In October of 2016 I contacted the University of Portland Dean of the School of Nursing to gain support for a project that would allow her faculty be untethered from the podium and teach from within their classrooms. Dean Joane Moceri provided the initial funding of $4,000 to start exploring and testing equipment. It was this initial support that started a project that would change the way faculty engage in the classroom at UP.
At the start of the Spring 2017 semester Dr. Lorretta Krautscheid joined the project to test equipment in the classroom. I was looking for a resilient innovative professor who would be able to come up with a plan b. and c. in the moments that the technology didn’t work 100%. Dr. Krautscheid was the perfect person to collaborate with on this project. The two of us created a project that would expand over the years. As part of the initial expansion we brought in additional technology for lecture capture and continued to refine processes. It was Dr. Krautsheid who also brought the science of multimedia instruction to the project that would combine untethered and the lecture capture and in June of 2017 the Untethered Lecture Capture (ULC) Project was created.
As we reached the end of the spring demo, I met with Jim Ravelli (VP of Operations), Curt Pederson (CIO), Dr. Lauretta Frederking (Associate Provost), and Dr. Tom Greene (Provost) to discuss next steps. Note: In my role I have a direct line of supervision to the CIO and a dotted line of supervision to the Office of the Provost. During that meeting I presented my idea for expanding the innovation we had started and create a “Faculty in Residency” position and create a new project to expand the work of the ULC team. The leadership team agreed and in July of 2017 Dr. Krautscheid became the first Faculty in Residence in Academic Technology Services & Innovation (ATSI).
Dr. Krautscheid began her work as a Faculty in Residence by created a research project with the research question of:
“How do undergraduate students perceive ULC methods influenced the educational environment and learning?”
The ULC support team expanded to include Ben Kahn “Instructional Design & Technology Specialist” and Katie Adams “School of Education – Undergrad Research Assistant”. Our colleagues in Technical Services supported the project by working to ensure the technology selected would work across our campus. ATSI was the lead in supporting faculty and in supporting the project.
At the start of the 2017/18 academic year the Provost’s Office partnered with Academic Technology Services and Innovation (ATSI), the Office of the CIO, and the School of Nursing to offer resources and ongoing support for successful implementation of Untethered Lecture Capture (ULC) to enhance student learning. 15 faculty from across disciplines joined the project with full support and the technology needed to be successful. The 15 faculty quickly grew to a final number of 27 faculty utilizing ULC in their classroom with 17 officially part of the project.
At its core, ULC combined two pre-existing ideas—that a teacher can move freely about the classroom while using instructional media to teach (“untethered”) and that instruction is recorded and made available for students to review afterward (“lecture capture”).
Instructors use an iPad along with wireless display technology to untether from the podium. They can use the iPad to zoom, annotate, highlight, and signal important information. The iPad screen and lecture audio is recorded and made available as a video after class.
By teaching untethered, an instructor can deliver more engaging and active learning experiences. By utilizing principles of multimedia instruction, student understanding and retention can be improved. Because lessons are recorded, students can worry less about taking notes and more about engaging with the material. Students can personalize their study of the lecture videos and revisit material to review and rehearse as needed.
2017/28 ULC Project By the Numbers
- 27 University of Portland faculty members representing nine different disciplines.
- 17 official ULC project faculty members plus two academic technology support staff.
- 1,006 students taught via ULC instructional strategies during fall 2017 (n=338) and spring 2018 (n=668)
- 776 Lecture Capture video assets created during fall 2017 (n=231) and spring 2018 (n=545)
- 16,330 Lecture Capture video views during fall 2017 (n=5,665) and spring 2018 (n=10,665)
Outcomes
The outcomes of the project included several published articles (listed below), a presentation at a national conference, and the expansion of ULC to entire School of Nursing and to additional faculty across disciplines. The ULC project is continuing to build and the technology refined. I’m excited about this project and the positive impact it had on the University of Portland Campus.
Presentation
- Williams, S., Averman, K., Shoultz, S., (October 19-20, 2017). Video in Education – Building a student-run multimedia studio. 12th Annual Northwest eLearning Conference. Pasco, Washington.
- Krautscheid, L., Williams, S., Kahn, B., & Adams, K. (October 7, 2018). Untethered Lecture Capture: Creating Collaborative Learning Environments. MAGNA Teaching with Technology 2018. St. Louis, MO.
Publications
- Krautscheid, L., Williams, S., Kahn, B., & Adams, K. (2019). Untethered lecture capture: A qualitative investigation of college student experiences. Journal of Educational Technology, 0 (0); 1-15. Doi.org/10.1177/0047239519833690.
- Krautscheid, L., & Williams, S. (2018). Using multimedia resources to enhance learning during office hours. Journal of Nursing Education, 57(4), 256. doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20180322-14.
- Krautscheid, L., Williams, S., & Kahn, B. (2019). Enhancing access to student nurse athletes: Office hours on the road. Nursing Education Perspectives, 40(3).