Nicole Masters

The purpose of web-based lecture technologies like Mediasite, Lectopia or Echo360 is to facilitate and support flexible options for students and to support their learning. However many academics believe lecture recordings encourage low participation rates in lectures, and that they are not suitable technologies for promoting learning. The aim of our project is to uncover the 'when why and how' students of in our regional context engage with lectures. Ultimately we will develop a lecture delivery best practice toolbox that caters to synchronous and asynchronous audiences to enhance first year STEM learning experiences and improve student success. In doing so we hope to dispel current academic sentiment about lecture recordings and to drive a fundamental shift that recognises the virtual audience and the need for purposeful modifications to classroom pedagogy. This paper reports on our preliminary findings and the new lecture practices and initiatives developed to date.