email when the recording is available to edit/review.   

If this email should be sent to another staff member, or a staff member would like to be removed from the email list, please contact the Staff Service Centre.

When will recordings be made available to students, and for how long?

Recordings will be released to students 24 hours after the lecture. If teachers need to edit the recording, please do so within this time frame.

Teachers can alter the default release time for their courses to a shorter or longer time-frame (up to a maximum of 72 hours). Teachers electing to release lecture recordings only after 72 hours must have a compelling reason for the delay, and must have considered the impact on students, including equity groups.

All recordings will be stored by the University until the end of the next corresponding teaching term following delivery of the course.

Can staff apply for an exemption from lecture release?

Some courses may not be appropriate for automatic lecture release, in which case teachers may wish to apply for an exemption.  The process is detailed on the webpage Guide to Lecture Release Exemption for Staff

Will every teaching session be recorded?

This service is available in many, but not all University rooms. All rooms which accommodate large classes are equipped for recording.

University policy is to release all lecture recordings. (This will be managed in the University computer system by the automatic release of courses with a Primary Graded Component of 'LEC'.)  Any release of tutorials, workshops or seminar sessions is determined by teachers, according to the policy.

Some courses are not suitable for release.  Where a course has been exempted from lecture release, this will be made clear to students in course information. Teachers can see further information on the Staff Guide to the Lecture Release Exemptions Process.

View options for Primary Graded Component.

What if I want other teaching types such as tutorials or workshops automatically recorded?

Under current policy, only teaching with the Primary Graded Component of LEC (lecture) are recorded and released automatically.  Teaching staff may wish to specify that other components are automatically recorded as well.  This can be requested and actioned through a form available on the Staff Service Centre.  

Using lecture recordings to support learning and teaching

Students

If used with regular attendance at teaching sessions, released lectures can be a powerful learning and teaching tool.  Viewing of released lectures can enrich a student's active participation in a course and attendance at lectures.

Students may use the released lecture to:

  • Revise for exams
  • Revisit complex ideas and concepts
  • Slow down or speed up the recording, or pause and replay it, to work at their own pace
  • Pick up on things missed in class
  • Expand or clarify course notes after the lecture
  • Check what was said before approaching the lecturer for clarification of issues, ideas or misunderstandings.

It is not good practice to 'binge watch' lectures to catch up on learning.  Released lectures are a learning resource like the other resources provided in courses (course books, powerpoint, etc).  They will not replace all of the aspects of learning in a course, so should not be used in this way.

Teachers

Best practice for teachers includes:

  • talking with students about how best to use recordings as a supplemental study tool, including the methods above
  • using the computer mouse as a pointer rather than a laser pointer as laser pointers are not visible in the recorded version
  • stepping away from the microphone when holding individual discussions with a student or students
  • using Canvas analytics to understand students' lecture viewing patterns

What are my responsibilities as a student?

Students have a responsibility to: 

  • Utilise released lectures appropriately as a supplemental learning resource and for personal study only.
  • Understand that released lectures are not provided as a substitute for regular lecture attendance.
  • Understand and comply with copyright, privacy and intellectual property provisions and respect prohibitions against further distribution of released lectures.
  • Be aware that technical difficulties sometimes occur that may prohibit or delay the release of recordings.

REMEMBER: Students must not make a further copy, sell, alter or further reproduce or further distribute released lectures.  Penalties for infringing these rules are set out in the University's Copyright Materials Policy.

Problems with recordings

If students have an issue accessing a released lecture file through Canvas, or the file has no sound or picture, contact the Student Service Centre.

For teachers having issues with recordings should contact the Staff Service Centre.  

Special event/ad-hoc lecture theatre recording

If you are holding an event in any of the recording-enabled rooms, you may request to have it recorded automatically, or you can use the manual interface to start and stop recordings.

When booking a lecture theatre for an event, please make sure to select 'Lecture Recording' from the room characteristics, and request to have the event recorded through the Staff Service Centre with enough lead time.

Ad-hoc recordings do not automatically appear in the Canvas environment.  Click here for details about how to add an ad-hoc recording into a Canvas course.

If you are signing up to have an ad-hoc event recorded, any guests of the University are required to sign a consent form.

If you would like your event to be videoed by University Media Productions, please visit the special event recording page.

Tell me about hybrid teaching spaces

Some teaching spaces are equipped with extra microphones to capture participants' voices. These spaces can be used for hybrid meetings − a mixture of on-campus and on-Zoom participants − and are bookable through the room booking system.

Web Room Booking system

Open the Web Room Booking system and select 'Hybrid enabled' from the list of room characteristics.

Document management and control

Owner: Pro Vice-Chancellor Education

Content manager: Manager, Academic Quality Office

Contact: quality@auckland.ac.nz