Oxford Human Rights Hub
- Lecture Capture Creating Global Seminars Livestreaming around the World
The Oxford Human Rights Hub “aims to bring together academics, practitioners, and policy makers from
across the globe to advance the understanding and protection of human rights and equality”
(http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/about/).
Regular seminars are conducted with students, the public, and academics who are geographically dispersed
and not able to convene in Oxford. Innovative use of Replay has created entirely new ways of
communicating, discussing, and exchanging ideas. The Oxford Human Rights Hub has used Replay to
create webinars ̶ seminars that have both an audience present in the room, and are simultaneously
broadcast over the internet. Webinars have allowed members of the Hub’s network to access and
participate in seminars regardless of their geographic location.
Context
 No previous experience of conducting
webinars (though seminars are run
regularly)
 Audiences from all over the globe,
including NGO workers, academics, and
civil servants
“I was quite happy with it”
Dr Meghan Campbell, Oxford Human Rights Hub
Key Challenges
 Livestreaming – to an anticipated
audience of 40 people
 Low bandwidth (as many global
participants have poor internet
connections)
 Maintaining a stable broadcast with no
issues; a system failure would reflect
poorly on the University
 Storing and later distributing a recording
of proceedings
 Broadcasting PowerPoint slides and audio
 Facilitating audience participation
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“The sound quality was quite
good”
“A good use of our time”
“Everything looked really nice”
Wise Webinar-ing
Top Tips
Successes
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Audience numbers far exceeded
expectations, with the two webinars
attracting 70 and 100 viewers. Even those
in areas with poor internet connections had
no trouble streaming the live broadcast.
Audience participation was excellent, with
approximately a third of the online
audience responding to questions and polls
during the webinars.
A webinar organiser commented on the
quality of the output, particularly noting its
sleekness and professionalism.
After being uploaded to the Hub’s website
the recordings of these webinars have
continued to attract viewers.
The software was simple to use, and the
seminars ran smoothly with no technical
issues.
These events have inspired others to follow
in the footsteps of the Oxford Human
Rights Hub, and run their own webinars.
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Have an IT specialist in the room during live
broadcasts to deal with any technical issues,
and ensure staff feel confident in the stability
of the system.
Make certain staff are aware of the full
capabilities of the software, and are trained in
its effective use.
Keep things simple (e.g. don’t use video unless
absolutely necessary) to increase ease of access
(particularly for those with poor internet
connections), and reduce the chance of things
going wrong.
Be sure to interact with the online audience, so
that they remain involved and invested in the
webinar.
Be aware of both the similarities and
differences between webinars and seminars,
and make sure that your presentation and
discussion are adapted to the particularities of
the genre.
Conclusions
Future Plans
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The Hub plans to continue conducting
webinars, and hopes to attract even more
online viewers in future.
They are also considering employing lecture
capture software to record their standard
seminars.
Organisers, the live audience, and the online
audience were all very positive about the
webinars. Lecture capture has made this new
format possible, and allowed the Hub to reach a
global audience, who, despite not being physically
present, have been able to participate and interact
with proceedings in real time.
Oxford plans to roll out Replay as a full service in 2016
Want to find out more?
Contact the Replay team at: replay@it.ox.ac.uk
Check out the latest Replay news at: http://blogs.it.ox.ac.uk/lecture-capture
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