Start Recording Your Lectures – Recorded lectures make for more accessible and inclusive learning, allowing for captions, various viewing speeds, reviews, and the ability to use accessibility tools like screen readers and magnification with the recorded material. 

Each week, we’ll send you a quick change you can implement in a few minutes to increase the accessibility of your learning materials, teaching methods, or assessment processes. 

We know change is difficult, so we will keep these tips simple. If you ever want to know more about the research and impact of these changes, you can check out the “Dig Deeper” link to learn more.

Dig Deeper: 

Why Record Lectures?

Enhancing Accessibility for All: A Crucial Step: To foster an inclusive learning environment, we want to highlight the paramount importance of recorded lectures for students with disabilities. Captions, which can be automatically generated on video uploads to Mediaspace, play a pivotal role in ensuring students who are deaf or hard of hearing can fully engage with your content. Furthermore, students with low vision greatly benefit from the use of screen readers and magnification tools on your recorded lectures, making your course content equally accessible to everyone. By implementing recorded lectures, we are actively leveling the playing field and ensuring that no student is left behind in their pursuit of knowledge. Recording lectures grants them the flexibility to engage with your course content at their own pace, from anywhere, and review the material again when working on assignments or preparing for exams.

Universal Benefits for All Students!: The beauty of recorded lectures is that all students benefit from the flexibility they offer. Studies have shown that students consider recorded lectures the most valuable course feature. They appreciate the ability to review previously covered material and gain a deeper understanding of concepts, enhancing their learning experience.

How to Record Your Lectures:

1. Room Facilities: Some campus rooms automatically record and upload your lectures to Mediaspace. Check if your room is equipped with this feature and learn more about it here.
2. Request Access: If your room offers in-built recording capabilities, you can request access to the recorded videos here.
3. DIY with Zoom: If your lecture hall doesn’t have this service, you can set up automatic recording using Zoom on the PC in your lecture hall. Find resources on how to configure Zoom for recording here.

Tips for Success:

• When delivering lectures, focus on your teaching as you always would and don’t overthink things. Having a lecture recording is better than having none! 

Additional Resources: 

• [Website] Engineering Instructor Lecture Capture Checklist
• [Paper] Opportunities and Barriers to UDL-Based Course Designs for InclusiveLearning in Undergraduate Engineering and other STEM Courses

Recorded lectures are a win-win for both faculty and students! Enhance accessibility, convenience, and the overall learning experience by incorporating them into your teaching strategy. If you have any questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.

If you ever have questions about how to make this change, want to report problems in your effort to implement this change, or want to get more information, please email the SIIP UDL and Accessibility Group.

Thank you for your interest. If you found this tip helpful, please share it with your colleagues!

See you again next week!

-UDL and Accessibility Group
https://publish.illinois.edu/udl-accessibility-group/
gcoe-udlgroup@illinois.edu