Recording of lectures in the higher education sector


Concerns have also been raised about audio and video recording of lectures in the further and higher education sector. A number of universities and colleges have developed facilities to film or record lectures. These are usually for use as learning tools, with institutions creating digital or online libraries of recorded lectures. The concerns of lecturing staff, particularly in universities, have been focused around the ownership of the materials created, such as intellectual property, copyright and performance rights. But there have also been concerns that recorded lectures and other teaching sessions might be used for the purposes of performance management or within disciplinary procedures. 


In addition, there are concerns that the development of a digital library of lectures might render having actual real-time lectures less necessary, and lead to job cuts. There are also worries that recordings of lectures could also threaten academic freedom, for example, where unorthodox or contentious subject matter is being discussed which might be regarded as defamatory, offensive or inflammatory. This is particularly important given government pressure on universities to clamp down on any discussion on campus that might be deemed sympathetic to terrorism or “extremism.”


The university and colleges’ union UCU produced guidance in 2013 on the recording of lecturers which made clear the union’s opposition to its members being filmed or recorded without their agreement. The guidance states that where institutions wish to record lecturers, this should be covered by a negotiated agreement between UCU and the employer. This should specify the circumstances in which filming/recording is acceptable, the manner of pre-consultation with the staff concerned, the input of staff into the production process (to ensure academic quality), the availability of appropriate training, the limitations on the subsequent use of the material, and the right of appeal for staff dissatisfied with any of these arrangements. Agreements should indicate how filmed/recorded lectures will be stored and subsequently used. This includes making clear who has access to such recordings, and rules for usage and dissemination. 


The guidance also states that institutional procedures should include safeguards against material being circulated and interpreted out of context, with academic freedom protected. Agreements and institutional policies concerning the preparation and delivery of recorded material, and filmed/recorded teaching, should be based on the understanding that such materials will be used only for educational purposes and not for evaluating “teaching quality” or for performance management purposes. 


The guidance says that teaching staff should have the right to refuse to be recorded. Nevertheless, the union encourages members to be supportive of requests for lectures and teaching sessions to be recorded by disabled students where this is required as a “reasonable adjustment”.