Instructors’ quick guide to nCAST
nCAST is a lecture-capture system that lets you record all aspects of your lecture (audio, video,
computer presentation, and any article that fits under a document camera) quickly and easily. The
recordings of your lectures are stored on a COTR web server. This means that you can simply provide
the link to the recording for your students (they don’t have to download the whole thing) and view it at
their leisure. nCAST is most popular for classes in which not all students are able to attend a face-to-face
lecture every week; and for particularly challenging topics that students may want to view and re-view.
To use nCAST, you must first book* an nCAST-capable room (as of September 2013, the rooms with
nCAST are K187, 188, 189, 190, 193, 195, S208, 114 & 119).
*see note re: Room Availability on p. 3 for more information about booking an nCAST room.
If you are using any nCAST room other than S208 or S119:
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Turn on the room lights. (Can’t find the room light switches? They may be located on the
console). Be sure to turn on the front lights so that your video will be well-illuminated
Log in to the console unit with the presentation room login number (to get the current 4-digit
number, check with IT or the library or another faculty member).
Make sure you allow yourself enough time on the ‘parking meter’!
Turn on the computer & log in using your COTR account. (If the computer is locked behind a
door, press the link to PC on the console display to unlock it. You will still have to turn on the
computer though!)
Turn on the projector when you’re prompted to do so.
Open the drawer under the podium & make sure that the wireless mouse & keyboard are
charged! The little lights beside them should be blue.
Press the Conferencing button (second button on the right side of console)
Tap on the green ‘list’ icon and choose ‘Lecture recording’ from the drop-down list. (Or, if you
are in S114, choose “Web” from the left menu.) It may take a minute, but soon you will see the
LCD screen (which hangs from the ceiling) & the camera (underneath it) start up.
If necessary, adjust the camera using the camera remote inside the drawer.
Inside the drawer, you should see two microphones in their charging cradle. Choose the shorter
microphone. If you are going to do all of your talking close to the podium, stand the microphone
on the podium surface. If you expect to walk around a bit, attach the microphone to your
clothing somewhere around your mid- to upper-chest area.
When you’re ready to start, press ‘start recording’ on the console display. It may take a few
seconds for the recording function to start.
That’s it! Conduct your lecture as you normally would. Don’t forget that the camera has a
limited range & the audio recording will be better if you stay fairly close to the microphone.
Do you need the document camera? You’ll first have to press the power button on the
document camera (it will glow green when on). Now switch the display from the computer
screen to the document display by pressing the top button on right side of the console. When
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August 13, 2013
you’re ready to return the display to the PC, press the third button down on the left side of the
console.
When you’re done your lecture or presentation, return to the Conferencing menu (i.e. the
second button on the right side of the console). Press the red ‘stop recording’ button to end the
recording.
Note: you must inform Nathon Hall (hall@cotr.bc.ca or ext. 3296) about the dates & times of
your lectures so that he can locate & send you the link to the recordings (when they’re ready:
takes up to a couple of hours after you’re done). This link can then be incorporated into your
moodle class or emailed to students.
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If you plan to use s119 or 208:
To use nCAST in these rooms, you will have to use the nCAST mobile distance console. Make an
appointment with Nathon to find out how to access this console & connect it.
*Room availability:
Room bookings at COTR use the EASI system. (You’ll find a link to EASI from the portal.) You can book an
nCAST-capable room using EASI but remember: nCAST rooms are popular & often get booked not only
for classes but also for meetings and community events.
nCAST Tips
Good nCAST style is just a combination of good lecturing/public speaking style, with a couple of
additional points to keep in mind.
Technical tips
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Read the above document: Instructors’ quick guide to nCAST.
Get familiar with the equipment. It's not hard & there's not that much to do.
Keep the how-to guide handy & practice the steps until you’re comfortable.
Visual tips
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The camera image of YOU that gets recorded is actually pretty small. Try not to feel too selfconscious in front of the camera. Your viewers will be mostly focussed on the (much bigger)
display of your computer screen.
Nevertheless, be aware of your camera range & try to stay within it.
If you are a pacer, you may want to use masking tape at first to remind yourself. Do try to
reduce your pacing. It's distracting to your audience to watch you veer back & forth like a
caged animal.
If you talk with your hands, you may wish to tone it down a little.
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Don't worry too much about dressing for the camera although keep in mind that really loud
patterns can have a life of their own in video.
You may wish to cover the lower right corner of the computer screen with a post-it note to
remind yourself that your remote students won't be able to see that corner (it's covered with
your video stream).
Audio tips
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Adjust the mic to the level of your mouth (or a bit below).
Be aware of your position with respect to the mic. Your audience won't be able to hear you as
well if you are always turning away, covering your mouth, talking to the projector screen.
Be aware of your speaking style. Minor imperfections in the way you talk may be exaggerated
when you record.
Unlike a face-to-face environment, the recorded situation doesn't provide your remote
students with good communication cues (lip reading, body language etc.). And your remote
students can't ask you to repeat something more clearly.
o If you tend to talk rather quickly, speak more slowly.
o If you tend to raise & lower the volume of your voice a lot, practice speaking in a more
consistent level.
o If you have an accent (or if your students have an accent) these rules are even more
important!
Your remote students won't be able to hear any questions posed by the face-to-face students.
Remember to repeat the question for your remote students before you answer it. Everybody
will appreciate this step!
Turn away from the mic & camera if you must cough, blow your nose, get something out of
your eye.
Your students are not expecting you to be a movie star. Don’t worry about all the “umm” &
“ah” pauses in your speech.
Document camera tips
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Be aware of where the camera is. Your students will see whatever's closest to the camera. If
you have your hands between the camera & the object, students won't be able to see the
object.
Don't become overly dependent on the document camera for presenting/reading your notes.
The quality is not nearly as good as your computer screen.
Who are the nCAST experts?
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Leslie Molnar & Gretchen Whetham (for pedagogical & practical aspects)
Nathon Hall (for technical aspects)
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(Optional) Presenter Evaluation
How was my audio presentation?
o Spoke too fast
o Spoke too slow
o Speech not articulated well enough
o Speech volume varied too much
o Presenter moved away from the mic too much
o Audio was just great!
How was my visual presentation?
o Didn’t seem to remember where the camera was
o Too much pacing back & forth
o Too 'frozen' (standing rigidly in one place)
o Too much hand movement
o Visual was just great!
How was my use of the document camera?
o Too fast
o Out of focus
o Hands hid the object/couldn't see what was being pointed at
o Object not suitable for this kind of presentation
o Would have preferred a photo or document on the computer
o It was just great!
Other comments or suggestions for the presenter?
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August 13, 2013
Engaging Lecture Capture: Lights, Camera… Interaction!
By Margie A. Martyn
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Lecture capture began 10 years ago at DePaul University in Chicago when the College of
Computing and Digital Media developed the Course OnLine system.
Both in-class and online students benefit from lecture capture, which augments classroom
sessions for the former and replaces classroom lectures for the latter.
Increasing the interactivity in lecture captures can improve student engagement and
learning outcomes, as suggested by matching the seven principles for good practice in
undergraduate education with good practice in lecture capture.
It might sound strange to use the word “interaction” when talking about course lecture capture,
but interaction is the key to engaging students. Lecture capture is “a solution that captures
classroom-based activities in a digital format that is then available for download or consumption
over the internet.”1 In the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) at DePaul University in
Chicago, this technology began 10 years ago with the development of their proprietary Course
OnLine system. This system captures video of the instructor, two whiteboards, and whatever is
displayed on the instructor’s PC, including PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, or
other software (see Figure 1). Lecture capture serves both in-class students, by augmenting the
classroom sessions, and online students, by replacing the classroom lecture. Faculty members
are recorded as they teach the in-class section, while the online section watches the recording
during the following week. The sections share the same learning outcomes, assignments, and
exams.
Figure 1. Lecture Capture Screenshot from Course OnLine
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In addition to Course OnLine, a variety of solutions are on the market
from Accordant, Echo360, Elluminate, Panopto,Sonic Foundry, Techsmith, and Tegrity. A few key
players dominate the market, with Sonic Foundry holding a hefty 40 percent-plus market share
(including the education, government, corporate, and health care sectors). Just a handful of
vendors provide the lecture capture systems in use at most major universities.2 The recent
partnership between Blackboard and Echo360, which the companies claim offers a seamless
solution for Blackboard users, will certainly increase the use of this technology in the future.
Lecture capture has found an important and permanent place in education.3 According to
Ramaswani4:
“Digital lecture capture and broadcast has been around for only about 10 years, but are poised
for healthy growth. Frost & Sullivan research analysts estimate that the market (which amounts
to $25 million currently) will quadruple by 2013.”
Is the cost and time outlay in these systems worth the investment? Does lecture capture engage
students and help them learn? The research to date has found a perception by students that it
does; however, there is limited preliminary research on how it might impact actual learning
outcomes.
In a study of 29,078 in-class students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison,5 which used
lecture capture to augment their classroom experience, 82 percent of the students would prefer
a course in which lecture content is recorded, and 60 percent were willing to pay extra to have
this technology available to them. Students cited the benefits of:
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Making up for a missed class
Watching lectures on demand
Improving retention of class materials
Improving test scores
Reviewing material as a complement to in-class interactions
One student noted:
“I would love to have online lectures in addition to normal lectures. Focusing on listening and
comprehension during class is very important to me and extremely difficult if I am also
simultaneously scribbling notes.”6
At Temple University,7 faculty and students perceived that lecture capture improved student
learning and helped with exam preparation. Lecture capture had very high approval rates by
both faculty and students, and 95 percent of the students said they preferred taking a course
supplemented by lecture capture. At Coppin State,8 using course capture to augment the class
increased retention.
“Webcasts offered students increased flexibility in the way they learned and obtained course
information, which in turn contributed to psychological benefits such as a sense of security and
a reduction of anxiety.”9
There is very little research on using lecture capture for online-only students. When the systems
are used by online students without the benefit of the in-class experience, the results may differ.
In a focus group of in-class students using lecture capture:
“A few said that they might consider taking the course by webcast, especially if instructors were
available during office hours, but many disagreed, fearing the engagement level would be
lower.”10
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Online students don’t have the benefit of meeting the faculty and other students first, and then
using the lecture recordings as an additional resource. The classes are recorded, and the online
students view them later. They rely on the lecture recordings as the primary mechanism to
interact with faculty.
Although the research supports that students perceive webcasts to be a helpful learning tool,
the impact on grades, test scores, and learning is not clear. While existing studies do not
demonstrate that lecture webcasting has a positive impact on learning outcomes, they do seem
to indicate that the availability of archived lectures improves the student experience.11 A report
from University of Texas at Austin indicates that “exam scores did not differ in a statistically
significant way between the webcast and no-webcast sections.”12 A small study at Coppin State
University13 that compared face-to-face classes both with and without course capture found that
students in face-to-face classes that used course capture received slightly better grades than
those in classes without.
To improve actual learning outcomes, pedagogy should include interactive discussions and
activities.14 Successful course lecture capture requires a well-defined strategy. Developing the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for delivery needs to be systematically achieved. Just
as in the pyramid of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,15 where the physiological and then safety
needs must be met before higher level needs are met, the same holds true for lecture capture.
Faculty must learn how to use the lecture capture system and then the technical fundamentals
before advancing to integrating interactivity and improved learning outcomes. (See Figure 2.)
For example, it is impossible to explain the complexities of network security when you forget to
turn on your microphone!
Figure 2. Lecture Capture Developmental Hierarchy
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Lecture Capture System Polices and Training
Laying a solid foundation for successful lecture capture requires the institution to address three
areas:
1. Providing a lecture capture system
2. Defining policies for use
3. Training faculty and students
Lecture Capture Systems
It is important to purchase or develop a system that accommodates a variety of teaching styles
and does not require faculty intervention. For example, MScribe, the pilot developed by
the ATLAS Collaboratory Project at the University of Michigan, utilizes a robotics tracking
system that follows the lecturer as he or she walks about the lecture space wearing an infraredemitting necklace. Purdue University is putting standard lecture capture technology in
classrooms, yet David Eisert, manager of emerging technologies at Purdue University, indicated
that faculty members said they would not even be willing to press a button at the beginning of
class to initiate the recording. As a result, Purdue found a workaround that would require
minimal cooperation form professors.16 Faculty are educators and need to concentrate on the
content and presentation — they should not be expected to become technical experts as well.
Technical support staff should implement, test, and maintain the equipment (including back-up
supplies like extra whiteboards and cameras) as needed.
Guidelines
Develop clear guidelines regarding the use of lectures and communicate them to faculty before
a course begins. While some lecture recordings from past classes (with a guest speaker, for
example) may be used again, most lectures should be fresh every class to incorporate new
information, trends, and current events. A policy for missed lectures, make-up lectures, and so
forth should be communicated to faculty so that they are clear on how and when the lectures will
be recorded. In addition, a procedure should be instituted for faculty to request that a certain
class or entire coursenot be recorded. While lecture recordings are beneficial for the majority of
courses, class discussions in courses that address personal topics or controversial subject
matter might be adversely affected if recorded.
Training
Educate faculty on the best practices and limitations of lecture capture. Ensure that faculty
members are trained to explore methods to integrate their pedagogy with lecture capture. (see
http://www.educause.edu/sites/default/files/EQ/EQM094/EQM0946_F3.jpg for an example.)
According to Traphagan:
“A few instructors were not aware of essential practices, such as repeating students’ questions
and telling where the laser pointer was aimed. Some instructors found it difficult to remember
essential practices, such as wearing a microphone. Program staff should consider a more
systematic way to convey all essential things that instructors should be careful about and
consider providing aids for instructors.”17
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Technical Fundamentals
Lecture captures should be approached as an iterative process. Faculty should practice the
technical fundamentals required before, during, and after the class session. After going through
this iteration, the learning from watching the captured class will lead to changes that can be
implemented before and during the next class. Below is a checklist of practices that faculty
should address for each recorded class session.
Before Class
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All hardware (microphones, cable connections, etc.) should be tested. Batteries run out
(have extras available), cables jiggle loose, and connections break. Being proactive can
avoid having an entire lecture lost.
If using a lapel microphone, be sure that it is positioned for optimum sound quality.
Systems have a variety of microphone types and placement that affect sound capture.
Also, avoid wearing accessories that might make noise (bracelets, necklaces, chains).
Wear solid colors that have little pattern. Avoid herringbone, because it will cause jittering
in the video and make it look like the jacket is moving.18 Avoid wearing material that is
metallic or reflective because this could cause light issues.
Educate students on the interface used to watch lectures. In a focus group of students
using Course OnLine at CDM in the summer of 2009, it was clear that students were not
aware of the playback options available to review lectures. A similar study18 found that
students were unfamiliar with some of the interface features to facilitate the effective use
of the webcasts. For example, the knowledge of slide lists and other features would have
helped them learn the material more effectively and efficiently.
Employ strategies to encourage students’ class attendance and viewing of webcasts. For
example, students can be given points for participation (attendance) or for submitting short
discussion board postings. This ensures that students view and comprehend the material
and also provides interaction with faculty and other students.
During Class
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The instructor should stay within the video and sound capture zone. It can be distracting to
students who are watching the recording when the instructor disappears from view and
then reappears.
Faculty should repeat students’ questions before answering. The microphone
configurations on many lecture capture systems do a good job capturing the instructor’s
voice but not the students’ voices.
Classes should be monitored in real time to determine whether the capture quality is
satisfactory. Course OnLine has a remote administration feature that allows real-time
monitoring. With other systems, the instructor might need to do a spot check.
Whiteboards need to be erased carefully before being used again. Course OnLine
provides a whiteboard helper (called WBhelper) that allows faculty members to see the
student view of the whiteboard.
Faculty should remember that when they point at things on the whiteboard, students might
not be able to see that detail in the video. Accompany pointing with words that describe
what is being addressed.
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After Class
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Faculty should view their own recorded lectures for overall capture quality (video, sound,
whiteboard, etc.).
Faculty, by watching recorded lectures, can learn from mistakes and improve future
lectures. According to Deal, “Lecture webcasting can affect the quality of the educational
experience indirectly by influencing instructor behavior and perspectives.”20
Integrating Interactivity
Although mastering the technical fundamentals is a critical step, more should be done. A survey
of 1,117 online learning students at CDM in the spring of 2009 demonstrates this point. Of the
373 students who responded (33 percent), many had positive feedback about the technical
fundamentals. (See Table 1.) However, a closer look at their comments shows that in order for
them to be fully engaged, faculty need to integrate interactivity. (See "Interactivity" for specific
student comments.)
Table 1. Survey Results about Lecture Capture Technical Fundamentals
Question
Very
Good
Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor
Rate the quality of the recorded instructor audio
25%
45%
24%
6%
0%
Rate the quality of the recorded instructor video
19%
38%
32%
10%
0%
Rate the quality of the recorded student
questions/comments audio
13%
25%
29%
25%
8%
Rate the quality of the PC screenshots
38%
36%
21%
4%
1%
Rate the quality of the whiteboard recordings
20%
35%
30%
11%
4%
Faculty members should create opportunities for students to participate after the class lecture
by asking questions to be answered later, and then following the lecture with asynchronous
discussion boards, synchronous chat, or blogs. Some lecture capture systems allow
synchronous virtual classrooms to run in tandem with the lecture capture. CDM students in the
survey view this as an attractive option. Remote students crave the interaction that in-class
students get by attending class. The interaction works to motivate both the strong students and
those who are struggling.
“What I think we’re finding is that it’s the motivated student who benefits most from being able to
review course-lectures, since they allow her to check the accuracy of her own notes by going
right to the source. The student already prepared to do well will only further excel when given
additional tools and resources. The student who is struggling but wants to do well will also
benefit by using videos as a virtual tutor and a way to jog her memory.”21
Applying the seven principles for good practice22 will help faculty reach all students though
integrating interactivity. Significant changes in teaching and learning are possible, particularly
when interactive technologies are involved. These changes promise to better engage the Net
Generation and the adult learner.23 Table 2 relates Chickering and Gamson’s principles to
specific practices for adding interactivity to lecture capture.
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Table 2. Seven Principles for Good Practice Applied to Lecture Recordings
Principle
Practice
Encourages contact
between students and
faculty
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Include questions in lectures that students need to respond to. After reviewing the
lecture, the student responds to questions on a discussion board. Students can
respond to other students’ responses as well.
Grade discussion postings. Faculty can review and provide feedback. “Frequent
student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in
student motivation and involvement.”24
Develops reciprocity
and cooperation
among students
Assign a student the responsibility of summarizing and highlighting the important
points of the captured lecture. Students can be broken down into groups to do
this. Instructor reviews and prompts students for missed points. In addition,
student groups can take case studies presented in the lecture and do additional
research and follow-up.
Encourages active 
learning
Require students to apply lecture material to a case study, problem set, or realworld application, instead of passively watching the lecture.
Gives prompt
feedback
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Incorporate a synchronous component in the lecture capture system through a
tool like Wimba. This provides online students the potential to get immediate
feedback to questions. In addition, this option provides a larger pool of diverse
students in the class discussion. Online students from a broader geographical
area can provide a diverse perspective.
Ask students to post the “muddiest point” of the lecture so that faculty can clarify
via the discussion board.
Create quizzes based on material presented in lecture that are graded
automatically. Having students see what they missed focuses learning.
Emphasizes time on
task
Encourage students to review the lecture and learn before the next lecture is
presented. This allows students to spend more time than would be available in a
normal in-class session. “To improve learning outcomes, instructors must think
creatively about using webcasting technology to free up valuable classroom time
for more interactive discussion and activities.”25
Communicates high
expectations
Provide feedback on assignments in lecture to emphasize course goals and
expectations. Students can review this feedback throughout the term via the
lecture playback system.
Respects diverse 
talents and ways of
learning
Support all learning styles: video and slides for visual, sound for auditory, and
thumbnails and slide movements for kinesthetic learners. Different groups of
students benefit from lecture capture in different ways. “The relationships
between students’ characteristics and the benefits they receive from webcasts
are complex.”26
Improved Learning Outcomes
The research to date has focused on student perception of value rather than actual learning
outcomes. Continuing to improve lecture capture technology, while important, simply builds the
foundation of the pyramid. The greatest increase in the effectiveness of lecture capture systems
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will come from the application of pedagogical techniques that integrate interactivity. Once some
instructors have successfully integrated interactivity, we can measure the effect on actual
learning outcomes. Given the magnitude of positive perceptions surrounding the effectiveness
of lecture capture systems, the impact on learning outcomes might be significant and warrants
further investigation. The College of Computing and Digital Media plans to continue research in
this area as more instructors adopt changes in pedagogy while recording their lectures. Data
that demonstrates significant increases in student learning will be the motivating factor for
instructors to move beyond the technical fundamentals and toward integrating interaction in their
own courses.
Endnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
Ann McClure, “Lecture Capture: A Fresh Look” (April 2008).
Rama Ramaswani, “Capturing the Market,” Campus Technology, June 1, 2009.
McClure, “Lecture Capture: A Fresh Look.”
Ramaswani, “Capturing the Market,” para. 1.
Raj Veeramani and Sandra Bradley, “Insights Regarding Undergraduate Preference for Lecture Capture,” University
of Wisconsin–Madison E-Business Institute (September 23, 2008).
Ibid., p. 4.
Linda L. Briggs, “Classroom Capture: Lecture Recording System Draws Devotees at Temple,” Campus Technology,
February 14, 2007.
Linda L. Briggs, “Can Classroom Capture Boost Retention Rates?” Campus Technology, October 17, 2007.
Tomoko Traphagan, “Class Lecture Webcasting, Fall 2004 and Spring 2005: A Case Study,” Program Evaluation
Report, University of Texas at Austin (October 24, 2005), p. 7.
Ibid., p. 64.
Ashley Deal, “Lecture Webcasting: A Teaching with Technology White Paper,” Carnegie Mellon University (January
16, 2007).
Traphagan, “Class Lecture Webcasting,” p. 6.
Briggs, “Can Classroom Capture Boost Retention Rates?”
Deal, “Lecture Webcasting.”
Abraham H. Maslow, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review, vol. 50, no. 4 (1943), pp. 370–96.
Steve Kolowich, “Fans and Fears of ‘Lecture Capture’,” Inside Higher Ed, November 9, 2009.
Traphagan, “Class Lecture Webcasting,” p. 14.
Lecture Capture System, Information Technology Services, University of Illinois at Springfield.
Traphagan, “Class Lecture Webcasting.”
Deal, “Lecture Webcasting,” p. 7.
Paul Riismandel, “Course-Capture Is Poised to Blow Up in ’08,” blog entry December 9, 2007, para. 6.
Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson, “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education,” American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, March 1987.
Diana G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger, eds. Educating the Net Generation (Boulder, CO: 2005).
Chickering and Gamson, “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education,” para. 5.
Deal, “Lecture Webcasting,” p. 1.
Traphagan, “Class Lecture Webcasting,” p. 10.
© 2009 Margie A. Martyn. The text of this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative
Works 3.0 license.
Margaret Martyn
Assistant Dean of Academic Administration
DePaul University
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August 13, 2013