The Impact of Web-Based Lecturing Technologies on Learning and Teaching

If you have external students or many students who cannot attend, then WBLT is recommended.
If you have students with disabilities, then WBLT may be crucial to their success.
If you have students from non-English speaking backgrounds, then WBLT would be useful for their understanding

Class size

WBLT is most useful for classes where one person does most of the speaking or one person speaks at a time, because of the technical difficulty in capturing multiple student responses. Large lectures are often like this.
If you have a small class and plan to use the face-to-face time for discussion, then WBLT is probably not appropriate.

Content

Visual material - If understanding your lecture depends largely on following dynamic visual information (other than still slides), then WBLT with audio only may not be appropriate. Ask your university's audiovisual services about the option of WBLT with video capability.
Sensitive material - If your lecture contains sensitive content that students may find disturbing to hear on their own, then WBLT may not be appropriate.
Copyright materials – materials such as commercial films may not be covered for use in WBLT, but do check the possibilities with your university's copyright unit.

Student expectations

Students increasingly expect WBLT to be available – 75% of students surveyed indicated that they used WBLT because they ‘couldn’t attend’.
If you choose not to use WBLT, it is important that you let the students know that the recordings will not be available and the reasons for your decision.

[Back to top]

What can I expect when I use WBLT?

Your expectations

The WBLT research suggests that your attitude might influence the outcome of using WBLT – if you have a positive attitude, you are more likely to have a positive experience.
Think about the role of the lecture, how it relates to other components of the unit and how you communicate with your students. Lecturers who have changed the way they interact with their students have reported generally more positive experiences with WBLT.

Reframing your practice

Expect a change in how and when you deal with students. Unit development can also be different.

Lecturing

You may become more conscious of what you say and how you say it. Try not to lose your spontaneity, humour and enthusiasm.

Attendance

You may experience a drop in student attendance. Some lecturers experience no change. Setting expectations with students, the nature of your lecture and factors outside your control all have an effect.

Student engagement

You can also expect a range of behaviours from your students. Some will listen every week to the whole recording, others will dip in. In any case, many of students will be happy that you’re meeting their needs for flexibility, and many of them will think they learn just as well using WBLT as in face-to-face lectures.

[Back to top]

Will my students attend my lectures?

The WBLT research showed that 68% of the student respondents who do not attend lectures think they can learn just as well using WBLT as attending face-to-face lectures. They can listen online to:

a structured experience of the unit content
receive a lot of information related to the subject
hear announcements

So why is it important for students to come to the lectures?

Educational reasons may include:

experience first hand the enthusiasm of the teacher
jointly build a conceptual framework
participate in live discussions to achieve specific learning outcomes
see the visual materials or see how a process unfolds in a demonstration

establish a connection with the lecturer
be able to ask questions about this and past lectures
check their understanding and progress

ask about announcements, events and course administration
hear content that is sensitive and not appropriate to be listened to without the guidance of the lecturer.
view and hear copyright material that can’t be broadcast.

Develop a study routine rather than leaving everything to just before exams.

Social advantages:

Meet with others in the same unit
Exchange ideas and make new friendships

As a lecturer, it is important that you let students know what they can gain from attending and what they may miss by just listening online.

[Back to top]

Why don’t students attend?

The WBLT survey indicated that 75% of respondents who do not attend lectures cannot come to class owing to factors such as time-table clashes and work or family commitments. To support these students, you can use WBLT, in combination with other technologies, to ensure that they can still participate as required to succeed in the course.

[Back to top]

Where’s the evidence that WBLT works/ helps students learn?

This depends on how you define “works”. Three-quarters of students who reported they do not attend lectures said they are unable to attend. For these students, having WBLT certainly “works” for them.

The WBLT research acknowledged the complexity and variations between learning contexts. It therefore investigated the learning processes students employed rather than measuring specific learning outcomes.

The results show evidence of students employing deep learning approaches with WBLT. They used it to revisit complex concepts, to revise for exams, and to take comprehensive notes, while listening. Students generally perceived that using WBLT made it easier to learn and helped them achieve better results. A large proportion think they can learn just as well using WBLT as they can by attending a face-to-face class.

Students reported that lecturers who provide a clear structure for the lecture, repeat students’ answers into the microphone, and provide timely and reliable access to lecture recordings and supporting materials are recognised as most helpful to their learning.

The research also found that WBLT is not appropriate in some instances, e.g. when students need to participate in oral discussion; when sensitive content is being presented; and when students cannot understand the lecture without seeing the visuals (when only audio recording is offered). Use of WBLT, therefore, should be part of a pedagogical strategy.

[Back to top]

Can I change the way I conduct my unit to account for attendance difficulties?

Some lecturers have trialed alternative lecturing patterns. For example, instead of having weekly lectures, some lecturers changed to having a lecture at the beginning, middle and end of semester. They use these lectures for engagement rather than information transmission, as the latter can be successfully achieved through pre-recordings or text-based materials.

[Back to top]

How do I instruct students to use this technology to benefit their learning?

discuss the importance of active learning and collaborative learning. Students learn more if they are engaged and if they participate in the learning process;
warn students of the workload required in the course and the dangers of falling behind on listening to lectures. They may not realise the self-discipline required to maintain focus while studying alone away from campus;
provide students with a link to the WBLT toolkit for students

[Back to top]

How can I tell if my students are learning if they are not attending?

Consider other ways of obtaining feedback about your students’ learning and set some deadlines. Some examples for ongoing formative feedback are:

online discussions	pose questions in lectures and ask students to post responses to a discussion board
online quizzes and self-tests	include feedback and check where students make most mistakes
student wrapping topics	nominate groups of students to summarise a topic on the discussion board
muddiest point	ask students to post on the discussion board what they find most unclear (muddiest).

You can respond to this feedback in a following lecture.

Another source of feedback is in tutorials. It is useful to remind students of the importance of listening to lecture recordings before the tutorial if this is crucial for tutorial performance.

[Back to top]

Isn’t this just one of those technologies that stands in the way of my teaching?

There is an element of self-fulfilling prophesy in this. The WBLT survey showed that staff who have negative attitudes toward WBLT also find that it does not perform well in supporting their teaching. Those who have positive attitudes toward WBLT and consider it a tool for students to learn, tend to have more positive experiences about its ability to support their teaching.

Learning to use a new technology always require time, especially in regard to how to integrate it into practice. It can be problemmatic if it’s simply slotted into existing patterns without any consideration for what it can and can’t do.

Because many students now cannot come to lectures, even when they want to, WBLT is increasingly important. Students who can attend also find WBLT a useful study tool.

[Back to top]

Won’t this increase my workload? What can I do?

Your workload (and level of anxiety) may increase initially when you implement changes. However, taking time to consider the best way to achieve the desired learning outcomes may result in more sustainable teaching practice.

Communication

Some lecturers suggested their workload increases because they need to duplicate information (in lecture, discussion board, and email), and they find answering emails very time-consuming. Planning how you use tools and informing students of your way of working can help to avoid duplication.
Conversely, some students indicated that they ask lecturers fewer questions using WBLT because they can refer to the recordings before deciding whether they really need to ask a question. Some suggested that they clarify their questions, or ask less administrative type of questions.
Strategies include encouraging students to listen to the recordings or asking them to use the discussion board to answer each others’ questions. The key is minimising one-to-one communication, especially when you have large classes.

Formative assessment

Developing quizzes and self tests may initially increase your workload, but can provide you with formal evidence for your students' progress. Quizzes are reusable over semesters so it is a scalable solution.

Check local support for yourself and your students before making your decision about how you use learning technologies.

[Back to top]

What is the best way for me to use WBLT?

Retain the richness of your face-to-face lectures and don’t impoverish them just because they are being recorded. Most importantly, consider the role lectures play in your unit.

Hands-on activities, discussions, and demonstrations may need to move to other components of the course (e.g. tutorials or pracs) as they cannot be captured using WBLT.
Online tools can also provide opportunities for communication between students, rather than relying on campus-based experiences.

Consider the following when using WBLT:.

Lesson planning

Create an outline of the content to be covered and major topics to be addressed

Plan how you will manage activities, play copyright materials, conduct group discussions, provide extra commentary for listeners or suggest posting reflections or questions online

Summarise key points
Include announcements
Plan for the time allowed to avoid important points being ‘cut-off’ when the recording finishes – start and end on time
Consider how you will use equipment and teaching aids and how their content will be transmitted
Use titles and numbers on slides so you can refer to them
Upload slides before the lecture and alert students to make a print out

Managing the technical aspects of WBLT

Book your recording in time
Use the staff tool to upload PowerPoint slides and provide titles and outlines for your lectures
Make sure you turn on the microphone to trigger the recording
Use a visualiser instead of OHP or whiteboard [where there is one] in order to capture the image/notes for students using WBLT.
Practise using the technology before the lecture and use it consistently
Keep recordings from previous semesters as backups

During the lecture

Speak clearly and vary your tone to convey your enthusiasm for the topics
Explain references to visuals and ensure they are available for listeners
Indicate slide changes when moving through slides
Describe what the attendees are doing
Use the microphone in a way that minimise interference with the sound quality – buttons on shirts of brisk walkers and OHP fan noise can affect the recording.
If possible, capture student discussion, especially for external students. Repeat students’ responses if necessary or share the microphone.
If there are to be long pauses (eg for a class activity) alert listeners and advise them of the duration so they can advance the recording.
Provide listeners with the same or parallel activities to those occurring in class.

[Back to top]

Should I teach my external students and face-to-face students as one cohort? Why?

Increasingly students perceive little difference between enrolling externally and internally. These days, internals expect the same access to technologies, structure and flexibility as externals. Equally, external students expect personal contact and interaction. Teachers have shown they can successfully integrate discussion between external and internal students on the unit discussion board, so they interact as a single cohort.

At the same, it is useful to keep in mind that not all good practice in the face-to-face environment can be easily replicated online. So it is worth considering alternative strategies that will accommodate all students. (Think carefully about the workload implications for your choices.)

[Back to top]

What about NESB students or those with a disability?

76% of students indicated they used recorded lectures to study for exams, and the same number indicated they used the recordings to revisit complex ideas and concepts. Whether they attended the face-to-face sessions or not, the recordings provided learning support for NESB students or those with a disability.

The guidelines for teaching with WBLT includes some tips on how to use the technology effectively.

[Back to top]

What is the difference between WBLT and other technologies such as video or web conferencing?

WBLT records audio and sometimes visual components of a lecture, which is then made available online within 48 hours. Web-conferencing (e.g. LiveClassroom) offers real time voice, chat and visual interaction from diverse locations while the session is running. It can also archive interaction for future access.

Your teaching context and the needs of your students will affect the decisions you make about which technologies to use.

[Back to top]

What other technologies can we use – together with WBLT/ rather than WBLT?

WBLT should be used in conjunction with complementary tools that support student-student, student-teacher and student-content interactions ( Anderson, 2004). Because WBLT is essentially a one-way communication medium, some teachers have used other online tools.

Two way interaction	Discussion boards can fulfil this need asynchronously
Formative assessment	Lecturers have reported is their inability to gauge student understanding when students do not attend lectures. With formative assessment tools such as online quizzes, self tests, and activities in online discussion, students’ understanding can be gauged.
Conferencing	Web-conferencing (e.g. Elluminate, LiveClassroom, Adobe Connect) can offer students real time text, voice and visual interaction from other locations while the lecture is running.

The best technologies to use will depend on your unit and the technology available in your area.

[Back to top]

What support would I get? Who can I call when there are problems?

It is the university’s responsibility to let all academic staff know where they can go for support. The standard support structure would include:

mentoring
examples of best practice
FAQs
guidelines
workshops
just in time technical support, and
student support.

Our project website contains sample guidelines and examples of current practice that may be referenced.

[Back to top]

Where can I find examples of good practice?

Our project website has a series of examples of good practice. We also encourage each university to promote its own examples of good practice to give its staff local examples.

[Back to top]