Service overview
The Lecture Recording System (LRS) provides the automatic recording of course lectures, including demonstrations and student presentations, for an entire term. The LRS is currently installed in specific rooms on both the downtown and Macdonald campuses.
As a new feature, recorded sessions from Zoom meetings can also be uploaded to your course for your students to access.
Recorded lectures are a valuable resource for students, allowing them to review course lectures online at any time. McGill students have repeatedly commented on the benefit this system has had on their own learning, because they can replay parts of a lecture that they did not fully understand during the class.
Features:
- Audio captured via the classroom microphone
- Records visual activity on the presentation screen, either from a laptop or a document camera (digital camera that replaces overhead transparency projectors and can display opaque objects as well as transparent slides)
- Instructors have the flexibility to select which lectures to make available, and can publish them in a variety of file formats
- Instructors can choose to restrict access to class members, via links within myCourses, or allow general access to recordings via a publicly accessible URL
- Does not capture content played on the DVD/Blu Ray player
- (In a few classrooms) Records full video of the lecturer presenting
- Captioning and translation to French (coming soon)
Lectures are recorded in their entirety. They cannot be edited or cropped. However, instructors can choose to disable viewing of an entire lecture recording, for example, if the content is considered to be sensitive or unsuitable for publication.
Alternative solutions for recording lectures or other events
- Record lectures manually with screen recording software (Camtasia Studio) - when lecturing in rooms that are not LRS-equipped, or if you wish to make occasional or partial recordings.
- Request Live-stream event capture and broadcast - through Communications and External Relations, for special events intended for public or private distribution over the web.
- Zoom (for remote teaching and learning) - allows you to record online sessions and make them available to students via myCourses.
View a comparison of the lecture recording options in the Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base.
Who can use it
McGill instructors who are teaching in classrooms that support lecture recording (download Excel file), or those who are teaching remotely.
How to request & access the service
1. Sign up for lecture recording
At the beginning of each term, you need to sign up for Lecture Recordings in myCourses (See the the TLS knowledge base.) The online form can only be completed by a primary instructor or course coordinator. You need to sign up each term, for each class you are teaching; the settings do not carry over from one term to the next.
Although you must go through myCourses to access the form to sign up for lecture recording, you are not required to use myCourses as a teaching tool. You can elect to make your lecture recordings available outside of myCourses via a public URL (see details below).
For the first 3 weeks of each term: all scheduled timeslots in LRS-equipped classrooms are automatically recorded, whether or not the instructors have signed up for lecture recording. This allows instructors to sign up late for lecture recording without missing any recordings. These initial recordings are only made for rooms/timeslots that are scheduled in Banner; so if there are any last-minute changes to your room or schedule, be sure to notify the IT Service Desk. After the first 3 weeks, if no request is received, the initial recordings are removed permanently.
IMPORTANT: If your class location changes
Contact the IT Service Desk as soon as possible to provide the new details. If the new room is LRS-equipped, then recordings can continue. Keep in mind that it may take several business days to process the change, especially in the peak period before the beginning of the term.
Notes on requesting video lecture recording:
- Instructors teaching in video-equipped rooms can request full video recording for all lectures for the term, when filling in the online request form. If you do not initially request video recording and subsequently wish to do so, you must submit the request form again.
- If a teaching space is not currently equipped for video, a Faculty or Department can request installation of this equipment. In this case, an authorized staff member such as a Program Director should send a request to the IT Service Desk. For common teaching spaces, the design principles and guidelines outlined by the Teaching and Learning Spaces Working Group should be respected.
2. Make lecture recordings accessible to students
When you fill in the request form, or use the Lecture Recordings Tools page in myCourses (More information in the TLS knowledge base.) You can choose to make the recordings available:
- Only within myCourses - in this case, you will need to add the Lecture Recordings link to your course navigation bar (More information in the TLS knowledge base.). Students can click the link, log in, and access the recordings.
- Outside of myCourses - with no login requirement. In this case, you should provide your students the URL for the recordings, or refer them to http://lrs.mcgill.ca/.
- Only to Instructors - use the Lecture Recordings Tools page in myCourses to disable recordings or hide selected recordings from students and the public.
3. Adjust playback settings - streaming and download formats
By default all lecture recordings are made available for:
- Streaming playback - played directly from the site, using any current web browser that supports HTML5
- Download in MP3 and MP4 formats
Once downloaded, the files can be saved to your computer or media players such as iPod, MP3 players, smartphones, etc., for future reference.
You can change these file format settings using the Lecture Recordings Tools page in myCourses (More information in the TLS knowledge base.)
Cost
There is no cost associated with this service.
Availability
- This service is available 24 X 7, except during scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Check the System Status page for notices of service interruptions.
- myCourses must be available in order to access the recordings if they are not available via public URL.
- Recordings are typically made available a few hours after the end of the lecture.
Note: Lecture recordings are available online for 2 terms after the one in which they were recorded. For example, recordings from Fall 2018 are available until the end of Fall 2019 term. After the 2 terms the recordings are removed from the system and are not retrievable.
Frequently Asked Questions
- FAQs about Lecture Recording System for Instructors
- Which classrooms are equipped to support lecture recording? (download Excel file)
Best practices & policies
- Find out what audiovisual equipment is installed in your classroom and view instructions on using it:
Use the Classroom Audiovisual Instructions tool, accessible from the IT Tools tab of the myMcGill portal. - Test that your audio signal is clear before you begin your lecture:
You should hear your voice clearly on the classroom loudspeakers. If there is no audio coming out of the loudspeakers, please look for the microphone volume control and increase it until the sound is audible. If you still cannot hear your voice through the PA system, or you think that there is a problem with the microphone, please press the Classroom Audiovisual Help button on the classroom telephone for immediate assistance. - For the best possible sound quality and greatest mobility:
We recommend that you borrow a wireless microphone (that you can keep for the semester).
IMPORTANT
Avoid using HDMI connections when using the LRS. The LRS cannot record content over HDMI which is protected by HDCP, including but not limited to most content from a Mac, content shared from streaming services such as Netflix or Itunes, and content shared from Bluray discs. To avoid this issue, use VGA audio and video connections when using the LRS.
Training & documentation
Setting up classroom equipment for recording
For instructions on connecting your laptop to the projector or using the room microphone:
- Go to the IT Support site and click on the Browse Classroom widget.
- If required, sign in with your McGill Username and McGill Password
- Select the building and room in which you are teaching/recording, and click on the equipment for which you require setup instructions.
TIP:
You are encouraged to access the Classroom Audiovisual Instructions at the beginning of each term, and may return to them at any time before your lecture to ensure you have the necessary cables/adapters, for your laptop. For more details on this service, see Classroom Audiovisual Support Services.
Additional resources for the Lecture Recording system
- Manage Lecture Recordings in myCourses
- Share and Embed Lecture Recordings in MyCourses
- View Analytics for Lecture Recordings in myCourses
- Enable the Lecture Recording System (Classroom Capture) in myCourses
Resources for Zoom recordings
- Find resources on known issues with Zoom recordings on the Tips to avoid issues with Zoom recordings page, on the Teaching and Learning Services website.
- Learn how to Add Zoom recordings to your course, also on Teaching and Learning Services.
Support
Contact the IT Service Desk