A lecture played on a Video iPod, via AV output onto an analog TV screen (Photo credit: Tama Leaver)

Lecture capture technology is an assistive technology in the classroom that allows teachers to record their lectures digitally for future replay. The technology uses screenshot software to record PowerPoint slides and notes or uses webcams to video full lectures and demonstrations. The benefits of this technology include student ability to review missed material and improve study habits; while detractors say it’s just another way for students to learn passively.

What is lecture capture technology?

Lecture capture is a way for instructors to record classroom lectures. Recordings can be just audio, audio with PowerPoint slides, cursor movements that track on-screen computer activity or a full webcam video recording. Playback can be on various devices such as iPods, computer screens or YouTube. Once recorded, teachers can edit material for clarity or removal of extraneous interruptions, and lectures can be uploaded within 24 hours. Information can be stored for a long time for future use by in-house students or off-campus students. According to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, the lecture capture business was more than $70 million in 2011.

Benefits of lecture capture for students:

• Watch captured lectures to catch up if class is missed
• Review pertinent lectures for tests, research or term paper projects
• Repeat parts of lectures that were difficult or too fast to grasp during class
• Watch complicated demonstrations (i.e. for medical classes)
• Learn in a medium young adults are familiar with
• Cater to flexible student schedules
• Share classroom material with peers.

Benefits of lecture capture for teachers:

• Use the recorded lectures for online or remote classes
• Trim and edit lectures for concise 10-15-minute snippets of information
• Supplement resources to lectures
• Offer students more information outside of class
• Use for faculty training
• Collaborate with other instructors for a blended presentation
• Record presentations by visiting guest speakers and subject matter experts.

Unique uses for lecture capture technology

“Many students have the same questions on class material. Rather than write 15 emails back responding to student questions, I can screen capture a quick mini-lecture or example of the problem and provide to those students,” said Geri Mason, assistant professor of Economics at Seattle Pacific University, reported in “5 Innovative Ways to Use Lecture Capture Technology,” University Business, November 2012 found on Questia.com.

Drawbacks to lecture capture

Not everyone is singing the praises of lecture capture technology. Education technology expert Mark Smithers laid out some drawbacks of the practice in his March 11, 2011 blog article, “Is lecture capture the worst educational technology?”:

• Watching recordings of lectures perpetuates the passive learning experience. Smithers prefers more hands-on learning.
• The technology does not engage the student any more than sitting in a lecture hall does.
• Traditional class lectures are much too long for students to re-watch another time.
• Funding for lecture capture equipment could be put to better use. According to Tegrity Campus, lecture capture services can start at $10,000 for 250 hours, and about 80 percent of total cost of ownership is from online management and maintenance.

Other disadvantages:

• Lecture capture should not be a substitute for attending class and may encourage students to skip class.
• Teachers rely too much on the recordings and don’t explore or develop more modern teaching methods.

On the legal side, Educause Learning Initiative discussed some legal issues in a December 2008 post titled “7 things you should know about Lecture Capture.” “Some question who is responsible for providing the recording resources and who owns the intellectual property once the recording has been made. Using these systems for classes, conferences, and guest speakers might require a legal release…” reports ELI.

Other concerns are storage of the recordings, infrastructure when playing the recordings and using equipment, who should have access to the recordings and if the recordings should play on faculty websites.

5 reasons to enroll…

Taking summer courses can greatly benefit your college career, help you graduate early (or on time) and give you an opportunity to increase your GPA. Besides these obvious reasons, however, there are five major positives of summer courses:

1. Shorter classes — usually summer courses only last for a month at a time.
2. Fewer students — not only will classes be smaller but there will be less students competing for spots in those general education courses.
3. Routine — according to Education Portal‘s article by Laura Allan, “The Pros and Cons of Taking Summer Classes,” if you stay in school over the summer, “you’ll already be fully in the swing of things by the time you get back to school.”
4. Less distractions — fewer friends on campus means that you will be able to focus more on your studies.
5. Time off — even if you take summer classes, you won’t be in school for the entire break. So, not only will you get a few of your least favorite classes out of the way, you’ll still get a few weeks of downtime.

5 reasons to take a break from academia…

Summer courses are a perfect fit for some and a bad choice for others. If you find yourself daydreaming about beach vacations, sleeping until noon and making some cash during the summer, consider opting to forgo your registration until fall. Here are a few other reasons to skip your university’s summer term:

1. Fewer course options — many colleges offer a smaller list of classes in the summer and the more popular ones can fill up quickly.
2. Classes drag on — in order to stuff a semester’s worth of information into a month, some courses can run multiple hours a day, leaving you with only a few hours to relax or work.
3. Strict attendance policies — according to CollegeTips.com‘s article, “Summer College Classes,” most professors aren’t forgiving when it comes to students missing class. “Because of the nature of class, most summer classes do not allow you to miss a class because you would be missing 3-4 hours worth of class (or about a week or more of classes during a regular semester).”
4. Fast-paced instruction — since there is a limited amount of time to cover a large amount of material, most instructors will quickly move from one subject to the next. If you are a student that tends to get hung up on certain concepts — say, in Calculus, for instance — consider waiting for a full semester or opt for an easier class.
5. You are stuck at school — you won’t have time to catch up with friends from back home or indulge in your mom’s cooking and laundry skills. Instead, you will spend the summer (possibly) alone with only your studies to keep you company.

A tough decision

If you are still on the fence about whether to enroll, consider your answers to the following questions:

• Do you absolutely need that break or would you benefit from a few extra hours of class time?
• Do you need to hold a steady job this summer in order to pay for your room and board next year or would you benefit from graduating early and having fewer student loans to pay back?
• Do you have a place to stay on campus for the summer or will you need to sign a new lease?

An article written by Jessie on May 22, 2012, for EDUinReview.com, “Pros and cons of summer classes: Are they right for you?,” offers some sound advice: “Keep in mind that summer school isn’t for everyone. It takes dedication to take three semesters in a row. If you decide to take the plunge, make sure you have the time and the willingness to complete these courses.”

For more articles on higher education or to check out some research tools, visit Questia‘s topic page on higher and adult education.

Will you be taking summer courses this year? Tell us why or why not in the comments below!

School of Athens

What is the philosophy of education? It is the philosophical study of education and the problems surrounding it. Since the time of Socrates, philosophers and educators have discussed many issues which are trouble contemporary philosophers of education. What is the aim or purposes of education? Who should be educated? Should education depend on natural interests and abilities? What role should the state play in education?

Greek philosophers Plato, Socrates and Aristotle are among the major figures who laid the foundations of educational philosophy. They debated on different subjects in the past that are important for philosophy of education even now.

While teaching, Socrates engaged the others in dialogue. His method excluded writing, but focused on dialogues where series of questions are discussed by the teacher and the student until the analysis goes as far as both can take it. This way of teaching is known now as the “Socratic method.”

Plato’s way of teaching was tailored to create competent adults to meet the needs of the state. Through this functionalist model Plato developed his image of education in the context of the ideal state. His ideas suggest that there is no inherent conflict between the individual and the state. In Plato’s view educators could work to develop people who are useful to the state.

In Aristotle’s view, people had to be trained or educated according to their place in life. They should excel in their tasks and in line with their function. Aristotle believed that no matter if one is a leader, an artist or a housewife, they have their talents and virtues, but these features differ in every one of them.

Aristotle’s work is also interesting for modern educators due to his moral thought. Aristotle taught that children should be trained in morally appropriate modes of conduct. The model of moral education he established is widely popular today.

The ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 to 1778) are also attractive for present-day philosophers. He believed strongly in the freedom of the human spirit.

John Dewey (1859 to 1952) is also among the most influential names in the area of educational philosophy. Throughout his lifetime Dewey wrote many books and articles in nearly all branches of philosophy, including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, ontology aesthetics, political and social philosophy and ethics.

For Dewey, philosophy of education was the most fundamental and crucial branch of philosophy, and all other branches were dependent on it. He perceived philosophy of education as philosophy of life. Dewey often put education as a synonymous of growth, though this view met a lot of opposition. He insisted that growth was the ultimate aim of education.

Others who devoted part of their work to philosophy of education include Avicenna, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Milton and Maria Montessori.

If you are writing a paper on this topic, you can find and cite high-quality, scholarly research in the Questia library, which contains the books and journal articles as well as magazine and newspaper articles needed to complete most college-level, core-curriculum course assignments.

Selected books and articles on Philosophy of Education

From Fallacy to Integrity: Dewey’s Call for a Philosophy of Experience
O’Neill, Linda. Journal of Thought, Vol. 41, No. 3, Fall 2006

Non-Western Educational Traditions: Indigenous Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice
Timothy Reagan. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005 (3rd edition)

An Educational Philosophy Guides the Pedagogical Process
Petress, Kenneth C. College Student Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1, March 2003

Fifty Major Thinkers on Education: From Confucius to Dewey
Joy A. Palmer; Liora Bresler; David E. Cooper. Routledge, 2001

Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
John Dewey. Macmillan, 1921

Visit Questia’s topic page on the philosophy of education for more information. If not already a member, you can try Questia free for one day and conduct research into philosophy and education in our more than 75,000 books and 9 million articles.

1. Classroom Management: Teachers are responsible for a variety of tasks in a typical classroom, and one of the most important is classroom management. The ability to maintain order, respect, rules and procedures helps guide behavior and results in a properly functioning classroom. Creating an environment where students are engaged and comfortable allows students to flourish and learning to occur. [Marzano, Robert J., Jana S. Marzano, and Debra J. Pickering. Classroom Management That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Every Teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003. Questia.]
2. Learning Disabilities: Learning disabilities (LDs) represent a set of disorders that include difficulty in a variety of academic and social domains and can include reading, math or written language disorders. Through research focusing on a specific type of LD, such as reading, researchers have gained a solid understanding of the cognitive characteristics of specific disabilities along with evidence for genetic and brain bases for that LD. [Harris, Karen R., H. Lee Swanson, and Steve Graham, eds. Handbook of Learning Disabilities. New York: Guilford, 2003. Questia.]
3. Bullying: Recent movies and news features have highlighted the severity of bullying, especially in schools. However, sources site that bullying has been a societal problem for hundreds of years and occurs in the workplace, homes, prisons and nursing homes. The most common environment for bullying is in schools, and as many as 49 to 50 percent of all students will experience some form of bullying throughout the duration of their educational experience. [Sanders, Cheryl E., and Gary D. Phye, eds. Bullying: Implications for the Classroom. San Diego, CA: Elsevier/Academic, 2004. Questia.]
4. Educational Psychology: Educational psychology emerged in the late 19^th century and has evolved through three eras: the founding period (1890-1920), the rise to prominence period (1920-1960) and the modern period (1960-present). One of the most notable contributors to educational psychology is E.L. Thorndike, who transformed the study of education from the realm of speculation and philosophy into a science. “Thorndike was the first to offer a research-based conception of individual differences in intellectual ability that recognized the role of specific knowledge in intellectual performances,” (Zimmerman & Schunk 117). [Zimmerman, Barry J., and Dale H. Schunk, eds. Educational Psychology: A Century of Contributions. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. Questia.]
5. Early Childhood Education: Many researchers and psychologists believe that children go through sequential, predictable stages. Through these stages, children acquire learning techniques and develop necessary skills to interact with society. One of the most notable theories for early childhood education in Piaget’s “Piaget’s Theory,” which provided scientific vindication to the notion that young children are different, cognitively limited and go through predictable, sequential stages. [Yelland, Nicola, ed. Critical Issues in Early Childhood Education. Maidenhead, England: Open UP, 2005. Questia.]

Head over to Questia for even more quality research on popular education topics. Happy reading!

What does it cost to get a college degree?

The job market has always been competitive, and in the current strained economy, it is even more so today. A job seeker needs every edge possible to leap to the top of the resume pile, and a college degree might just be your ticket to rising above the competition.

Studies show that, even in today’s tough job market, college graduates consistently earn more than their non-degreed counterparts. However, the cost of getting a degree has risen steadily, making many potential college students wonder if going into debt is worth a better paying job.

The Rising Costs

Why does the cost of education continue to go up anyways? According to the article “Enrollment Management & Financial Aid: a Multi-part Series,” “at most institutions the enrollment goals are the revenue goals; successful enrollment management requires the management of financial aid in such a way that the number, mix and profile of enrolled students produces the desired net revenue after aid. There’s no question that at an increasing number of institutions, the management of financial aid has become so tightly intertwined with the concept and the practice of enrollment management that the two are essentially indistinguishable.”

Over the past decade, college tuition has gone up an average of 51% at public four-year institutions. However, median family income has increased by only 14% during this same period.

The 2010-2011 academic year alone saw a jump in the number of colleges charging $50,000 or more per year for tuition and fees, including room and board. One of these schools, the University of California, Berkeley, was the first public institution to make the list by charging $50,649 for nonresidents—California residents will pay $27,770 to attend.

According to L. Troy Niskey, author of “The Critical State of College Access and Affordability in the United States,” there are many impediments to cutting the cost of higher education including, “healthcare, energy, and technology…” Niskey goes on to say that “another related issue is that colleges compete for the brightest students, in part by investing substantial funds in their facilities and services to make them as attractive to their customers (students and their parents) as possible. And yet none of these factors contributes to a higher quality education.”

Finding Affordable Programs

Based on the dramatic increase in education costs, individuals may feel like a degree is completely out of reach. However, parents and students can search for affordable degree programs. One place to begin is at The College Board Advocacy and Policy Center. Every year, The Board conducts a survey of colleges, gathering information on tuition, fees and financial aid. The Board organizes its findings into a categorized report that includes data on published and net prices.

Sometimes called the “sticker price,” published prices include tuition, fees, and room and board costs posted by colleges. In other words, this is the price you’ll pay if you have no financial aid. According to The Board’s report, about one-third of all full-time students pay the published price; however, many may qualify for tax credits and deductions to help offset costs. The net price is what students pay after subtracting any aid money they receive from the published price.

Published Prices

During the 2010-2011 academic year, published prices averaged $7,605 for in-state tuition and $16,140 for in-state tuition that included fees, room and board at public four-year institutions. Out-of-state students paid, on average, $19,595 and $28,130 in comparison. Published fees at private non-profit four-year institutions averaged $27,293 for tuition and $36,993 for tuition that included fees, room and board.

Federal Aid Softens the Blow

Fortunately, the effects of rising tuition have also helped to raise the amount of federal aid available for students. The Board report for 2009-2010 showed a 64% increase in grant aid, from $25.2 billion to $41.3 billion. The Pell Grant program alone, which serves low-income and military students, increased its spending by 58%. This increase in the maximum grant amount opened the way for an additional 1.5 million students to qualify for grants.

The Good News

Published prices have increased by as much as 24% at public four-year institutions in the past five years. However, after adjusting for inflation, the average net price paid by full-time students has declined, largely due to the increase in federal grant aid and tax benefits.

Generally, a college freshman will find the most affordable tuition at a public two-year college, where the average cost for tuition and fees is $2,713. Many two-year schools don’t offer housing, however. When considering a four-year college, don’t dismiss a private institution thinking that you can’t afford the higher costs. The private college of your choice may receive a large endowment or grant aid that can offset your total costs and bring them in line with similar public institutions. Therefore, researching a variety of different colleges and financial aid options may end up being time well spent.

Recommended sources:

Trends in College Pricing 2010

Higher Education – Increasing Tuition Costs, Fewer International Students, and the Reduced Importance of the SAT