Lecture capture policy

1. General expectations

The University of Dundee is committed to delivering a high standard of teaching, assessment, and student experience. This commitment requires that all our content is inclusive and accessible to all students.

The University's position is that normally lectures and other direct delivery teaching, will be recorded with the aim of capturing the event which can then be used by students for revision purposes. When a recording fails the member of staff should, wherever possible, upload a pre-recorded version. The recording of interactive teaching sessions, e.g. tutorials or workgroups, where students actively participate in discussion, is not expected but may be carried out and the member of staff leading the session has the right to apply discretion and pause or subsequently edit a recording, for example if sensitive material is being taught or if the recording is considered to be interfering with interactive teaching.

Lecture recordings are not to be used as a replacement for attending a lecture in person (see Taught Programmes: Student attendance and engagement policy), rather they offer an opportunity to enhance learning and support individual learning. Lecture capture is also not a replacement for contact teaching time, or a substitute for the non-availability of timetabled lectures due to industrial action. Individual lecturers may however, personally choose to share a previously recorded lecture in the case of ill health or adverse weather.

2. Core principles for the recording of lectures

   • 'Lecture' refers to formal face-to-face teaching and learning sessions, and excludes, where appropriate tutorials, seminars, other small group, and interactive teaching sessions e.g. laboratory-based classes. Student-led presentations, student-led journal clubs and other forms of student-led small group teaching are also excluded.
   • Lectures (where academics or other experts primarily deliver the content) should be recorded during the presentation and subsequently made available in the module, located within My Dundee/ MBChB Moodie, alongside the linked materials (e.g. slide decks, links to additional resources etc). For clinical subjects (e.g. dentistry, medicine, nursing, forensics) in which presentations can contain confidential patient information and clinical pictures, these sessions should not be recorded for patient confidentiality/consent reasons.
   • Recordings must include, as a minimum, the presentation materials used and audio of the lecturer. In addition, video of the member of staff may be captured where the technology permits and it is deemed appropriate.
   • Recordings should be made available by the member of staff delivering the session to students, normally within two working days.
   • All teaching materials should respect copyright and other intellectual property rights, including use of images in presentations. This may also include, for example, pausing a recording if students are shown an external video, and the link to that included in the session resources.
   • If the session includes students' contributions, (for example, in a discussion), the recording would normally be paused to allow students to share freely. The member of staff delivering the session should clearly announce that they are pausing the recording before the discussion begins and announce again when they are recommencing the recording.

   • Other instances where content may not be recorded include:

     • Confidential or personal information such as patient stories or forensic materials.
     • Commercially or politically sensitive material.

     Note: Where possible, staff are encouraged to use campus-supported alternatives to a physical whiteboard, such as a visualiser or a digital whiteboard application, to ensure all presented content can be effectively captured.

3. Guest speakers 

In the absence of a contract that provides for it separately, any recording of external lecturers or other guests requires consent prior to recording and rules in respect of the use of that recording. This consent must be secured before the recording takes place. Consent should be obtained in writing (normally via email) and saved by the organiser or an administrator.

In the absence of any objections to the contrary, any such recordings of external lecturers or guests will be treated as other resources but may be subject to restrictions and/or removed at the request of the guest speaker/presenter.
 

4. University platform for lecture recording

The University's current integrated video service is Panopto. It supports video recording and serves as a video management and delivery system. For distance learning, and in some other instances, Collaborate may be used as an alternative.

Any content and recordings created in collaborate should be downloaded and transferred to Panopto, so that they are integrated and accessible via My Dundee/ MBChB Moodie and can be managed under the University's retention policies. Note: It is the responsibility of the staff member who created the recording to ensure it is transferred to Panopto in a timely manner.

5. Preparing material after recording

Post lecture capture, staff should, where deemed appropriate, ensure that any minor edits are made to material that should not be in the published recording. Auto-generated captions will be made available by default. Staff are encouraged to review these captions to correct any significant inaccuracies in key technical terms or discipline-specific language to improve clarity. Students should also be encouraged to report inaccuracies. By default, recorded lectures are set to not be downloadable by students.

6. Retention of lecture recordings

Lecture recordings will normally be archived after 12 months since last viewed.

7. Limitations on the use of lecture recordings

The University will not use lecture recordings to replace the tuition of teaching staff participating in recognised industrial action. When lecturers leave the employment of the Institution, their lecture recordings are transferred to the relevant unit so that other staff can use them to familiarise themselves with content covered. These recordings should not normally be used for teaching subsequent classes. Staff should confirm that students should not use the recorded material in ways that breach the university's copyright by reminding students of this at the start of a session and on the module site on MyDundee/MBChB Moodie. The University is bound by UK copyright law as it relates to the use of digital and print copyrighted material in an educational context. Staff should refer to the University's position of Copyright.

Where a lecture contains materials created in the course of employment at the University of Dundee, or copyright has been assigned to the University of Dundee, these materials may be captured in a recording without risk of copyright infringement.

8. Copyright of a recorded lecture

Lecturers retain copyright and performance rights under this policy but grant the University of Dundee an exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use them in line with this policy. This assignation of rights happens automatically without the need to complete or sign any forms.

Review dates

The University of Dundee Lecture Capture Policy was reviewed in the Summer of 2025. Date of next review: Summer 2026

Coordinated by:

• Nick Brewer: Assistant Vice-Principal (Education)

With contributions from:

• Linda Martindale: Vice-Principal (Education and Student Experience)
• Daniel Cook: AD Education and Student Experience (School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law)
• Kevin Davey: Interim Dean (School of Dentistry)
• Scott Gregory: AD Education and Student Experience (School of Science and Engineering)
• Lynn Griffin: AD Education and Student Experience (School of Health Sciences)
• Susan Kinnear: AD Education and Student Experience (School of Business)
• Kirsty Macari: AD Education and Student Experience (DJCAD)
• Kevin Mcconville: AD Education and Student Experience (School of Medicine) Marios Stavridis: AD Education and Student Experience (School of Life Sciences)
• Euan Black: Director of QA
• Emma Duke-Williams: Educational Development
• Hamish Loveday: Education Academy Manager
• Andy McMahon: Disability Services Manager
• Umran Sarwar: Director of Legal