Catch it live, then replay it on the Web
By Judy Lin
UCLA TODAY
It’s not Hollywood, but four faculty members are putting on their own reality show, going on camera this quarter for BruinCast — online streaming video versions of class lectures. Developed by UCLA’s Office of Instructional Development (OID), the pilot program aims to prove the premise that giving students an “instant replay” of lectures helps them learn better.
Psychology Lecturer Tamara A ddison-Malamuth, Math Professor Dimitri Shlyakhtenko, History Professor Geoffrey Symcox and Political Science Professor John Zaller have all volunteered to clip on a microphone and be videotaped during their classes in Haines 39 and La Kretz 110. These classrooms have built-in projection booths from which a camera operator can unobtrusively tape the lecture.
OID launched its program after surveying webcasting services already in place at several other campuses, including UC Berkeley, said OID Associate Director Rob Rodgers.
“This technology has proven extremely popular with students,” Rodgers said. “Students miss things, especially in an information-intensive class. With webcasting, students can go back and hear exactly what the professor said.” Online lectures have proven especially beneficial to students for whom English is a second language, he said. The taping can include visual aids, as did John Zaller’s opening lecture on electoral politics, which incorporated TV news clips and overheads in which he mapped out how political parties choose their candidates.
Students find the Web version online before the next lecture and can view it using Real Player, free software that allows viewers to run through the lecture — pausing, restarting and replaying — at their own pace. Lectures will stay online for an extended period, and some will also be accessible to the public on the BruinCast Web site.
Does the availability of lectures online mean that students will stop going to class? Probably not, said Rodgers, who noted that students at other schools tend to use webcasts for review and reinforcement.
“This is not a substitute for class,” he said, “but a supplement.”
OID plans to roll out the program on a larger scale next quarter. For more information and to view current BruinCasts, visit www.bruincast.ucla.edu. |
