Lecture Capture Evaluation

At the end of 2018, WWU's current "lecture capture" system, TechSmith Relay, will no longer be supported by the vendor.  As a result, ATUS is currently investigating alternative solutions. Your participation during this evaluation period is extremely valuable.

The term "lecture capture" doesn't fully encapsulate the various functions of an institutional video recording solution.  While a combination of hardware (such as cameras and microphones) and software (for recording, editing, storing, and presenting) may be used to record an instructor's academic presentation, these systems are also used at Western for computer screen capture, student video assignments, professional development, and much more.

There are a complex variety of features and priorities that may need to be considered when evaluating "lecture capture" solutions.  For example:

• Cost to the institution, department, or students
• Ease of use
• Accessibility
• Video captioning capabilities
• Integration with intuitional systems and tools (such as the Canvas LMS) 
• Technical support
• File storage 
• Analytics/reporting

We plan to involve the WWU community in this evaluation by:

• Surveying all faculty currently using TechSmith Relay and Canvas
• Communicating and collaborating with departmental and institutional stakeholders
• Conducting focus-group sessions
• Providing vendor demonstrations and software trials

Following is our current timeline:

• Phase 1:  Spring quarter, 2018 - Identify possible alternative solutions, list features and requirements, prioritize requirements, conduct preliminary trials
• Phase 2:  Fall quarter, 2018 - Invite vendor demonstrations, conduct focus-group sessions, narrow list of candidates
• Phase 3:  Prior to end of Fall quarter, 2018 - Selection of final solution

In the coming weeks, please look for continued communication regarding the ATUS lecture capture evaluation process.   

Would you like to be involved in this evaluation process?  Your participation is extremely important! 
To help us evaluate or pilot a new solution, please contact CanvasHelp@wwu.edu.