University of Manchester Installs 350-Room Lecture Capture Solution To Meet Students' Learning Needs

He says if instructors can’t voice their preferences, the installation will be a failure.

“If we hadn’t consulted them, we would have had a solution that did not fit their needs, and that would have been hugely disappointing if we had invested a considerable amount of money in lecture capture,” Phillipson says. “I think you’ve got to see what the average academic needs in your community if you’re going to have a lead technical tool like lecture capture years before you offer it as a service…If you don’t reach out to them and motivates them to be engaged with something, then you’ll possibly build overly-technical solutions that might not meet their requirements.”

Give back resources

Schlute says colleges, especially those involged with an open source community, should pass along the help they received during their installation.

Doing so will get other colleges’ lecture capture installs underway, and increase their chances of a successful implementation.

“We’re of course hoping that after a successful deployment, they come back and help others,” Schulte says. “That’s what open source is all about – you have to find people who are not only on the receiving end of that particular software, but who are also willing to contribute what’s the best and answer the questions, or document their experiences. There are many ways to give back to the community, and I think that’s what it’s all about.”