Screencasts in Media Studies

This paper will focus on whether screencasts, loosely defined as the “audio-visual presentation of lecture notes” (Seery, 2013: 82), might provide a viable alternative to full lecture capture that enhances the learning and teaching experiences of both lecturers and students. Seery (2013) argues that there are two types of screencast created by lecturers for their students: substitutional and supplemental. The former refers to a form of lecture capture where the content from the lecture is shared online. The latter refers to bespoke video content that focuses on topics that students find particular difficult Recent studies have suggested that screencasts may be effectively deployed by academics to facilitate ‘lecture flipping’, when students watch recorded lectures online and engage in problem-solving exercises and discussion during class time, and which provides more personalised forms of feedback on assignments (Lancaster and Read, 2013; O’Malley 2011; Stannard, 2007). However, like lecture capture, students also reported that they missed the opportunity to interact with their tutors while viewing such content (Winterbottom, 2007). Nevertheless, early indications are that the use of such resources is positively correlated with course performance (see Pinder- Grove et al, 2011 for example) albeit that it may be difficult to generalise based on such studies. Furthermore, very little is known about lecturer perspectives on whether the regular use of screencasts has enhanced their own teaching practices (or not).