Panopto Lecture Capture and Personal Capture allow instructors to create recordings of classroom lectures or presentations, including audio, video and screen content, and share them with students online and in Canvas. Panopto is compatible with all browsers, but if you use Safari you will need to change the default settings to allow for third party cookies and cross-tracking. Once completed, restart Safari before reentering Panopto from your Canvas site.
Personal Capture
Use Personal Capture to record lectures directly from your computer.
- Allows faculty who may be missing a class period due to outside obligations to provide a lecture to students
- Supports just-in-time snow-day lectures when classes are cancelled
- Provides the ability to implement flipped-classroom approaches that present lectures outside of class to preserve time in-class for active learning and hands-on activities
- Facilitates online course development by easily recording instructor lectures
Personal capture records:
- a computer screen
- audio input
- video content through a webcam or other device (optional)
Lecture Capture
Opt-in to Lecture Capture to automatically record lectures and presentations in specially-equipped rooms, with little set-up work required from the instructor.
- Helps students review content from your lectures anytime outside of class
- Lowers barriers to learning for students who might need to miss classes due to chronic illness or athletics
- Increases student participation – since students know they can review the material after class, they will be less focused on taking notes and more engaged in the course
- Archives irreplaceable lectures like guest speakers and presenters to be used for subsequent courses
To learn more about the university’s expectations around course recordings, see the Classroom Recording Guidance in the Faculty Handbook.
Lecture Capture Protocols
If your course is scheduled in room equipped with lecture capture can complete this form, including your course name, number, and meeting schedule, in order to opt into lecture capture. Classroom recordings are scheduled by Center for Digital Innovation in Learning (CDIL) staff at the beginning of each semester. Recordings start and end automatically based on this schedule.
After each class period the recording is uploaded and compressed and stored in the associated Canvas course. When completing the request form, you can choose whether or not the recordings are automatically accessible to students, though by default they are hidden from student view. Throughout the semester, you can publish individual recordings or make all recordings available by default.
Lecture capture alternatives
If you wish to use lecture capture but have been scheduled into a room without it, you might consider:
- Asking your department admin to request a room change, since equipped rooms of similar size are often available, if not within the same building. Room requests are forwarded to the Registrar’s office through departments.
- Using personal capture on your laptop. See the description above and steps for Creating a Panopto Recording in the left menu, and contact centerforteaching@bc.edu to discuss best options for audio.
- If Video Services staff have availability in their schedules, starting the third week of classes they might be able to come to class and make recordings, capturing a view you work out with them ahead of time. They share recordings through Google Drive so you can upload them into Panopto Recordings in the Canvas site, and students see them just as they would classroom recordings. They receive requests through this form, and you can reach out to them with questions at video@bc.edu.
Feel free to contact centerforteaching@bc.edu for assistance in exploring your options.