Televising Classes

We noted in a previous posting of the recent Regents meetings that faculty representative Robert Horwitz devoted significant time to discussing the complications that would be involved in making all courses available in some type of online or hybrid format.* His remarks were triggered by demands from some student groups for such universal remote accessibility.

It might be noted that one UCLA school - the Anderson School of Management - has arranged for all of its classrooms to be equipped with that capability. A private service - Mediasite - is set up in each room which essentially involves a video camera with audio capability.** The camera turns on automatically timed with the schedule of each course. Instructors can live-stream the course, put the recording online, or - presumably - elect not to do either.

For all UCLA courses to have such options, cameras and audio equipment would have to be installed in all classrooms. Since it has been done at Anderson, it should be possible to estimate what costs would be involved. Beyond costs, Horwitz noted other complications apart from the technical issues in his remarks to the Regents such as issues of intellectual property and control of the use of recordings once they are on the web. Note that if there is significant student participation in the class, there are also some issues surrounding consent to be recorded.

These kinds of discussions at the Regents and elsewhere long predate the most recent meetings. We noted such discussions on this blog back in 2013.***

===

*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/03/watch-regents-morning-meetings-of-march.html.

**https://mediasite.com/product/#capture.

***http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/02/blame-it-on-professor-snodgrass.html.