Best Practices for the Recording of Lectures and Other Teaching Materials

(August 18, 2020)

The following best practice suggestions are made with regard to protecting the privacy of individuals and protecting the intellectual property associated with your teaching materials if you decide to video or audio record formal lectures and other teaching materials. Please note that this only applies to the recording of lectures and the lecturer’s own teaching materials (i.e. does not apply to the recording of a guest speaker). Please contact the IPO for further guidance on any other materials that may be recorded.

Those enrolled in a class should be fully informed:

  1. That the lecture or discussion is being recorded. Please ask that students ensure that no other people are in the student’s camera/recording view and that there is nothing identifiable or sensitive in that view (personal belongings, records, medications, etc.) prior to the class recording starting. Students should be informed that they can turn off their computer’s camera or microphone if they are uncomfortable with being recorded.
  2. Why the recording is being made and any additional uses (beyond sharing with the students in the course) that will be made of the recording.
  3. Who will have access to the recording and how it will be disseminated (through eclass, google drive, zoom cloud drive, etc.). And
  4. How long this access will be provided and when the recordings will be destroyed or otherwise deleted.
  5. Please include wording regarding the 4 above points in your course outline. All students should be fully informed of these points before the first recorded lecture. Also, consider making an eclass announcement regarding these points.

2. Students should be provided the option of removing themselves visually and audibly from the recording process without compromising their ability to engage in the learning activity that they would normally be provided. Alternate accommodations should be provided for those students who have privacy concerns (e.g. submit questions through the recording platform’s chat function or through an email).

3. Per the U of A calendar, every course outline must contain the following statement: "Audio or video recording, digital or otherwise, of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Student or instructor content, digital or otherwise, created and/or used within the context of the course is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the content author(s).”

Lectures, demonstrations etc. are the intellectual property of the instructor. If you have concerns regarding the intellectual property of your lecture materials or the topic of discussion, then inform the students that they are forbidden to make any video or audio recordings of the lecture themselves without your consent and that doing so would constitute a violation of the University of Alberta Code of Student Behavior.

4. Destroy or otherwise delete the recordings at the end of each semester, year, or when they no longer have a business purpose. You will have notified the students as to when you were going to destroy or delete the recordings at the time they were made or at the beginning of the semester so please be consistent with that initial notification.